ESPN omits Washington Nationals from Sunday Night Baseball schedule

Sunday Night Baseball is the biggest stage for MLB during the regular season. So why are the champion Washington Nationals not even given one game?

On October 30, 2019, the Washington Nationals completed what could be considered one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history.

With a near last-place record once Memorial Day hit, the Nationals did not quit. They kept fighting, winning, and eventually defeated the heavy-favorite Houston Astros in a World Series for the ages.

It is customary that the World Champions get the publicity all through the following season because their chances are as good as any to make another trip to the postseason or even the World Series.

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In this decade alone, the Texas Rangers were back-to-back AL champs in 2010 and 2011 and the Los Angeles Dodgers the NL equivalent in 2017 and 2018.

It is the expectation, the assumption – whatever word you want to use – that the Nationals would get a few, if not the most, games on Sunday Night Baseball in 2020. That is not the case.

In the first release of the Sunday Night Baseball schedule for 2020, the leader in most appearances is… the New York Yankees with five. The rest looks like this:

Are you kidding me ESPN? To not include the World Champions even if they were a road team in any of these 16 games you have announced is astounding and disgraceful.

Your credibility to broadcast baseball is gone as far as I am concerned. You’re very clearly only in broadcasting baseball for the money and nothing else.

You gave the 2018 champion Red Sox five appearances last year. Fine. But you also include the Red Sox nearly five times EVERY year.

This team in the Nationals is in your backyard! An east-coast team in the same league as those New York Mets that you’re giving three games of coverage doesn’t even get a lick of the spotlight.

But hey, maybe that is just the continued doubt of a team that proved all doubters wrong the entire 2019 season.

They had lost their big name player in free-agency, but they overcame the odds and defeated every team in their postseason path. They were even a better team than they ever were with ‘he who is not ever named in DC’.

So what is your excuse ESPN? Are you worried that the Washington Nationals may not get their star-power back? Anthony Rendon is still a free agent and Stephen Strasburg just signed the richest pitching contract in history. But have you forgotten about Juan Soto? Max Scherzer? Postseason hero Howie Kendrick?

Not having star-power is not a good enough excuse.

Aside from the egregious omittance, there are just two teams on the slate west of the central time zone; the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants – and they play each other twice.

There is just a clear lack of concept when it comes to this schedule. It’s pathetic. Did you even watch baseball last year? Or were you too busy to notice baseball during your free trips to Disney World every summer?

I guess I don’t blame you because apparently baseball is boring right? My apologies I didn’t realize watching baseball was difficult for you shmucks.

Pathetic ESPN. Be better.