Washington Nationals: Waiting for the banner to drop

With the MLB season being delayed due to the coronavirus, Washington Nationals fans are being forced to do more of what they have done since 2005: wait.

Continue to soak it in, Washington Nationals fans. Your team finally climbed to the top of baseball’s greatest mountain and won their first World Series title. Even though we are all desperately waiting for baseball to return and the banner to be unveiled in our nation’s capital, this time away presents a great opportunity to look back rather than looking forward.

I encourage you to return to the era in DC where we desperately hoped for NL East titles and deep playoff runs- only to be disappointed by an abrupt and heart-wrenching early exit. It is time to appreciate the moments that defined this era of failure and instead look at them as the moments that lead to the greatest accomplishment possible.

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Turn back to 2010, not to focus on the ghastly 69-93 record, but instead to witness the first signs of greatness from a now World Series MVP as he toed the rubber for the first time on a hot June evening at Nationals Park. Appreciate that 14-strikeout performance and refuse to forget the growing pains as Stephen Strasburg endured injuries, shutdowns, and rocky roads on his way to becoming lights out in an unforgettable 2019 run.

Remember 2011, when a 32-year-old Jayson Werth accepted a gargantuan 7-yr, $126 million contract offer from our Nats. Do not ignore all the analyst reports that argue it was an incredibly shortsighted decision and that the Washington Nationals made him one of the most overpaid athletes in the country. We know better- because we know that Werth paved the way for a new era of baseball in Washington. He said yes to Mike Rizzo and the Lerners when others did not want to, and set the Nats on course to their future of winning seasons and playoff berths. In 2019, I think fans can agree that his contract was worth every penny.

Remind yourself of the heartbreak that was 2012. The shutdown of the ace, the 98-win season erased by an NLDS exit and the slap in the face that was the four-run top of the 9th inning. Do not ignore those mental images of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrating in front of our home crowd. Instead, acknowledge that this made the 2019 NLCS that much better- when we celebrated a four-game sweep on that same field against that same opponent to clinch the first pennant in program history.

Do not forget 2016 and 2017. When 95 and 97-win seasons were once again met with first-round playoff losses. Remember the experts who began to question whether or not there was a curse on DC sports. Remember their comments about talent being wasted and the never-ending talk of the Nats being overrated. Remember being written-off by everyone who said that this was a program built on choking when it matters most- because those same people are much quieter today.

Lastly, remember May. Remember 19-31. Remember the failures and the frustrations. As we patiently await the World Series Champions banner to drop from the rafters of Nats park, remind yourself of all the adversity along the way- because that adversity is what makes this wait entirely worth it.