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Washington Nats in the final: where baseball was wasteland, it's blooming

2019-10-22T11:55:39.771Z


The Washington Nationals have been the laughing stock of US baseball for many years. But that has changed now. The team is in the final of the MLB - as the first team from Washington for 76 years.



One can not say that baseball in Washington DC has no tradition. Because the history of this sport in the US capital is long. In 1871, the Olympics were the city's first team. It was followed by several other clubs - including the Senators in 1901, who had until 1971 in Washington their home.

But a long story is not automatically a successful story. And the history of professional baseball in Washington could be described as "at best complicated," as the Washington Post put it, now that with the Washington Nationals for the first time in 76 years, a team from the city is back in the final of the Major League Baseball (MLB) is drafted - in the so-called World Series.

Because in the metropolis on the Potomac River, the fans have suffered a lot, they often saw defeats, only rarely had they cause for joy. And twice they have even adopted their team. In 1960, the senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Eleven years later, the newly formed Senators left Washington, settled at the gates of Dallas and since then play there as Texas Rangers.

Washington's only title is 95 years back. In the 1924 World Series, the senators defeated the New York Giants. A year later, they played again in the final series, had already led to four games against the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 - and still managed to lose the remaining three games and thus the World Series.

In 1933, the Senators got their third and last chance at the title, but were overwhelmed against the Giants and lost 1: 4. At that time, the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was called, in San Francisco, construction had begun for the Golden Gate Bridge and Alaska and Hawaii were not yet US states. It takes these historical facts to illustrate what has happened since Washington last played for Major League Baseball.

Patrick Smith Getty Images

Howie Kendrick can not believe his luck

Now it's time again. Seventy-six years after the Senators, the Washington Nationals are in the World Series. Opponents are the Houston Astros. Their last and so far only title win is just two years back. Many stars like pitcher Justin Verlander, second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Alex Bregman are also in attendance. However, no one lives from Washington's 1933 final team.

From the then World Series to the move to Texas in 1971, the Senators had completed just five seasons in 38 years with more victories than defeats. Washington had been "the laughing stock and baseball waste land," wrote the Washington Post. But when the club was gone, people in the city wondered what was worse: losing all the time or not having a baseball team?

Successful catch-up hunts

When the MLB announced in late 2004 that the Expos Montreal leave, come to Washington and would play there as nationals in the future, it took eight years until the new club first reached the playoffs - and immediately eliminated. It was followed by three more appearances in the knockout round. But each time failed the "Nats" at the opening hurdle.

This fall, it looked like the October disappointments would continue. In the wild card game, the Milwaukee Brewers led in the eighth inning 3: 1, before Washington made a terrific comeback to 4: 3 succeeded. It was the first playoff victory in club history. In the quarter-finals, a similar catch-up hunt followed. In runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers, the Nationals were in the eighth inning of the decisive fifth match again 1: 3 behind - and proved again nerve strength. The semi-final series against the St. Louis Cardinals then became a sprint. Four games, four wins - above all thanks to the towering pitchers.

Jeff Roberson AP

Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman

Starting pitchers Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin allowed only five runs in the four games. Those who only allow the opposing offensive so little, can hardly lose. In football one would speak of "Catenaccio". In baseball it's simply called "lights out pitching".

"I've been through a lot here, but this troupe - wow," says Ryan Zimmerman. The 35-year-old is the only professional who's been in the Nationals since the premiere season. Zimmerman debuted on September 1, 2005. Since then, 1688 preliminary games and 28 playoff games have been added.

"Zim" was already there when outfielder Juan Soto was only six years old and was just attending school in the Dominican Republic. Zimmermann was already wearing the famous "W" jersey when his age-matched Max Scherzer was far from becoming one of the league's most formidable pitchers and still playing for the college team at the University of Missouri. And "Zim" is now in the World Series for the first time after 15 MLB years. With the Washington Nationals.

The former baseball wasteland could be masterful ground in just a few days.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2019-10-22

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