Right now, the Brewers are having a parade for their first ever World Series title. This time seven years ago, it was the 2019 Nationals who forever put their names in the baseball history books. Late on the evening of October 30th, 2019, Daniel Hudson struck out Michael Brantley to give the Nats their first World Series championship.
As Nationals fans, I am sure most of you remember exactly where you were in that moment. For me, I was an 18 year old in the basement with my family, jumping up and down as my favorite team finally got over the hump. That night, we walked around Georgetown where there were honking cars and people celebrating in the streets. It was a truly beautiful moment that brought the city together.
This was a very interesting point in my life as well. As some of you know, I was battling cancer in 2019, and undergoing chemotherapy. Despite that, I was healthy enough to celebrate and even go to many of the games. My doctors gave me time off of the stronger drugs, so I could be present for that moment in Nats history.
This is not meant to be a sob story, just more context about what that moment meant to me. That team provided me with joy in a very difficult part of my life. October 30th, 2019 was one of the greatest days of my life, up there with when I rang the bell at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and when I got this job to write about the Nats for Federal Baseball.
I did not go to Houston for game 7, but I went to the Wild Card game, and several of the World Series games. Those World Series games were amazing experiences despite the fact we lost every home game. Getting to share that with my family is a blessing I will never forget.
The game itself was such a tense and exhilarating contest. After the 6th inning, you were beginning to get this helpless feeling. I knew the Nats were not out of it, because the 2019 Nationals were never out of a game. However, Zack Greinke was rolling and the Astros were an elite team themselves.
That 2019 Nats team was impossible to kill though. In the 7th inning, the Nats struck. Anthony Rendon got things started as he did so many times that year. He took Greinke deep to cut the lead in half and get the boys on the board. His legacy outside of DC is pretty tarnished, but Nats fans will always remember how amazing Rendon was. He was so clutch and the moment was never too big for him.
Following a Juan Soto walk, Greinke was surprisingly done. It felt like a quick trigger at the time, and it did not work out for the Astros. As we all know, Howie Kendrick delivered the most memorable clang of my lifetime and gave the Nats a lead they would never relinquish.
That night was the peak of Nats baseball, and I truly hope we can get back to that one day. In that moment, the capital of the United States was the capital of the baseball world. After falling short so many times in the 2010’s, the Nats finally got over the hump.
The likes of Rendon, Kendrick, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Sean Doolittle, Daniel Hudson and everyone else on that roster will be heroes forever. It was a season that I will never forget, and I don’t think any Nats fans will. There were so many magical moments, and when the dust settled, the Washington Nationals were on top of the baseball world.
October 30th, 2019 is a date that will live in glory for the rest of my days. Baseball was my first love, and when I was at a difficult moment in my life, baseball made things so much easier. I have been cancer free for over 5 years now, and still follow the Nats as closely as ever.
Now that I have told my story about October 30th, I want you guys to share as well. What are your memories about the Nats winning the World Series? How did you celebrate and react when the Nationals won it all? This is a special day for all Nats fans. Hopefully this is not the last World Series title we see!
