On October 9th of 2025, the Washington Nationals are at home, after failing to miss the playoffs yet again. The franchise is undergoing a major transition, with Paul Toboni taking over as President of Baseball
Operations. However, six years ago, things were a lot different. October 9th was the day the Washington Nationals conquered their long standing demons en route to a World Series title.
For years, the NLDS was the end of the road for the Washington Nationals. Every year they made the playoffs, they got eliminated in the NLDS, always in heartbreaking fashion. It happened in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Each season they were dominant in the regular season and won their division, but could not get over the hump.
As we know, 2019 was different. It was not a smooth regular season. The team famously started the season 19-31 before turning things around and securing a Wild Card berth. That Wild Card game was not easy either. The Nats had their backs against the wall the whole game before Juan Soto saved the day with a little help from Trent Grisham.
That set up yet another NLDS. They would be playing against a 106 win Dodgers team that was an absolute juggernaut. The Dodgers had made the World Series each of the prior two seasons, and the 2019 team was arguably more talented than both of those teams.
The odds were stacked against the Nats, as they had been throughout the season. It was a hard fought series, but after the teams split the first four games, the series would be decided by a winner take-all game 5. The Nats were no strangers to Game 5’s. They lost in 5 games in 2012, 2016 and 2017.
When the Nats gave up three runs in the first two innings, it felt like deja vu. At least this time Nats fans would be put out of their misery early in the game instead of suffering a late inning collapse like 2012. With Walker Buehler dealing, things were looking grim.
After the Nats got a run home in the 6th, the stage was set for a big finish late in the game. The Nationals had a rally going in the 7th inning, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts extinguished the threat by turning to his ace Clayton Kershaw, who struck out Adam Eaton.
With Kershaw on the bump, things looked dire for the Nats again. However, the middle of the lineup was up. Anthony Rendon led off the inning by providing the swing of his life. On a slider well below the zone, Rendon got his barrel to it and sent it over the fence.
Before you could even fully soak in the Rendon homer, 20 year old phenom Juan Soto sent a titanic blast halfway up the Dodgers Stadium bleachers. It was a hanging slider and Soto made Clayton Kershaw pay.
It was an agonizing moment for Kershaw, who had playoff scars but pure jubilation for the Nationals and all Nats fans. The team had new life and had risen from the dead yet again. However, it was far from over. The game was still tied and eventually went into extra innings.
That leads us to man of the moment. Howie Kendrick was having an insane late career revival. Howie Kendrick missed most of the 2018 season due to an achilles tear. His achilles tear was actually why the Nats called up a 19 year old Juan Soto in 2018.
Now the two were teammates and both had insane seasons. In the regular season, Kendrick hit .344 with a .966 OPS. He was having his best offensive season at 35 years old coming off a torn achilles. Kendrick could not play every day because of his defense. Remember this was before the universal DH, so Howie had to play in the field.
However, he was in the lineup on October 9th and came up in a massive spot in the 10th inning. Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly got himself into a bit of a pickle in his second inning of work. He walked Adam Eaton before allowing a ground rule double to Anthony Rendon. After his homer in the 8th, the Dodgers had seen enough of Juan Soto and decided to intentionally walk him.
Now it was time, it was Howie Kendrick’s moment. His whole season and career had been leading up to this moment. Bases loaded, top of the 10th and a chance to finally exorcize the Nationals NLDS demons. It was the moment to deliver and Howie Kendrick rose to the occasion.
The veteran blasted a ball to right center field that left the yard. Howie Kendrick had done it. He had hit a grand slam to make it 7-3. The nightmares of years past were now gone thanks to one swing of the bat. It was one of the great moments in club history. Kendrick could not contain his excitement as he rounded the bases triumphantly.
Of course, this moment would not mean quite as much if the fight were not finished. As we know, the fight was finished. They won that game 7-3 and advanced to the NLCS for the first time in team history. We all know what happened next, and we may talk about some of those moments at a later date.
Now, six years later, where are these characters? Well, not many are with the Nats. We know where Juan Soto and Anthony Rendon are up to, but where is Howie? What happened to the man that delivered two of the great moments in team history?
Well, he played one more season in 2020 before retiring. Now, Howie Kendrick is working at a place that houses many former Nationals. That would be the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Kendrick now works there as a special assistant to the GM.
Even if he is with the enemy now, we will never not love Howie. He was the man who delivered in the biggest moments and will always be beloved for that. This home run might be overshadowed by another Howie Kendrick playoff moment, but Nats fans will never forget what happened six years ago today.
