2019 Washington Nationals

 It seems that baseball can't escape the reality that a year ending in 19 is usually followed by a very troubling revelation the next season. 1919 had the Black Sox scandal that rocked the baseball world in 1920, and 2019 gave us the continuation of the Houston Astros cheating scandal that became public in 2020 (...and the headache that baseball had to endure for other reasons that season). While the 1919 scandal involved a team losing on purpose for underhanded reasons, 2019 involved a team using underhanded tactics to win, and the only group standing in the way in the World Series were the Nationals.

Since their move from Montreal, the Nationals had struggled to finally climb to the top of baseball. They had accumulated a few division titles in the decade plus in DC, but still never even played in the NLCS, let alone make the fall classic. They had made a switch at Manager the year before from Dusty Baker to Dave Martinez, and a poor start to 2019 had calls for Martinez to be fired. The front office stood pat with Dave and the team recovered to finish 93-69, just 4 games short of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, but more than enough to secure the top Wild Card spot.

For the Wild Card Game, the Nationals would host the Milwaukee Brewers, another long suffering franchise seeking their first title. Early homers from the Brewers put the Nationals in an early 3-0 deficit. A Trea Turner homer kept the Nats close, but they still trailed 3-1 in the 8th when Juan Soto singled with the bases loaded. A combination of poor fielding and Soto baiting the throw while running to 3rd base allowed all three runners to score and give the Nationals the 4-3 lead that would hold up in the 9th for their victory.

The pitching duo of Stephen Strasberg and Max Scherzer gave Washington their first two victories in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the series was still in a 2-2 tie heading into the finale in LA. Strasberg got the start, but LA grabbed an early 3-0 lead. The Nationals fought back and tied the game, ultimately sending the game to the 10th inning where Howie Kendrick made everyone forget his earlier error in the game and his overall poor Division Series with a grand slam to give the Nationals the 7-3 win and Washington's first playoff series win and the franchises first since Montreal won the 1981 NLDS. The NLCS was by comparison very anticlimactic as the National's pitching completely stifled the St. Louis Cardinals offense, holding them to just 6 runs overall in the 4-0 series sweep for the Expos/Nationals franchise 1st ever pennant.

The World Series saw the Nationals facing the favored Houston Astros, who had just won their 2nd pennant in 3 years and looking for their 2nd title in that span. The world didn't know yet, but the Astros accomplishments were ill gotten gains at this point, with their 2017 title run made possible by their trash can cheating, while their 2019 appearance in the WS was locked in from Jose Altuve's use of a buzzer under his jersey. Both tactics utilized the same MO; cameras recording the opposing teams signs so the Astros can determine what pitch was coming, then banging the trash can/activating the buzzer to let the hitter at the plate know if the coming pitch was a fastball or a breaking ball.

The public at large did not yet know about the Astros cheating ways, but the rumors in the baseball world were by this time running rampant, with many people from different teams reaching out to National's players to warn them of the underhanded tactics Houston was using (The Astros themselves were aware of the loose lips chatting, hence why their shift in tactics from trash cans to the more discreet buzzers). With proper warning in mind, the Nationals were able to better prep for their road games in the series and protect their pitchers, and their ability to stump the Astros in Houston would be the difference maker. The 2019 World Series turned out to be the first ever to see the road team win every game, as the Nationals prevailed in 7 games to claim their 1st title in history.

The highlight season for the former #1 draft pick was without question 2019. Strasburg finished 5th in Cy Young voting and even had some MVP votes as he led the NL with 18 Wins and 209 Innings. He also led Washington with 251 Strikeouts. He came out of the bullpen to secure the victory in the Wild Card game, then added a Win in both the NLDS and NLCS. He was the World Series MVP with 2 more Wins, giving him 5 overall for October.

Finishing 3rd for the Cy Young and making the all star team, Max Scherzer led the staff with a 2.92 ERA. He added a Win in the NLDS, NLCS and World Series before neck spasms sidelined him the the end of the fall classic.

The rest of the major rotation options. Corbin was the winning pitcher when the Nationals clinched their 1st ever pennant as well as the World Series. Sanchez added a Win of his own in the NLCS sweep.

Doolittle started the year as the teams Closer and secured 29 Saves before an injury stint had the team bring in Daniel Hudson to be the new Closer. Upon his return, Doolittle played the role of set-up and Hudson would get 6 Saves of his own to close the year. Hudson would stay Closer into October, where he'd get the Save in the Wild Card game as well as Game 2 of the NLDS. He was the winning pitcher in Game 5 as well. He added a couple more Saves in the NLCS sweep before he stepped away shortly for the birth of his child. Doolittle was able to step back in as Closer for the Save in Game 1 of the World Series. Hudson would be back later and pitch the final outs of the title conquest.

Bullpen and the rest of the utilized arms for the season. What you see is the end of the line in the career of Fernando Rodney, as he was signed to a minor league deal and even at age 42, still managed to flash enough talent to earn playing time in the majors, where he would finally win a World Series.

Rendon would finish 3rd for MVP as he would lead baseball with 126 RBI in addition to his all star selection and Silver Slugger award. He also led the NL with 44 Doubles, led the team with a .319 Average, 174 Hits and 117 Runs. He hit 3 Home Runs in the postseason including 2 in the World Series.

Howie Kendrick was having a very poor October going into Game 5 of the NLDS, but he took off right then and there. After hitting the grand slam to ensure victory over the Dodgers, then went 5-15 against the Cardinals in the NLCS sweep that included 4 Doubles, 4 RBI and 4 Runs as he took home the NLCS MVP award.

Soto would go on to chase high paying contracts, as by age 20 he would already complete the chase for a ring. His 34 Home Runs tied Rendon for the team lead as he finished top 10 in MVP, and his career was still just launching.

Other regular faces in the starting lineup. Turner would top the team with 35 Stolen Bases. Robles would earn a few looks in the Rookie of the Year vote as well.

The bench in the capital. 17-20 is nice for some power, but I was expecting more for KieBOOM to be honest.

The Nationals began their existence in 2005, and their first draft pick ever was Ryan Zimmerman, who was called up later that September. Every season of Nationals baseball had included Zimmerman. By 2019, it was clear that the end was not far off for Ryan as he was regulated to more of a role player than a starter, but there was no way that the Nationals were going to win their first title without Mr. National himself contributing.  He had the honor of hitting the first World Series Home Run in Nationals history when he went deep in the 2nd inning of Game 1, a game Washington won 5-4.