Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are the reincarnation of the Montreal Expos, the franchise that brought Major League Baseball to Canada in 1969 but was ultimately undone by a succession of ownership crises, a failed stadium campaign, and the economic challenges of operating in a bilingual market. The move to Washington, D.C. in 2005 returned baseball to the nation's capital for the first time since the original Senators departed for Texas in 1971. The Nationals inherited a franchise with a thin trophy case but a surprisingly rich history, including the Expos' near-miss 1994 team, which had the best record in baseball when the players' strike canceled the World Series.

The Nationals built their Washington identity through exceptional homegrown talent, headlined by Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman, the franchise's first draft pick in D.C. and the man who hit the first home run in Nationals Park. Years of regular-season success were undermined by agonizing playoff exits, including multiple first-round collapses that created a narrative of postseason futility. The 2019 season shattered that narrative in the most dramatic fashion imaginable: the Nationals, seemingly dead in the water at 19-31 in late May, rallied to earn a wild-card berth and then won the World Series with an extraordinary run in which they won every road game of the postseason, clinching the title in Houston in seven games.

Nationals Park, situated along the Anacostia River in the rapidly developing Navy Yard neighborhood, has become a catalyst for one of Washington's most significant urban transformations. The Presidents Race, featuring oversized mascots of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt racing around the warning track, has become one of baseball's most beloved in-game traditions. The Nationals' fan base, drawn from the politically transient population of the D.C. metropolitan area, is still maturing, but the 2019 championship provided the kind of shared civic experience that forges lasting bonds between a franchise and its community.