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...who remembers the last time a Washington baseball team played in the World Series. It was in 1933, 86 years ago. The next time is tonight. During 33 of those years, we didn’t even have a baseball team in Washington. That makes the dry spell a little less remarkable, though perhaps even more painful. But even a 53 year dry spell is massive (longer than the one experienced by the Cleveland Indians — 1954 until 1995 — but not as long a wait as Chicago Cubs fans endured — 1945 until 2016). Actually, Ted Lerner, owner of the Washington Nationals,...

First in war, first in peace and now champions of the National League. The Washington Nationals defeated the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4, on Tuesday night to complete a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series and bring the nation's capital its first pennant since 1933. Washington will play American League champions, either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros, in the 115th World Series, which starts next week. The newly crowned NL champions broke open Tuesday night's game early, plating seven runs in the first inning before a raucous partisan crowd at Nationals Park. Washington faced a threat from...

The Washington Nationals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-3, in 10 innings in Game 5 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Washington advances to the NL Championship Series to face the St. Louis Cardinals. The Nationals fought their way back to take the lead after they entered the ninth inning tied 3-3.

The Nationals have agreed to a deal with veteran lefty Patrick Corbin, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Corbin, a client of ISE Baseball, has landed a $140MM guarantee over a six-year term, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets. Patrick Corbin | Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports Deferrals will reduce the true, present-day value of the deal, but it’s still a huge sum. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the deferrals will be relatively minor, though details aren’t yet known. There will not be an opt-out opportunity in the deal, Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com tweets....

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amassed tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt in part by purchasing baseball tickets to Washington Nationals games, according to a Washington Post review of Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures and information provided by the White House. Kavanaugh has reported having up to $200,000 in credit card debt during the past 10 years, according to the Post's report. In 2006 — the year he was confirmed as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit — he reported having between $60,000 to $200,000 in debt.

It’s not just the Mets who entered the NL East with high hopes and have fallen flat. It’s July 5, and Washington has a losing record. The 42-43 Nationals are scrambling to collect themselves. After getting swept for the third time since the start of June and dropping their season-high fifth straight game Wednesday, the Nationals held a players-only meeting after a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox. According to the Washington Post’s account, Max Scherzer was the leader of the meeting, which wasn’t officially called by one person, as veterans made sure the younger players stuck around.

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals made an early summer splash on Monday evening, acquiring right-handed closer Kelvin Herrera from the Royals in exchange for a trio of Minor Leaguers: infielder Kelvin Gutierrez, outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Yohanse Morel. The trade helps bolster Washington's bullpen, which has become something of a midsummer tradition, by adding another reliever with experience pitching in high-leverage and big-game situations. And Herrera has been effective this season, recording a 1.05 ERA with 14 saves, 22 strikeouts and two walks allowed in 27 games for Kansas City. To acquire Herrera, who will be a free agent at...

The 2017 Major League Baseball Playoffs Start Today (Tuesday, October 3, 2017 with the Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card game) Wednesday, October 4, 2017: Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Wild Card game) Thu, Oct. 5, 2017: ALDS 1 starts (Twins/Yankees vs. Indians) ALDS 2: Red Sox/Astros Friday, Oct. 6, 2017: NLDS 1 starts (Rockies/Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers) NLDS 2: Cubs vs. Nationals My predictions: ALWC: Yankees over Twins NLWC: Diamondbacks over Rockies ALDS 1: Yankees over Indians in 5 ALDS 2: Astros over Red Sox in 5 NLDS 1: Dodgers...

WASHINGTON -- Stephen Strasburg brought the Nationals to the cusp of clinching the National League East on Sunday afternoon by tossing eight shutout innings in Washington's 3-2 victory over the Phillies at Nationals Park, and the Braves' win over the Marlins hours later pushed Washington into the postseason as the division winner. After the final out was made in Washington, some fans remained in their seats to watch the conclusion of the game in Atlanta on the scoreboard, waiting to see if a celebration was forthcoming. A few Nationals went to the dugout at times to watch, but the team...

We knew the Washington Nationals’ bullpen was bad, but we figured the damage they did would be limited to games. Apparently, we were wrong. One Nationals fan grew so frustrated with the team’s relievers that he made sure to take shots at them in his obituary. A 68-year-old Nationals fan named Patrick Killebrew died peacefully June 20 “after watching the Washington Nationals relief pitchers blow yet another lead.” Yeah, that’s how his obituary reads in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. There’s another shot taken at the team’s bullpen, so we’ll just post the entire obituary that ran in the Times-Dispatch. KILLEBREW, Patrick,...

"You're always in need of left-handed pitching, left-handed hitting, and in need of speed," he said. "I think that's the number one thing that's missing, I think, in the game is speed. You know, with the need for minorities, you can help yourself — you've got a better chance of getting some speed with Latin and African-Americans. "I'm not being racist," he added. "That's just how it is."

Hours after firing Matt Williams as the Washington Nationals’ manager last month, general manager Mike Rizzo said he’d prefer to have someone with “some type of managerial experience, especially at the major league level” fill that role in future seasons. In Dusty Baker, the Nationals found a well-suited candidate. Baker, 66, was hired to be the Nationals’ next manager on Tuesday, stepping in after Williams was fired after just two seasons.

he Washington Nationals have been mired in turmoil over the past week, but Max Scherzer made the pain of dugout brawls and clubhouse chaos disappear Saturday night as he twirled his second no-hitter of the season in a 2-0 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field. Scherzer's the second pitcher to record two no-hitters in the regular season since 1973. The other, according to B/R Insights, is Nolan Ryan. Washington's ace recorded 17 strikeouts in the win—seven more than he notched in his no-hit effort on June 20 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 17 strikeouts also tied Ryan...

A praying mantis interacts with Florida players during today's Marlins/Nationals game. Some enjoy the mantis's company, other are less than amused. One freaks out when the mantis jumps on him which sends the announcers into a laughing fit.

In the days leading up to the Major League Baseball All-Star game, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) erroneously called Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson the manager of the “National Mets.” Reid made the comments on the Senate floor July 11, during an argument about changing filibuster rules for presidential nominees.

On Tuesday's "Mornings on the Mall" on WMAL-FM in Washington DC, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) revealed that it was the Obama Administration that allowed hundreds of Chinese nationals to work in a sensitive area of NASA's Langley Research Center. One of the nationals was arrested Monday at Dulles airport as he was trying to leave the country when he failed to disclose all of the electronics he was taking with him. An affidavit says Bo Jiang was under investigation for possible violations of the Arms Control Export Act and that he had previously taken a NASA laptop to China that...

One of Andrew Feffer's jobs is getting Washington Nationals fans to come to the ballpark. But this year, the team's chief operating officer has another goal: keeping Philadelphia Phillies fans out. Since the baseball franchise left Montreal for Washington, D.C., in 2005, the Nationals pastime has been losing games. They haven't yet had a winning season. Meanwhile, their rivals 125 miles up I-95 have been one of the best teams in the game. With seats in Philly's Citizens Bank Park hard to come by, Phillies fans have taken to descending on Nationals Park whenever their team pays a visit. Two...

Today, Bryce Harper will be in a Major League uniform for the Washington Nationals as they take on the Los Angeles Dodgers. This day is a culmination of three years of hype surrounding him. After being the number one overall pick in 2010, he seemed to languish in the minor leagues. Most experts figured he would be called up late in the season to bolster the Nationals who would inevitably be out of contention and it would give him some low pressure big league at bats. That was not the case.

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was abducted by gunmen Wednesday from his home in his native Venezuela. Ramos, 24, was taken away in an SUV by four armed men in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state, Kathe Vilera, spokeswoman for the catcher's Venezuelan League team, said through her official Twitter account. "This is sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped," she said. Ramos was playing winter ball with the Aragua Tigers. She said the rising Major League Baseball star was kidnapped at 6:45 p.m. local time (2315 GMT) and that police have been notified. Santa Ines lies...

Paying tribute to the nation's heroes would seem to be a perfect fit for the nation's pastime. Not so fast, says Major League Baseball. The Washington Nationals had planned to honor the Navy SEALs who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan by wearing special tribute hats on the field, but that plan didn't pass muster with league officials.