Red-clad fans laud chompin’ champs
Rally day: Washington honors hometown heroes
WASHINGTON — The song “Baby Shark” blared over loudspeakers and a wave of red washed across this politically blue capital Saturday as Nationals fans lined the city’s version of the Canyon of Heroes to rejoice in Washington’s first World Series victory since 1924.
“We just felt it was a once-in-alifetime experience,” said Bridget Chapin, who came from Burke, Virginia, with her husband, Mark, for the parade along Constitution Avenue and a rally a few blocks from the Capitol.
Nick Hashimoto of Dulles, Virginia, was among those who arrived at 5 a.m. to snag a front-row spot. He brought his own baby shark toy in honor of backup outfielder Gerardo Parra’s walk-up song, which began as a parental tribute to the musical taste of his 2-year-old daughter and ended up as a rallying cry that united fans at Nationals Park and his teammates.
As “Baby Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo” played on a crisp morning, early risers joined in with the trademark response — arms extended in a chomping motion. Chants of “Let’s go Nats!” resonated from the crowd hours before they were to hear from the team.
“I’ve met all these people today. I’ve got new friends,” said Kimberly Ballou of Silver Spring.
The Nationals got a hero’s welcome home from tens of thousands of people in a city that had thirsted for a baseball champion for nearly a century. The Nationals gave them that by winning in seven games over the Houston Astros; the clincher came on the road Wednesday night.
At a rally after the parade, team officials, Nationals manager Dave Martinez and several players talked to the cheering fans about what their support and the great season meant to them.
Nationals veteran slugger Howie Kendrick, 36, told the crowd that when he came to the Nationals in 2017 “I was thinking about retiring. This city taught me to love baseball again.”
“I just wish they could have won in DC,” said Ronald Saunders of Washington, who came with a Little League team that was marching in the parade.
The crowd along the route was deeply packed. Cheers went up and fans waved red streamers, hand towels and signs that said “Fight Finished” as the players rode by on the open top of doubledecker buses.
Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo, a cigar in his mouth, jumped off with the World Series trophy to show the fans lining the barricades and slap high-fives. Manager Martinez also got in on the fun.
“We know what this title means to DC, a true baseball town, from the Senators to the Grays and now the Nationals,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the rally. “By finishing the fight you have brought a tremendous amount of joy to our town and inspired a new generation of players and Nationals fans.”
Bowser added: “We are deeply proud of you and I think we should do it again next year. What do you think?” Then she started a chant of “Back to back! Back to back!”
Martinez said he liked to hear the mayor pushing for back-to-back championships, and said: “I get it. I’m all in. But let me enjoy this one first. I don’t know if my heart can take any more of this right now. I need to just step back and enjoy this.”
Martinez, who had a heart procedure recently, said that during the Series, fans were shouting at him: “Your heart, your heart. All this has cured my heart.”
Nationals owner Ted Lerner told the crowd that even though it took 95 years, “this was worth the wait.”
And he played off the “Baby Shark” theme once more, saying “From now on, you can call me ‘Grandpa Shark.’ ’’