Kendrick reflects on his postseason home runs
Slugger also takes a swing at those ‘cheating’ Astros
Howie Kendrick hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of Game 7 of last year’s World Series, a two-run shot off the right field foul pole at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park that gave the Washington Nationals the lead for good. According to Kendrick, the moment ranks as only the second best of his 2019 postseason, behind the grand slam he hit in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the National League Division Series that lifted Washington past the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“To be able to come up with a hit like that, I’ve dreamed about that since I was a kid,” Kendrick said of his grand slam during the Nationals’ team-produced postseason documentary, “Improbable,” which premiered over the weekend. “There’s no greater feeling. It’s the greatest moment of my career. I still talk about that to this day. I still get goose bumps about it.”
Kendrick expounded on his personal postseason home run ranking during a Zoom call hosted by MASN reporter Dan Kolko after the design of the Nationals’ World Series rings was unveiled Sunday night. The 36-year-old said his previous stint with the Dodgers and the defensive struggles he had earlier in the NLDS factored into why his Game 5 grand slam eclipsed his World Series homer.
“When you can get a little bit of retribution, that always feels good,” Kendrick told Kolko. “Without that home run, we don’t advance, we’re not where we are. It was truly special. … Everybody was counting us out the whole time, but we had so many big moments, so many guys stepping up. To be able to provide some relief after making a couple errors that series, to be able to redeem myself and help our team win, there’s no greater feeling than that.”
Kendrick didn’t participate in the Nationals’ epic Zoom call in April, when a shirtless Brian Dozier banged on a trash can with a wooden spoon to poke fun at the Astros for their sign-stealing scheme, but he managed to get in a dig at the defending American League champions Sunday.
“Everybody expected us to get steamrolled by the Astros, but even with them cheating, they still couldn’t take us out,” Kendrick said with a smile.
Ryan Zimmerman, Max Scherzer, Sean Doolittle and Aaron Barrett also joined Sunday’s call, along with Manager Dave Martinez and pitching coach Paul Menhart. Players and coaches alike said they were overcome with emotion after finally seeing the design of the rings, which the team was originally scheduled to receive before the second home game of the regular season April 4.
“I’m not going to lie: I cried,” Martinez said of the first time he saw the design. “I really did. It was emotional, a testament to all these guys right here in front of me right now and what they did all year, what they went through.”
“Pretty emotional, thinking about everything that we went through as a team last year, finally getting to see them, even if it was just through a screen,” Doolittle said. “It was really special, and I know we’re all looking forward to being back together again. We’re still optimistic about 2020, and finally getting to receive our rings as a team is going to be really, really special.”
Zimmerman and Scherzer agreed, with Scherzer describing the team’s eventual in-person reunion and ring ceremony as “the final piece to our championship.”