There’s finally joy in Mudville
There’s so much breaking news this week, it’s hard to keep up with. On the foreign policy front, after Donald Trump impulsively withdrew all American troops from Syria, Turkey launched a war in northern Syria against our loyal allies, the Kurds. Even though they fought alongside us for years, shoulder-toshoulder, against ISIS, Trump threw the Kurds under the bus, insisting we owed them nothing, and, besides, “they are no angels.”
On the home front, the House of Representatives voted 35460 to condemn Trump’s sudden withdrawal of American forces from Syria, with more than two-thirds of House Republicans voting against their president. After which, Trump summoned congressional leaders to the White House to discuss the situation in Syria, only to blow up the meeting by calling Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “third-rate politician.” Later, he also threw his puppy-dog Lindsey Graham under the bus, accusing him of wanting to keep American troops in the Middle East “for a thousand years.” And, sadly, the nation lost a great leader with the death of Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Meanwhile, the 12 leading candidates in the 2020 Democratic primary, meeting on stage for the party’s fourth debate, engaged in a lively exchange over Medicare-forall, gun control, reproductive rights, income inequality, jobs, and impeachment. Both Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg had a good night. Bernie Sanders proved that, despite a recent heart attack, he’s still very much in the game. While new front-runner Elizabeth Warren, who suffered the most slings and arrows, more than held her own. And Joe Biden? Well, Joe was Joe.
Yes, it was a week of big news. Breaking news. Historic news. But nothing could match the biggest news of all, the news that really electrified the nation’s capital and overshadowed everything else: the Washington Nationals won the National League Championship and advanced to the World Series. Take it from me. In the media center for the Democratic debate, out in Westerville, Ohio, displaced Washington reporters were only half watching the debate. Most of us, including yours truly, were too busy following the Nats game play-byplay on our iPhones.
And no wonder. As Joe Biden would say, this is a “big f-ing deal.” The last time a Washington baseball team made it to the World Series was in 1933, 86 years ago: when FDR was president, America had only experienced one World War, there were only 48 states, and gasoline sold for 18 cents a gallon. Congress adjourned early, so members could make it to Griffith Stadium, but the “Senators” still lost to the Giants, four games to one. It’s been a long wait since.
What makes the Nats spectacular success even more satisfying this year is the fact that it looked so unlikely early in the season. They’d lost star outfielder Bryce Harper to the Phillies. They started out in a slump. They slugged slowly, barely staying even, through the summer. Then, thanks to ace pitchers Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg and sluggers Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Howie Kendrick and Ryan Zimmerman, they suddenly came alive and hit the post-season like a runaway train: knocking out the Brewers in the wild-card game, edging out the Dodgers for the division title, and then humiliating the Cardinals by winning four in a row to make it to the World Series.
Along the way, the Nats also had a lot of fun. They danced in the dugout. They danced on the field. And, thanks to sparkplug Gerardo Parra’s 3-yearold daughter, they adopted the “Baby Shark Song” as the team’s new fight song. You haven’t lived until you’ve slapped your hands together to the Baby Shark Song, along with 40,000 other delirious Nats fans.
For Nats fans, the fact that it’s been so long and prospects for this season seemed so unlikely makes the joy in Mudville all the sweeter. But it’s bigger than that. It’s about a lot more than baseball. It’s about lifting up the spirit of Washington. It’s an affirmation of the exciting, new, urban experience Washington has become. It’s the satisfaction that Washington will now be known for something other than a corrupt president, a do-nothing Congress, and a losing football team whose name many people won’t even utter.
Yes, there’s important work to be done in Washington. We have to pass a budget, resolve the chaos in Syria, and impeach the president. But all that’s just going to have to wait. We have to win the World Series first. Go NATS!