- [Clara] It's October 30th, 2019.
We're in Houston for game seven of the World Series
between the can't-quit-won't-quit, Washington Nationals
and the we-love-winning- so-we-do-it-a-lot, Astros.
It's not looking great for DC,
with the home team ahead 2-1
here in the seventh inning,
but before we find out the fate of the underdogs
and the overdogs in this fight,
we have to rewind.
This episode of "Rewinder" is presented by T-Mobile,
America's largest 5G network.
Right now, Astros fans might be feeling kinda relaxed.
This guy's looking at his phone.
This guy's bored.
She's introducing her grandson to someone.
The late game score is reassuring,
but so is the fact that they're playing the Nats.
The Nats don't win in the playoffs.
I mean, obviously they won some games to get here,
but historically, they cannot get it done.
In 2005, the Montreal Expos
became the Washington Nationals
bringing baseball back to the nation's capital
for the first time since the seventies.
Not good baseball,
but all those losing seasons afforded them
two number one, highly anticipated draft picks in a row.
Once Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper
joined forces in 2012,
they ushered in the Nats first ever winning season
which kinda undersells the turnaround.
This team had the best record in baseball.
By fall, they were World Series favorites.
They had two of the best in baseball.
Take that to the postseason and run it.
What's that?
They're not gonna play one of those two guys,
'cause he's a year removed from surgery,
even though he seems to be pretty healed,
and even though, you know, there's a championship within reach?
"Correct," said GM Mike Rizzo.
He figured the Nats would be bigger and better favorites
down the line.
So he'd save Strasburg's arm
for the deep playoff runs of the future.
It was not a popular decision.
Resting Stras guaranteed nothing
except for a disappointing 2012 postseason.
Nats were out in the NLDS
and Rizzo's decision became less and less popular
as the years wore on.
Despite preseason predictions of glory,
despite adding Max Scherzer at great expense,
a terrible pattern developed.
One entitled the Nats Can't Make Playoff Runs.
There were some great individual performances
in this stretch,
but that kinda just makes the early exits worse, huh?
Under manager Dusty Baker,
there were some great regular seasons,
Wait, that also makes it worse.
After the 2017 flame out, the Nats fired Dusty Baker,
another highly unpopular move,
especially considering the 2018 season was do or die.
Bryce Harper was gonna be a free agent.
It was their last year to capitalize
on having perhaps the best baseball player on their team.
Could they finally break free
of the pattern of disappointment?
Uh-oh, that's not gonna help.
Oh crap.
No, no, they cannot break the pattern of disappointment.
And in the off season,
Harper headed to division rival the Philadelphia Phillies
which was a bit too much
for the already quite frustrated Nats fans to bear.
Okay, the Nats lost their franchise player.
Sure, but they still had a lot of talent.
They just had to figure out
who they were gonna be post-Harper.
Oh no, they picked a bad team.
End of May, Washington owned
the fifth worst record in baseball.
Their season was declared lost or worse.
But hold on, this is the same team that's here.
The World Series, what the hell?
So while these Astros fans are all
they were 19 and 31 in May, relax, meet my grandson.
These Astros fans might be a little more nervous,
because they remember what Washington has done
since May.
First, the Nats retooled their worst in baseball bullpen,
jettisoning some guys who were boring holes in the boat,
and hauling in some guys who could row.
Plus Max Scherzer was like,
"Hey, aren't I the franchise player, not Bryce Harper?"
And stepped up big time,
including pitching well with a broken nose.
That's not eye black, that's blood trapped under the skin
from his broken nose.
In a heroic turnaround that gave fans whiplash,
but in a good way, the Nats immediately followed
that 19 and 31 start with a 74 and 38 finish.
And they made the Wild Card game
where they found themselves down 3-1
in the bottom of the eighth.
And just as I started adding another column
to my Nats Can't Make Playoff runs chart,
the rally-back Nats, rallied back.
They also got come-from-behind wins
in elimination game four and five of the NLDS.
This Nats team had a new identity.
It wasn't always easy,
it wasn't always a super-fun drama-free ride for fans,
but this team could win in the postseason.
And sometimes it was a super-fun drama-free ride for fans,
like when they went on to sweep the NLCS,
and earn their first trip to the big show,
where they find themselves down in game seven
against the Houston Astros.
And I know I've been ragging on these Astro fans a lot,
but I don't feel bad, 'cause they're likely super-wealthy.
Seats behind home plate are expensive.
And these were particularly expensive,
'cause of the Astros' recent dominance.
Now the Astros have certainly had some dark moments
in their recent past,
but they don't really talk about that too much anymore,
'cause look, three years in a row of 100-plus wins.
Oh, and they won the World Series in 2017.
That's mostly what they like to talk about.
How'd the Astros get so good?
Well, the bleak years
let them use the draft and their farm system to rebuild.
And they were pretty good at drafting.
(metallic clunk)
What's that noise?
Anyway, they also traded for some Ace's
(metallic clunk)
and that's it, that's how they got better.
(metallic clunk)
Nothing else helped them at all.
It was just some genuine great work
from the executives down through the players.
(metallic clunk)
But among all this well-earned success
the 2018 season was a bit of a downer.
Great regular season, but they got eliminated
in the ALCS.
That let down aside, nobody doubted the Astros this season.
Their 2019 roster had seven all-stars.
Wait, that's only six.
Ah, there's the seventh.
Trading for Greinke was a win now move.
There's no waiting, there's no considering the future.
There's only an extremely stacked deck in 2019.
Good luck all other teams.
Even the Astros' own GM couldn't believe
how good his team was.
And while it might've seemed like all the Astros
would have to do in October
is collect their commissioner's trophy,
the postseason hasn't been a cakewalk.
And part of that was because Greinke
wasn't as great as everyone thought he'd be.
He had struggled in the postseason before,
but nobody felt the need to bring that up
until his ALDS game three performance.
Zach was again not great in game one of the ALCS.
So I'm guessing the Astros were a little nervous
in game three of the World Series.
They were trailing by two games and had to count on Greinke.
But the 36-year-old survived.
He allowed seven hits and 10 runners on base
which sounds bad until I tell you
that he only let through one run.
He didn't make it easy on himself.
He didn't make it drama-free.
But the ace
the Astros mortgaged their future for, survived.
Houston took the game and the next one too,
tying up the series.
"Whatever," said the Nationals.
Max Scherzer's pitching game five, oh shit.
Scherzer woke up the morning of game five
with a neck injury so debilitating
he could not raise his hand over his head.
He couldn't dress himself, he couldn't turn his head
to talk to reporters in a press conference,
and also, he couldn't pitch.
The Nats lost Game five and faced elimination.
Before game six, I bet Nats fans were saying,
"Good thing we rested Stras' arm in 2012,
'cause we're gonna need it tonight."
Just kidding, I know they weren't saying that.
They'll never forgive Rizzo for 2012.
My point is the pressure was on Strasburg,
and I think he might be one of those sickos
who thrives under pressure.
Stras did give up two runs in the first inning,
likely because he was tipping his pitches.
But pitching coach Paul Menhart noted it
and Strasburg altered his approach.
There would be no more runs for the Astros.
Strasburg only allowed five hits
and struck out seven in just over eight innings.
And despite a very odd interference call,
Washington lived another day.
Onto game seven, where Scherzer
was pumped full of cortisone.
Okay, maybe not full, and ready to play.
Okay, maybe not totally ready.
He didn't quite look like himself.
He hung tough, but gave up two runs
and was taken out after the fifth.
His counterpart, Greinke, for the second time this series
proved the Astros made the right call
trading their future for him.
Through the sixth, he'd allowed only two base runners total,
but he did make one mistake in the top of the seventh,
and Anthony Rendon is the kind of guy
who can make you pay for a mistake.
With a solo homer, the Nats were down just one.
Greinke pitched very carefully to Nats young phenom
Juan Soto, but walked him.
And that's why right now, Greinke's over here
sitting and trying to will his team to a championship
and reliever, Will Harris is over here standing
and trying to pitch his team to a championship.
Greinke had only thrown 80 pitches.
He had really only made one mistake
yet manager A.J. Hinch pulled him.
But hey, how can you blame Hinch?
Look who was up next and looking locked in.
A 36-year-old fresh off an Achilles rupture?
Yep. Howie Kendrick has had his ability doubted many times
throughout his career,
well, before his career even started, really,
when he was a 5'7", 110-pound
unrecruited high school senior.
He was cut from eight community college teams
before landing at St. John's River.
He barely made the pros
drafted in the 10th round by the Angels,
but he got called up in '06,
eat it, eight community colleges,
and his bat looked promising,
eat it, all other teams who ignored him
through nine rounds of the draft.
But a little slump in 09 got him booted down to the minors.
And Kendrick didn't wanna eat it.
And I don't wanna say "eat it" to him.
It turned out, he needed the lower pressure environment.
Howie found his game again
and was even an all-star in 2011.
In the middle of the 2017 season,
Washington traded for the then 34-year-old
to come off the bench.
Wasn't a huge transaction, didn't garner much attention,
but Howie had value,
he hit well, and also the 12-year veteran was a good leader
to the extent that the young stars called him Dad.
So Washington signed him to a two-year contract
after the 2017 season.
And then in May of the following year
Kendrick ruptured his Achilles.
While his return was doubted by even his own team,
we know Howie can persevere through doubt.
He started the season off the bench,
but he soon proved that was a ridiculous place to put him.
Rizzo called it a magical season for Kendrick.
And guess what?
He had a pretty magical postseason too.
And that's not all,
he was MVP of the NLCS.
So yes, Kendrick is a 14-year vet
17 months removed from an injury so severe,
it's described as a rupture, but he's also a formidable bat,
a few weeks removed from being a hero.
So that's why the Astros pulled Greinke
and put in their red hot reliever.
And perhaps that's why that reliever
doesn't look super confident,
even though he just threw Kendrick, strike one.
The Astros have been to the World Series before
and have only added stars to their roster since then.
They're supposed to be here now.
Well, they're supposed to be
in the World Series with a lead,
maybe not, game seven.
The Nats for many years, including a chunk of this one,
seemed like a team that would never get to the World Series.
They were not supposed to be here
and yet... and sure they're down and the pressure's on,
but that's kinda their thing.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Commentator] 176 against a-
(ball whacks)
That's down the right field line into the corner.
This ball is gone for a home run.
(crowd cheers)
Nationals on top.
Howie Kendrick has made it 3-2, off the pole in right.
(switch clicks)
- [Clara] Okay, that was the seventh innings.
So I should provide some closure.
With momentum on their side and the rest of the game,
and the title, belong to the Nats.
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For Secret Base, I'm Clara Morris.
Goodnight and good game.