When the Washington Nationals went on the road and won the first two games of the World Series in Houston, Games 3-5 in D.C., this weekend suddenly became rife with potential.
The possibility of seeing a clinching game at Nationals Park. The possibility of winning the World Series. Even, for the true optimists, the possibility of a sweep. It was all there.
But there are no guarantees in sports.
The only real guarantee that came with winning those first two road games was that the Nats could not lose the series at home — which, given their sordid playoff history before this season, was no small thing.
Even after the first two losses, the prospect of Max Scherzer taking the hill in the final home game of the season, trying to right the ship and send the team back to Texas with a series lead seemed very possible, an ending most any Nats fan would have been happy with, regardless of what’s still to come in Houston.
But again, there are no guarantees in sports.
Scherzer’s pregame scratch Sunday was a painful reminder that even the best-laid plans — Scherzer in Game 5, Stephen Strasburg in 6, everyone in 7 — sometimes go awry.
For those that paid hundreds, or even thousands, of their hard-earned dollars hoping to see a Cy Young-caliber matchup that could well determine the fate of the Major League Baseball season, the news that Mad Max wouldn’t be able to go was certainly deflating.
It serves as a good reminder that, as cliché as it is, sports are not about the destination, but the journey.
The fact that the Nats did, in fact, win those first two games in Houston meant that everyone in the stands for Game 5 got a chance to watch a World Series game in Washington, something that hadn’t happened for 86 years before this week. That’s no small thing and, as tough as it may be to feel this way for it in the current moment, it’s something every Nats fan should be thankful for.
No team, or city, is guaranteed a title. Nobody is owed a championship. Just because it’s been a generation, or more, since a certain club has lifted a trophy doesn’t mean they’re due.
If that was the case, sports wouldn’t be any fun.
There’s no guarantee that Scherzer will be physically able to pitch Game 7, either, even if the Nats can force one. But if we’ve learned anything from him — especially after pitching with two black eyes when he couldn’t breathe through his nose earlier this year — it’s that if he can, he will. And if Stephen Strasburg can get the Nats one more game, with or without Max, anything can happen.
It may not be likely. Winning all four road games in a World Series would be unprecedented.
But that’s the thing — there are no guarantees in sports.
