WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals open a three-game series Monday against New York that could have a lot to do with whether they advance to baseball’s postseason. It’s a setup similar to the path D.C. followed to the city’s only World Series win, in 1924.
“The Nationals really came into the (2015) season as preseason World Series favorites – nobody saw the Mets as contenders,” Fred Frommer, the author of “You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball,” tells WTOP.
But after a rough August, games versus the New York Mets this week and finishing up the regular season in October could make or break Washington’s playoff future. Going into the series Monday, the Mets led the Nationals by four games for the top spot in the National League East.
“It’s this re-kindling of this really old history, this really old rivalry between New York and Washington,” Frommer says.
In 1924, Washington’s world championship depended on besting New York twice: the Giants in the World Series and the Yankees in the regular season.
The success of Washington, a perennial underdog, in ’24 was nearly unimaginable, and their unlikely run gained them a lot of followers. Frommer says that the Senators were so popular that crowds at Washington’s road games cheered them.
It was also a matter of the Yankees being hated — even then, Frommer says, “everyone was so sick of the Yankees winning every single time.”
That was especially true in — where else? — Boston. The Senators were in Boston when they edged out the Yankees to advance to the Series, and the Boston-New York rivalry was also in full effect.
“When the Senators clinched the pennant in Boston, fans at Fenway Park rushed the field and carried the Senators off the field in celebration, they were so happy for them,” Frommer exclaims.
