There’s a lot to take in on this lovely Halloween morning in Washington. The Nationals are World Series champions, and that’s a little strange, considering Bryce Harper’s departure and the 19-31 start and the 74-38 finish and “Baby Shark” and Howie Kendrick and the sweep and (deep breath) two wins in Houston and three losses in Washington and Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick again.
How crazy was the Nats’ World Series win? Let us count the ways.
1. The Nats’ 19-31 start is the worst of any team to win the World Series. (MLB.com)
2. Only one other team that was 12 games under .500 at any point in the regular season has won the World Series: the 1914 Boston Braves. (MLB.com)
3. The Nats went 8-1 on the road in the postseason, winning their last eight such games. The 1996 New York Yankees are the only other World Series-winning team to match those numbers. (MLB.com)
4. Only one team has won three winner-take-all games in one postseason: The 2019 Washington Nationals. (ESPN Stats & Info)
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5. Stephen Strasburg is the first No. 1 overall pick to win World Series MVP and only the third player taken first or second to win the award (Josh Beckett in 2003 and Reggie Jackson in 1973 and 1977 are the others). (Elias/ESPN Stats & Info)
6. Only two other pitchers besides Strasburg have won five games in a single postseason: The Anaheim Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez (in 2002) and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson (in 2001). Strasburg is the first to do it without a loss. (Elias/ESPN Stats & Info).
7. The Nationals won 12 games this postseason. Strasburg and Max Scherzer started 10 of them. Each player’s five starts in wins tied for the most all-time with the San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (2014), the St. Louis Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter (2011), the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cliff Lee (2009), the Phillies’ Cole Hamels (2008), the Diamondbacks’ Curt Schilling (2001) and the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte (2000). (MLB.com)
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8. Anthony Rendon is the first player to hit a home run in three straight elimination games of the same postseason. (MLB.com)
9. In Game 6, Rendon became only the third player since 1920 with at least five RBI with his team facing World Series elimination. The Diamondbacks’ Danny Bautista in 2001 and Chicago Cubs’ Addison Russell in 2016 are the others. (Elias)
10. With his Game 7 home run, Howie Kendrick became only the sixth player in World Series history to hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later of Game 7. Roger Peckinpaugh (1925 Washington Senators), Hal Smith and Bill Mazeroski (1960 Pittsburgh Pirates), Ray Knight (1986 New York Mets) and Alfonso Soriano (2001 Yankees) are the others. (ESPN Stats & Info)
11. Kendrick is also the only player in MLB history with more than one go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later in elimination games of the same postseason. (MLB.com)
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12. With five home runs, Juan Soto set the record for most home runs in one postseason by a player age 21 or younger. Soto is also the youngest player to hit three home runs in a single World Series. (ESPN Stats & Info)
Read more:
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This Nationals team will be forever bound by World Series glory built on defying odds
Stephen Strasburg named World Series MVP after historic postseason run
Howie Kendrick, unlikely World Series hero, comes through for Nationals one more time
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Amid a raucous celebration in Houston, Nationals promise an ‘absolutely bananas’ homecoming
District of champions: Nats fans erupt in late-night celebration of first World Series title
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