Nats don’t need the devil to get their title this time

Surely Mr. Applegate is ecstatic. You know Mr. Applegate, the mystical guy who had a hand in helping Washington get to the World Series. Some people thought he was the devil, but hey who cares, especially the way things are going back there.

   It was Applegate who popped up strategically in the 1950s musical “Damn Yankees,” when in the plot the aging, frustrated insurance man, Joe Boyd, said he’d do anything if Washington at last could beat the Yanks. Which was all Applegate needed to hear.

 Yes, it was the Washington Senators, who became the Texas Rangers, not the Nationals, who used to be the Montreal Expos. Still, it’s the location that’s pertinent, rather than the nickname on the jerseys.

  The Senators were awful. Referring both to the nation’s first president, and the team, people used to say, “Washington: First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.” 

  The Nats, nee Expos, are in the National League, but impermanence is the way of all sports. See Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders for verification.

  Joe Boyd, the fictional Senators fan, grumbles out loud if Washington only had a power hitter it could beat “those damn Yankees.”  Mr. Applegate gleefully arrives and in a literal puff of smoke (stage trick) Joe Boyd is transformed into young Joe Hardy, who slugs home runs and makes the Senators a winner. 

  For the Nats the role of Joe Hardy as been capably filled by Howie Kendrick, who was the MVP as the Nats swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, winning the final game, 7-4, Tuesday night.

   Joe Hardy didn’t have to endure various levels of post-season play to get to the World Series, but you won’t hear anyone on the Nats complaining. Wild card, divisional, league, they’ been unstoppable, for the most part because their pitchers have been unhittable.

  The devil, Mr. Applegate, doesn’t have a thing to do with these Nats, although you contend the way team was created by general manager Mike Rizzo, the devil was in details. Who needs Mr. Applegate when you have a general manager like Mike Rizzo?

   These have been an interesting few years in the Major leagues, a time for the halting of curses and life-long disappointment. The Red Sox started it in a sense by ending their so-called “Curse of the Bambino.”  Then the Giants, without a championship in half a century, gained three in five years. Next it was the Cubs for the first time in more than 100 years.

  Now a team from Washington for the first time since 1933.  It would just be perfect , wouldn’t it if they faced those damn Yankees in the Series, but after three games of the ALCS, New York trails the Astros, two games to one and against Cole and Scherzer even the devil seems overmatched. 

  So right now it looks like Washington against Houston, but who knows? The Nats weren’t going to get past the Dodgers. The TV people were talking LA-New York, an historic rivalry and the country’s two largest markets.

  The Nats stunned the Dodgers, indeed all baseball, wining the deciding division series championship on a grand slam in the 10^th by that man, Kendrick.  And they haven’t lost a game since.

  Washington had a record of 19-31 in May. The Nats manager, Dave Martinez, had to undergo a heart procedure in September.  Through it all they triumphed.

   ““Often, bumpy roads lead to beautiful places,” said Martinez, “and this is a beautiful place.”

   That sounds like a line from a Broadway musical.