Washington Nationals: Plan to Make 2017 World Series
By Ron Juckett
Now 48 seasons without a trip to the World Series, here is how the Washington Nationals can break their drought and win the pennant.
The Washington Nationals have never been to the World Series.
During their years in Montreal as the Expos, they never won the National League pennant. Despite three NL East championships in five years, these Nats have yet to win a playoff series.
Oh, the last time Washington made a World Series was in 1933. Those Nationals left town for Minnesota in 1961. The expansion Senators never made the playoffs here, waiting until the 1990s and their new sauna of a home in Arlington.
When Wrigley Field hosts Game 3 of the 2016 World Series, the Chicago Cubs 71-year drought for hosting a World Series game will end and the team with the longest hosting drought turns to the Nationals/Expos and their 48 years of futility. A record no team wants to own.
Still, that drought can come to an end as early as 2017. Your Washington Nationals are poised to break through and bring the greatest show in baseball to the banks of the Anacostia River. It can happen.
Yes, the Nationals and Expos have suffered heartbreak, strikes and two do-or-die losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers to end previous campaigns. How can we be sure that this team can reach a level of euphoria felt right now in Chicago and in Cleveland with the Indians. Their championship droughts reach back nearly 70 years for the Indians and 108 for the Cubs.
The answer is simple. Make the playoffs and, in time, good things will happen. Here is the blueprint on how Washington joins the party next year.