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FanSided

Washington Nationals: Fan base makes Fandom 250

By Ron Juckett

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 3: Fans walk through the Center Field Gate before the opening day game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 3: Fans walk through the Center Field Gate before the opening day game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images) /
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Washington Nationals fans cracked FanSided‘s Fandom 250 list for the first time. What does this say about the franchise and you? Tons of good things.

The Washington Nationals managed a breakthrough in 2017.

Well, you the reader pulled it off. Nats fans from Burlington, Vermont to Charlotte, North Carolina propelled Washington’s baseball team on to FanSided’s Fandom 250 list. Yes, the Nats have the 227th-best fan base in sports, politics and entertainment.

Snicker if you want, but Washington fell short in years past. Only 11 Major League Baseball teams made the list, and the Nats were 11th. They rank higher than the Detroit Red Wings, Nebraska Cornhuskers and television staple the Big Bang Theory.

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It helps over 2.5 million of you watched games at Nationals Park this year. More of you watched Bob Carpenter and F.P. Santangelo on MASN than the past. When Washington fell to the Chicago Cubs in the National League Divisional Series, you were genuinely crushed.

You care about the Nats and it matters.

It sends a message to ownership that expectations are important. Making the playoffs is no longer good enough. It is time to win. The All-Star Game and festivities visit DC in July. Again, a sign of how much the Nats are embraced. Imagine Bryce Harper in the Home Run Derby.

When a team moves, it takes a generation for a full adjustment. In Washington, it happened a few years earlier.

These are Washington’s Nationals. The days of the orphaned Expos are over. When mistakes happen in games, you get mad. You care. Passion brings out the best in sports and there is plenty on display at the park and social media.

Your passion makes it easier to get free agents to want to play here. You are the reason players want to stay and why the front office responds to their critics. Is it a perfect relationship? No, but no such thing exists.

Baseball seasons are slogs. A marathon run in cleats from cold April nights through hot summers and back into a crisp fall. The Nats compete with hockey and basketball playoffs along with the Redskins pre-season and first-half of the regular season. Yet, you still watch and the numbers grow.

Baseball is a sport that steals your heart and stomps on it more than rewards you. Yet, judging by our numbers at District on Deck, you are ready for more. We like that.

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The bond you create with the Nats now will pay off in the future. Then another generation of casual fans will bite the bug and turn into diehards. It is a wonderful problem to share.

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