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Washington Nationals: Looking back at the first Nats-Yankees series

By Tom Sileo

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 2: Ryan Zimmerman #11 of the Washington Nationals is congratulated by teammates after driving in the winning run against the San Francisco Giants at RFK Stadium September 2, 2007 in Washington, DC. The Nationals won the game 2-1. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 2: Ryan Zimmerman #11 of the Washington Nationals is congratulated by teammates after driving in the winning run against the San Francisco Giants at RFK Stadium September 2, 2007 in Washington, DC. The Nationals won the game 2-1. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
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The first modern Washington Nationals and New York Yankees series took place in 2006. It was a life-changing event for at least one diehard Nats fan.

I remember the first new era Washington Nationals series against the New York Yankees like it was yesterday. Played at RFK Stadium from June 16-18, 2006, the series not only produced the most memorable Nats moment since baseball’s glorious return to the nation’s capital, but also marked a passing of the torch for this baseball fan.

Born and raised in Northern Virginia without a D.C. team to root for, I grew up a Yankee fan since my parents are from New Jersey. My 25 years of bleeding pinstripes would come to a close, however, on Sept. 29, 2004, when Major League Baseball announced the Montreal Expos’ move to Washington. From that moment on, D.C. area baseball fans finally had a home team.

While I’d been to plenty of Nats home games, including the 2005 home opener, I didn’t realize how unprepared I was for the Yankees series until walking into RFK on June 16, 2006. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had as a sports fan.

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The first matchup of the three-game set couldn’t have started any better for the home team. The Nats scored five times off Yankees starter Jaret Wright and led by 2 runs heading into the 8th before Joe Torre‘s squad tied it off Nats reliever Gary Majewski, who had a great opening season in D.C. before struggling in 2006.

Torre brought in future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in early to squash an 8th inning Nats threat. Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson countered by handing the ball to closer Chad Cordero in the 9th, which resulted in a clutch solo homer by Bernie Williams, who had been one of my favorite players growing up. I remember stopping myself from clapping when Williams came through, like he had so often during New York’s 1996-2000 dynasty.

Rivera slammed the door in the 9th and for the first time, I left a ballpark unhappy after the Yankees beat the Nats that Friday night. “We’ll get ’em tomorrow,” I hoped.

Saturday’s game started with soon to be Hall of Famer and Miami Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter leading a fierce Bronx Bomber assault on Nats starter Ramon Ortiz. After a 7-run 5th, the Yankees were poised for a blowout win and series victory.

Not so fast. The Nats responded with 4 runs in the bottom half and would score in every inning for the rest of the game. When Torre once again brought in Rivera during a tie game in the 8th, the Nats improbably beat him with an RBI triple by Jose Guillen and a run-scoring single by a young third baseman named Ryan Zimmerman.

While “Zim” probably thought besting the greatest relief pitcher of his lifetime was the highlight of his budding career, even he couldn’t have imagined what was in store for Sunday.

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The Nats trailed 2-1 heading into the 9th against Yankees starter (and future National) Chien Ming-Wang, who had frustrated Washington’s lineup all day. Perhaps because Rivera had worked multiple innings in the first two games, Torre opted to stick with Wang in the 9th, who retired Guillen to start the inning.

Infielder Marlon Anderson was next, representing the tying run. He singled into right field, which brought the previous game’s hero, Zimmerman, to the plate.

Wang left a fastball high and over the plate. The excitement in the voice of MASN play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter, who hadn’t yet coined his “see…you…later” Nats home run call, says it all about what happened next.

While Zim’s “Mr. Walk-Off” nickname entered the D.C. sports lexicon two years later, when he hit a game-winning homer in the inaugural game at Nationals Park, that summer Sunday afternoon home run against the Yankees was when it was truly born.

Any lingering doubts about whether I could bury a quarter-century of Yankee fandom to root for my hometown team was forever put to rest amid the post-Zimmerman walk-off euphoria that overtook RFK. Pardon the cliché, but for this baseball fan, the 2006 Nationals-Yankees series was a game changing moment.

Fast forward 12 years. The Yankees are still a juggernaut and the Washington Nationals, winners of 13 out of 15 games and four out of the past six NL East titles, are clear World Series contenders despite a difficult April.

Next: Grading the Nats Starters

Will the two-game series starting tonight at Nationals Park be as memorable as 2006? Probably not, especially with Mr. Walk-Off on the disabled list. But one thing’s for sure: I know which team I’ll be rooting for.

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