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Washington Nationals: Which teams should Nats fans be cheering for?

By Ross Shinberg

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 11: Jayson Werth (L) #28 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with his teammates as he jumps on home plate to score on his solo game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 11, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 11: Jayson Werth (L) #28 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with his teammates as he jumps on home plate to score on his solo game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 11, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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houston astros
houston astros /

Houston Astros

Two years ago, the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros organizations joined forces to create “The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches” in West Palm Beach, Florida. The name was later branded to “FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches” in February of this year.

Entering this season, fans and experts speculated on if the first exhibition game between these two teams would serve as a World Series preview. In fact, before the season, four District on Deck staff writers predicted a Nats and Astros World Series, with one predicting a win, three predicting a loss.

Outside of sharing a spring training facility, the Astros deserve recognition because of how closely their squad resembles the Nationals.

They have a grit-and-grind, no-nonsense ace with World Series experience with the Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander), a quiet but efficient strikeout machine (Gerrit Cole), a crafty lefty (Dallas Keuchel), and a trio of jubilant infielders (Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa).

To put the cherry on top, Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon is a Houston-area native and played his college ball at the University of Houston. The Astros are looking to become the first back-to-back World Series champions since the New York Yankees, who three-peated in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

To do so, they’ll first need to get through the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, which starts on Friday.

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