As the Washington Nationals baseball season limped toward the final days of 2021, there wasn’t too much to be excited for as far as the standings were concerned. Sure, fans continued to follow the growth of Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray, while watching Juan Soto continue to put up MVP caliber numbers. We even caught a ride on the Lane Train, in the annual, “get excited about this guy” sweepstakes.
Fact was, the Nationals sat in the basement of the National League East in mid-September with little to play for. On a balmy, overcast, evening in DC, the Miami Marlins were in town for a series, hoping not to switch places with the Nats as the cellar dwellers in the division.
The boxscore from that game states Ryan Zimmerman broke a scoreless tie in the second inning with a solo home run. Zim ran around the bases with little fanfare (only a shade over 17K in the stands that night) and the run was deemed meaningless in the eventual 8-2 drubbing of the Fish. Looking at the big picture, however, the home run had some historical ramifications as well.
Nationals’ icon Ryan Zimmerman has hit more home runs against the Miami Marlins than anyone else in baseball.
Yes, Zimmerman has been in the league 16 years, and yes he plays against the Marlins more than a player from the NL Central or NL West would. The fact Zimmerman has 18 games a year against Miami while others have less and players have left the NL East for other divisions, is not lost on me. Zimmerman is getting more chances to hit home runs, and he is taking advantage of those chances.
The full list of home run leaders vs individual teams pic.twitter.com/qHsfW5fK3a
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) December 6, 2021
Zimmerman hits the Marlins well. This past season Zimmerman hit three home runs against Miami, the most he hit against any team. For his career he has 41 long balls off Miami pitchers, the most he’s hit against any team. In the history of that franchise, going back to 1993, no opposing player has hit as many home runs against them as Zim (and Ryan Howard).
Currently without a contract, the jury is still out on whether Zimmerman will return to the Nationals another year. He was vague, if not positive, in a radio interview he held earlier in the offseason. If he returns to play another year, he’ll be on this leaderboard all by himself, kicking Howard to the curb.
With Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman hard charging, Zimmerman may not hold the record for long, though his power stroke against the Marlins will be widely known.