The Washington Nationals have come out of the shadows of the Major League Baseball big teams to have their first appearance in the World Series. This is the first time in their franchise’s history to win the World Series, a National League pennant and their first Wild Card berth. The Nationals beat the 2017 Champions, the Houston Astros who had the clinch after Game 6. Starting Game 7, both teams were tied 3-3, with the Nationals as the hopeful favorite to win. The Nationals led the series for the first 2 games, outscoring the Astros 12-3 in the first game against the Astros’ veteran pitcher, Justin Verlander, who took the loss. The Astros came back to win the next 3 games, but were no match for their opponent in the final game.

Before the World Series, Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci predicted that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Astros would play for the championship with the Dodgers to win. Bleacher Report predicted that the Astros would win over the Nationals with the pitching lineup of starters Verlander and Gerritt Cole. The New York Yankees were my prediction as the American League team versus the Nationals, after their East Division win. The Yankees hold the record for most World Series wins at 27. Their last win was in 2009, and they were hopeful for a chance to win another under new manager Aaron Boone.

The series was an interesting one to watch, especially when the Nationals took the lead. The Astros had a superb regular season going 107-55 with heavy wins, their highest scored game 23-2 against the Baltimore Orioles and 21-1 win over the Seattle Mariners. The Nationals had a 93-69 season, coming in second in the NL East Division. Their highest winning games were against the Colorado Rockies in July, winning one game 11-2 and a 17-7 win against the Cincinnati Reds. This series was interesting to watch knowing the Astros were tough both on their defense and offense.

The World Series had some interesting moments as well as the nail-biting championship game. During Game 5 on Oct. 27, a few surprises happened. Not only did the Astros take the series lead, but President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania came to watch the game. They were greeted by boos, impeachment chants and some cheers. Fox Sports was broadcasting the game and chose to silence the boos when the game returned live during the fourth inning. That was not the first time this has happened with Fox broadcasting the series. In 2001, the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks faced the same crowd interjections when it was announced that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was in the broadcast booth after 9/11.

Many impeachment posters were held up, many that made the broadcast behind home plate. During the 7th inning, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was flashed by game attendees. The game was halted until the ladies were asked to leave. It was discovered later that the women were models from the website Shagmag. Their intent was to bring awareness to breast cancer, but they failed when they were arrested and banned from all Major League Baseball events.

With their first World Series win, the Nationals have settled the 51-year-old drought since their start as the Montreal Expos in Montreal, Quebec.