#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Reaching baseball's October pinnacle

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Reaching baseball's October pinnacle
One of the few positive points about living in pandemic hell is that the Nationals continue to be world champions. And the way things are going, they may get an extended stretch atop the baseball world. In this week's collections of "Nationals Classics" on MASN, we're happy to revisit some October baseball, specifically the four World Series games in which the Nats prevailed over the Astros, all of them coming at Houston's Minute Maid Park. So much for home field advantage, right? There...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": It just wasn't in the cards for St. Louis

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": It just wasn't in the cards for St. Louis
What with the coronavirus and all, you might feel squeamish about leafing through Father's Day cards wherever you usually go to get that sort of thing. But do at least give dad a call this Sunday. If you still (or again) live with dad, you'll want to spend the day together sharing some great baseball memories as you watch "Nationals Classics" on MASN. Who knows? Maybe you attended one or more of these games together, perhaps the one against the Yankees on Father's Day 2006. Ryan Zimmerman...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A wild introduction to postseason run

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A wild introduction to postseason run
There's no way around it. We miss baseball. We miss everything about a trip to South Capitol Street to see the Nationals play. The way the warm June breezes buffet the upper deck. The taste of a Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke when you bite into it. The taste of a cold, refreshing Budweiser. The roar of the crowd. We don't know when baseball will return, but until the owners and players can come to some sort of agreement, MASN has plenty of "Nationals Classics" to help you get your diamond...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Strap in for some Strasburg

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Strap in for some Strasburg
Was any postseason retrospective ever more aptly titled than "Improbable"? The look back at the Nationals' 2019 playoff run re-aired on MASN recently, reminding us just how odds-defying the team's climb to the top was. Battling back to a playoff berth after teetering on the edge of oblivion in May, the Nats then had to come back against a dominant closer to win the wild card, survive two elimination games in the National League Division Series - coming back from a three-run deficit late in...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Pitching and offense are on display

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Pitching and offense are on display
This week's selection of "Nationals Classics" on MASN fits into one two categories: those games dominated by stellar pitching and those featuring lots of offense. Pitching and hitting are the game's cornerstones. Put them together and you've got a winning combination. Good pitching can usually trump good hitting, and this week's "Nationals Classics" wraps with a trio of the best mound efforts ever seen in D.C. (or anywhere else, for that matter). On Wednesday, you can settle into your...
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MASN to air "Kolko & Friends" at 7 p.m. on May 19

MASN to air "Kolko & Friends" at 7 p.m. on May 19
If you're among those who are missing Nationals baseball - and since the game is the sole focus of our website, we're guessing that's pretty much all of you are - MASN has a brief respite from the coronavirus gloom and doom. "Kolko & Friends," presented by Budweiser and featuring "Nats Xtra" host Dan Kolko, will air tonight at 7 p.m. on MASN. Additionally, "Kolko & Friends" will stream on Facebook Live, YouTube and nationals.com. So if you're away from your television this...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Starting with a midweek doubleheader

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Starting with a midweek doubleheader
While taking nothing for granted in a COVID-ravaged world, we can reasonably assume that the sight of Spring Training 2.0 and a shortened - but certainly sweet - 2020 season on the horizon is not a mirage. With the target window now in the Independence Day/All-Star break vicinity, we can almost smell the hot dogs and the horsehide. In the meantime, we'll tide ourselves over with Nationals baseball from seasons past. Not a bad deal, really, considering that many of those seasons produced...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Worth the wait for late heroics

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Worth the wait for late heroics
When you watch a baseball game - whether in person or from the comfort of your basement recliner - there's a certain end game at play. Simply put, you want your team to win. You don't really care how they do it, as long as they have more runs than the other guys at the end of the game. Sometimes it takes nine innings, sometimes more. Sometimes it's a stellar pitching performance that does the trick, other times it's a fortuitous piece of offense that's the catalyst. Sometimes, weird things...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Slugfests and nailbiters

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Slugfests and nailbiters
Guess you'll just have send your mother a card this year. If she's like my mom, she'd probably prefer that you take her to see a ballgame, but sadly, that's not an option this Mother's Day. The good news is that if you happen to be living under the same roof during the Great COVID-19 Shutdown of 2020, you and mom can park yourselves in front of the TV on Sunday (or any other day this week) and enjoy Nationals baseball together. True, we can only bring you the exploits of seasons past, but...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A nice mix of offensive and mound highlights

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A nice mix of offensive and mound highlights
Few things in baseball are better than a home run. Face it, the second you hear the ball ricochet off the bat and start tracking the trajectory of the missile, your heart starts beating a little bit faster. Even if you can't quite focus on the cowhide, you can always check out the positioning of the outfielder. When he doesn't turn, you know good things are coming. So this week's smattering of "Nationals Classics" on MASN will provide plenty of offensive fireworks. Round-trippers, homeric...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Youngsters shine

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Youngsters shine
Our long national nightmare continues, and we continue to go without the national pastime. We take comfort in knowing that our baseball heroes are stepping up to the plate to help the heros who are giving their all for our communities, but as we endure a public health crisis and steel ourselves for its economic repurcussions, we can't help but wish we could at least take in a ballgame. As we've been reminding you throughout the unpleasantness, you indeed can catch some exciting baseball...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": 15 years' worth of memories

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": 15 years' worth of memories
With 15 years of history, the Nationals have created plenty of memories. Last year's World Series championship was definitely the pinnacle, but even the most pedestrian of Nats campaigns offers a highlight or two. This week's smattering of "Nationals Classics" on MASN is a trip down memory lane, a look at nine noteworthy games from the past, from the Nats' debut season in 2005 through a Max Scherzer strikeout record in 2018. We know you miss baseball - the real-time kind, which mandates a...
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Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park

Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park
The Nationals are lending celebrity chef José Andrés a really big place to cook. During the baseball hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Central Kitchen will distribute from Nationals Park thousands of free meals prepared in two of its large kitchens. The Spanish star chef and owner of gourmet restaurants in Washington and other cities across the United States founded the organization after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010. Uber Eats drivers will ferry the food to D.C....
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": The moment you've all been waiting for

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": The moment you've all been waiting for
You've been spending way more time at home than usual and your television set is working overtime. Normally at this time of year, MASN would be bringing you live Nationals games, but maybe you've been catching some of the wide variety of sports competition (taped back before the world went on lockdown) that MASN presents daily: auto, motorcycle, air and speedboat racing, Bundesliga soccer, PBA bowling and poker tours, to name a few. Of course our bread and butter is baseball. So while our...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Let the championship run begin

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Let the championship run begin
We should be getting ready for the Nationals' home opener against the Mets today. We should be preparing to hoist a championship banner on South Capitol Street. We should be choosing our most favorite t-shirt, jackets and caps from the World Series run, and high-fiving random fans we run into on the Metro, in line at the ballpark or in the stands who are our baseball twins. While the coronavirus might have robbed us of that for the time being, it can't erase the memories of a great postseason...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Things get wild

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Things get wild
We're just six days away from April 1, and the ballfields are empty. No fooling. We only wish it was a joke. Today, the Nationals were supposed to be in New York to open the season against the Mets. A week from today, following a swing through Miami, the Nats were supposed to host the Mets for their home opener. None of those things are happening. You know why, so we're not going to use the C word. We're all sick of hearing it, if you'll pardon the expression. But you can count on MASN to...
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Santangelo, fellow broadcasters join forces to benefit area food charities

Santangelo, fellow broadcasters join forces to benefit area food charities
MASN Nationals analyst F.P. Santangelo is among a cadre of broadcasters from Washington, D.C., sports franchises who are collaborating for a good cause: eradicating hunger in the District. Through "Voices of D.C. Sports: Helping to Feed the City," broadcasters covering the Nationals, Capitals, Wizards, Redskins and D.C. United are recording personalized messages using Cameo, a video shoutout platform. For a minimum $25 donation, Santangelo and other familiar voices will record a personalized...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Milestones, memories and some newer vintages

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Milestones, memories and some newer vintages
Regular readers of this space are familiar with our recaps of "Nationals Classics" on MASN. Usually, all winter long, we stoke the hot stove and feed your need for baseball with rebroadcasts of memorable games from past seasons. Well, in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic that has short-circuited the national pastime, we're back with more "Nationals Classics" to keep you satiated. Whether you're working at home, sheltering in place or planning your next strategic grocery store run for...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Lots of bonus baseball

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Lots of bonus baseball
It's been a dreary winter. Not as long as most offseasons, given the fact that the Nationals won the World Series, delaying until Halloween the beginning of the dearth of the national pastime. But months on end without baseball has a way of dragging you down. But a new season began this week when pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla. In no time, the exhibition games will be replaced by meaningful battles as other teams take aim at the Nats, baseball's new...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early success against Snakes

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early success against Snakes
February's here! Yeah, it's technically still winter, but for baseball fans, Feburary means the start of spring training. As the Nationals start heading south to the West Palm Beach home they share with their World Series opponents, fans are starting to peek at the schedule for the practice games that will take place all over Florida. Some of them are even making their own travel plans so that they can catch spring training contests in person. But if you can't make your way to the Sunshine...
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