All Nationals fans would admit that Howie Kendrick's two-run homer in the World Series Game 7 was a big moment in franchise history. But fans probably do not realize the homer ranks as the 10th best change-of-fortune hit in Major League Baseball postseason history, dating to 1903, according to a metric developed by The Baseball Gauge. The Baseball Gauge tracks a metric known as Change in World Series Win Probability (cWPA), based off every World Series (and postseason) game played the past 115...

When it's Week 8 of writing about baseball when there's no baseball to write about, you start coming up with some weird ideas. Most of them never see the light of day, but some of them do. And this is one of them. Monday was May 4. For "Star Wars" fans, it's an unofficial national holiday. Why? Cause it's May the Fourth. As in: "May the Fourth be with you." Yeah, it's cheesy. Guess what? So is "Star Wars." I'm a "Star Wars" fan. Not the kind of fan who dresses up in a Stormtrooper...

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...

The day will come for all professional baseball players. Through their choice or a team's decision, their playing days will end. Sooner for some than others. Being told you are not good enough to continue would be not easy for anyone to hear. For 25-year-old Collin Woody, the words came late in spring training in 2019. A 38th-round draft pick by the Orioles in 2016 out of UNC-Greensboro, Woody played from 2016 through 2018. He never hit over .226. He had a 228-game career that reached as high...

As a young boy growing up in Severn, I used to believe that I'd have all the answers as soon as I reached adulthood. No more confusion and anxiety. Life would be much simpler. If my parents were so smart, I'd naturally become wiser over the years. Boy, was I dumb. Part of my job at MASN and MASNsports.com is to field questions, but I've got plenty of my own. And the coronavirus pandemic won't lighten the load. For instance: * Would the team that wins the World Series this year celebrate it...

We continue today a periodic look at the state of the Nationals roster at the point spring training was suspended and project how things may look whenever baseball is played again. Up next is the outfield ... We don't know when the Nationals will take the field again as a team, but when that glorious day does arrive, we know exactly how they'll line up from left to right in the outfield. While other aspects of the roster underwent changes big and small over the winter, the outfield remained...

While Major League Baseball hopes to have a season at some point later this year, one pro baseball league will be starting a new season tomorrow. The 10 teams in the Korea Baseball Organization open a 144-game season that will run through Nov. 2. The KBO started with six teams in 1982. The Doosan Bears are the defending league champions and they've won the league in three of the last five years. The league was set to open its season on March 28, but just like with MLB, the KBO ended spring...

I got the opportunity to catch up with Nationals prospect Drew Mendoza recently to see how it has been for him since spring training was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mendoza returned to Tallahassee, Fla., to continue his workouts in hopes that the baseball season can be saved. Normally this time of year, the former Florida State star is deep into a baseball regular season, so the shutdown required him to make some adjustments in his preparation. He is ranked as the No. 11...

The last trip to the mound by Miguel Castro in an exhibition game resulted in three batters faced and three strikeouts. He left on such a high note that it should have come with a safety net. There's no real momentum in baseball. It's been described as the next day's starting pitcher. And any drops of it would have evaporated since Castro received his congratulatory handshakes and hugs in the visiting dugout at the Yankees complex in Tampa. Castro blew through the Yankees on March 6, learned...

A new book out on baseball puts together an all-time "Dream Team" for all 30 franchises in Major League Baseball. Tom Stone wrote the book in 2019, so it does not include the Nationals' run to a World Series title. But it is interesting to see how he stacks up current Nationals with Expos players from 1969-2004. Stone's outfield consists of Tim Raines, Andre Dawson and Vladimir Guerrero. The author lists Bryce Harper as the backup in left field and right field. You can imagine that...