#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Hitting the home stretch of the offseason

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Hitting the home stretch of the offseason
Who's ready to turn the page to the 2021 season? Well, in just a few weeks (pandemic willing, mind you), spring training will be upon us. There are few words more glorious to a baseball-starved fan than "pitchers and catchers report." Well, "full-squad workout" and "Play ball!" are pretty close. While we wait for things to get underway in West Palm Beach, Fla., MASN will continue to feed your baseball jones with "Nationals Classics" from days past. This week's offerings include a...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Catching some Z's

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Catching some Z's
The National Football League playoffs have come down to four teams, and the scheduled start of spring training is less than a month away. Whether the ongoing pandemic will permit it to begin on schedule this year is another matter. But for baseball fans, February is all about hopefulness, right? Meantime, a maintenance dose of "Nationals Classics" can keep your baseball jones in check. This week's batch includes some notable performances by a couple of guys whose names surely came last when...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A healthy dose of Strasburg and Zimmerman

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A healthy dose of Strasburg and Zimmerman
With the new year here and spring training hopefully right around the corner, we're ramping up this week's "Nationals Classics" on MASN to examine some of the strongest performances ever by guys with a curly W on their caps. When talking about the club's great pitchers, Stephen Strasburg is always mentioned - and with good reason. Two of his finest performances - a sparking debut and a playoff clincher - are among this week's broadcasts. Ditto for Ryan Zimmerman, the Nats' first draft...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Near twinbill versus Twins

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Near twinbill versus Twins
We're certainly not out of the woods as far as the pandemic is concerned, but with new vaccines making their way into the world and 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we have entered a season of hope, which is as it should be after the holidays have passed and we start counting down the days until pitchers and catchers report. Or are scheduled to, at least. This week's platter of "Nationals Classics," which includes multiple examples of a determined team snatching victory from the jaws of...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": As new year dawns, some throwback memories

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": As new year dawns, some throwback memories
Happy New Year's Eve! Since it's a perfect time to reminisce, we've got some really good memories for you. Don't worry, only one of these comes from the dreadful year that's got exactly one more day left. And even that one will bring a smile. But as we ponder the unpainted canvas of 2021, enjoy these "Nationals Classics" on MASN that are guaranteed to please. OK, there could be some fist-banging angst, too. But that's all part of the game, right? And from our corner of cyberspace to...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Ghosts of Natsmas past

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Ghosts of Natsmas past
'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house ... the sets were tuned to MASN for lots of great baseball action on "Nationals Classics." OK, so it's not Clement Moore. It's not even Dinty Moore. But clunky poetry aside, if you're holed up for a low-key holiday season, there's nothing like a few ghosts of Natsmas past to brighten up your yuletide. You'll see a couple of Nationals stars when they were mere lads announcing their presence in a very un-Tiny-Tim-like fashion....
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Stoking the hot stove with retro wins

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Stoking the hot stove with retro wins
Admittedly, the hot stove has been, well, a tad chilly so far this offseason. Sure, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo is talking to other executives, but we've yet to see anything resembling a big move out of him. Which is OK, given that some of Rizzo's splashiest deals seem to come out of nowhere. So what's a baseball-starved Nats fan to do? Between online shopping excursions and gift-wrapping marathons, check out this week's bevy of "Nationals Classics" on MASN. They will warm your...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Long live the new king

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Long live the new king
The days keep getting shorter, and maybe your mood - already frayed by pandemic fatigue - is getting darker. Fret not, because MASN can help with that. For a baseball fan (which you must be, or you wouldn't be on this site), there's no better morale booster than watching your team pull off a thrilling win. And "Nationals Classics" keeps them coming at you throughout the void we call the offseason. Among this week's offerings, you'll watch the longtime face of the franchise do his hero...
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Umpires brighten season for patients at Children's National Hospital

Umpires brighten season for patients at Children's National Hospital
The coronavirus pandemic interrupted spring training, shortened the Major League Baseball season, and added COVID-19 testing to the daily routine for players and staff. No way around it, the virus has been felt in every corner of the baseball universe. Even umpires were not immune. The annual visit by the men in blue to Children's National Hospital, where members of UMPS CARE Charities, took on a different look Tuesday when umpires Nic Lentz and Chris Segal conducted a virtual visit to let...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Coming through in the clutch

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Coming through in the clutch
Well, Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror, which means the currently chilly hot stove will soon be heating up. And what better way to get in the mood than a smattering of clutch performances that resulted in Nationals victories? Here at MASN, "Nationals Classics" are designed to make you feel warm and fuzzy all over. Guys that make their money by coming through in the clutch tend to do that, don't they? Is there anything better than cheering a dominant team or individual performance, or...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Missed it by that much

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Missed it by that much
Perhaps you're skipping the trip over the river and through the woods this year. Maybe you've made the tough choice to put the family's health ahead of family togetherness and forego planes, trains and automobiles for now. It might not seem so at the tail end of the kind of year that 2020 has been for all of us, but chances are you've still got much to be grateful for. And while your Thanksgiving table isn't as crowded as usual (or at least it shouldn't be; safety first), we can be...
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Zuckerman a finalist for D.C. Sportswriter of the Year

Zuckerman a finalist for D.C. Sportswriter of the Year
MASNsports.com Nationals beat writer Mark Zuckerman is a finalist for the Washington, D.C., Sportswriter of the Year award presented by the National Sports Media Association. Zuckerman, who joined MASNsports.com in 2016, is one of six finalists for the annual award, along with David Aldridge, Fred Katz and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, and Thomas Boswell and Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post. Voting will be conducted among NSMA members from Dec. 1-31, with the winners to be announced in...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": An abundance of offense

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": An abundance of offense
There's no way around it: Good teams make their hay at the plate. And if you're one of those who favor offense over pitching, you'll want to pay close attention to this week's smorgasbord of "Nationals Classics" on MASN, which feature more offense than you can shake a stick at. Of course, in this case, that stick would be a Louisville Slugger, or some other wooden implement used to terrorize pitchers. So as you prepare for Thanksgiving, sit back and enjoy these offensive highlights from...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Near perfection at home, craziness in L.A.

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Near perfection at home, craziness in L.A.
To say that 2020 has been sad, strange and unnerving is almost cliché now. But that doesn't make it any less true. And with seven weeks left before the arrival of 2021, many of us have begun our countdown to New Year's Day a little earlier than usual. As we head toward what's bound to be a long winter likely to bring a coronavirus surge, we all face a long list of morale-challenging circumstances. While it certainly includes much more impactful factors, the absence of baseball still has...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Offseason begins with curly W memories

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Offseason begins with curly W memories
The World Series is over and free agency has commenced. We've gotten back the hour of sleep we lost in March at about the time baseball and the world went a little crazy. Now it's dark at 5:30 p.m. Is it supposed to be this cold in November? I could swear I saw flurries this morning. While we don't know for sure what the 2021 baseball season will hold, we do know a few simple truths. Among them is that MASN will feed your need for diamond memories all offseason long with "Nationals...
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Zimmermans, ZiMS Foundation to be honored at virtual National MS Society Ambassadors Ball

Zimmermans, ZiMS Foundation to be honored at virtual National MS Society Ambassadors Ball
Longtime Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and his wife, Heather, will be honored with the Champion Award at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's virtual 42nd annual Ambassador's Ball on Sept. 30 from 7-8 p.m. The Zimmermans will be honored for their important work through the ZiMS Foundation, which has raised both awareness and more than $3.5 million in the fight against multiple sclerosis since its founding in 2006. Ryan Zimmerman began the ZiMS Foundation after his mother,...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A sampler from the 2010s

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A sampler from the 2010s
Can you hold on for one more week? The long delay of the start of the 2020 season and the resulting longer-than-anticipated wait for the raising of the championship banner at Nationals Park make the 2019 season seem like a very distant memory of a much simpler time. But in just seven days, baseball finally, finally returns as the Yankees come to South Capitol Street to kick off the oddest season in the sport's long history. While we don't yet know exactly what baseball in the 2020s will be...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Walk-off this way, please ...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Walk-off this way, please ...
They don't call Ryan Zimmerman "Mr. Walk-off" without good reason. He's got 11 walk-off homers to his credit, and the notion of coming through in the clutch with the game on the line isn't a foreign concept to the longtime Nationals slugger, who has announced he will sit out the 2020 season over concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Well, the next best thing to seeing Zimmerman walk off an opponent live is seeing it on MASN - and that's where this week's slate of walk-off-heavy...
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#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Doubling down on twinbills

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Doubling down on twinbills
In a time of disappointments for baseball fans everywhere, Nationals fans got an extra dose of woe this week when they learned that the face of the franchise has opted out of the 2020 season, citing his concern that returning to the clubhouse this year would greatly increase his chances of contracting the coronavirus and spreading it to his family. Ryan Zimmerman, 35, would have been easing off on his playing time this season even if the COVID-19 pandemic had not come to pass. Now with the...
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#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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