The Nationals Celebrated in Style After Clinching Their First NL Pennant

In Wednesday’s Hot Clicks: D.C. goes wild for the Nats, an embarrassing night for the USMNT and more.

The Nationals finally did it

Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

Fifty years after the franchise was founded and 15 after it moved to Washington, the Nationals are headed to their first World Series. 

The Cardinals were sent packing before the first inning was even over, just like they did to the Braves in the NLDS. St. Louis starter Dakota Hudson got chased after recording just a single out and allowing seven runs. 

This play sums up the whole inning nicely. 

The Cards threatened a couple of times later in the game but it wasn’t enough. Here’s what it looked like on the field when Victor Robles hauled in the final out to clinch it. 

The celebration then continued in the home clubhouse, where Max Scherzer was being his typical weird self and Brian Dozier figured out how to drink out of the trophy

Ryan Zimmerman, the only player left over from the original Nationals team in 2005, may have been more fired up than anybody. 

Everybody was drinking plenty, except for Juan Soto, who doesn’t turn 21 until the day of Game 3 of the World Series. 

Meanwhile, Sean Doolittle wandered back onto the field to interrupt a live TV broadcast with a lightsaber. 

It wasn’t quite pandemonium out in the streets, but some guy did drop an F-bomb and another confessed it was his first day as a Nats fan. 

“How long you been a Nats fan for?”

“Since today!” pic.twitter.com/i8qPHah0C6

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) October 16, 2019

The party eventually spilled out into a seafood bar across the street from the ballpark. Manager Davey Martinez was greeted like a conquering hero and broadcaster F.P. Santangelo hopped up on the bar for a toast. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jake Sauser (@jakesauser)

Almost 5 am. Still celebrating greatest night (so far) in Nats history. pic.twitter.com/EBQ5SMjkF3

— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) October 16, 2019

The best of SI

This week’s magazine cover story goes inside James Harden and Russell Westbrook’s reunion in Houston. ... Astros starter Gerrit Cole is on the greatest winning streak in 107 years. ... Jalen Ramsey finally got his wish and was shipped out of Jacksonville. 

Around the sports world

A Serbian soccer team hired a 22-year-old fan to an analytics job after he told them about his success in video games. ... Theo Epstein is being sued because his dog allegedly peed all over a rental home. ... ESPN is reportedly considering “blowing up” its Sunday Night Baseball booth and getting rid of either Matt Vasgersian, Jessica Mendoza or both, and building around Alex Rodriguez. 

The USMNT is in shambles

Canada scores on the U.S. for the first time since 2007 😲 pic.twitter.com/2fVA55Xigk

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 16, 2019

FT! Canada 2, USA 0

For the first time since 1985, Canada has beaten the #USMNT!https://t.co/OrlSzJ4YCQ pic.twitter.com/SGdalvjJlX

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) October 16, 2019

.@IanDarke says it all. pic.twitter.com/i7Gr56qvTZ

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 16, 2019

Sorry, Seattle

Mariners are now the only MLB franchise to never appear in a World Series 😕 pic.twitter.com/QwHjmkQWcH

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) October 16, 2019

This is obviously a huge issue for the NFL

.@MikePereira sums it up on @TheHerd: Most experienced NFL officials are leaving the game for media gigs paying a bunch more for a fraction of the work.

— Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) October 15, 2019

Forward progress was stopped but I don’t care

#2 gotta retire from football.

No coming back from this. pic.twitter.com/lIdxUWyXFs

— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) October 13, 2019

Celtics rookie Carsen Edwards hit eight threes in five minutes

Sounds about right

2.6% of Knicks fans surveyed are happy rooting for the Knicks, 42.5% are hopeful, 39.7% are resigned. That's one of many findings from the first Knicks fan survey polling fans about the coach, owner, and front office, to get an idea of how they're feeling https://t.co/9Xn8QL3fZq pic.twitter.com/4MxWRy7e3d

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) October 15, 2019

Smush Parker is training to be a ref

Looks like Smush Parker is trying to make his way back to the NBA...as a ref. pic.twitter.com/AiXa52pfhM

— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) October 15, 2019

Chicago State finished dead last but someone still gave them a first-place vote?

Horizon League preseason men’s basketball poll results: pic.twitter.com/Hze9si9FhZ

— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) October 15, 2019

How does MLB not have backup umpires on hand?

We're just gonna play without a left-field umpire. What a completely normal thing to happen to a multi-billion dollar industry during its biggest games of the year.

— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) October 15, 2019

Not sports

The most influential lines of computer code in history. ... Panera Bread fired an employee who posted a video showing how they make their macaroni and cheese. ... An Iowa family’s basement was flooded with five inches of animal blood thanks to a slaughterhouse next door. ... Jason Sudeikis is starring in a comedy series for AppleTV based on his hilarious soccer coach character. .... Google is launching a video game service that you play in a web browser. 

Damn, dude

A good song 

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to seeprevious editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.