CONGRATS TO THE NATS: Howie Kendrick’s 10th Inning Slam Banishes Demons, Sends Washington To The League Championship Series For The First Time! 

By Paul Wickham Schmidt

immigrationcourtside.com Sports Exclusive

October 10, 2019. Nightmare! That’s the only way to describe Howie Kendrick’s playoff series against the LA Dodgers. The normally reliable, hard hitting, 36-year-old “utility star” had a spectacular regular season, leading the Nats with a .344 average (although lacking sufficient at-bats for the NL hitting crown) and many clutch hits. He is also one of the Nats’ veteran leaders who helped guide a team with some up and coming young stars to the playoffs after the team’s disastrous start to the 2019 season.

But, things took a nosedive for Howie against LA this October. Inserted into the starting lineup for consecutive games, he committed three untimely errors, an egregious base running mistake, and his failures at the plate left key runners stranded. Yet, Nats’ Manager Davey Martinez stuck with the flailing vet.

When Howie arrived at the plate in the top of the10th inning of a 3-3 tie to face Dodger reliever Joe Kelly, he was 0 for 4. That included two strikeouts and a rally-killing double play. His series batting average hovered just above a pathetic .200. Indeed, so convinced were the Dodgers that former teammate Kendrick was their patsy, that Kelly intentionally walked young slugger Juan Soto (who had homered earlier) to load the bases and bring up Kendrick. Obviously, the Dodgers were thinking double play or at least another strikeout.

At that point, Nats’ fans were hoping against hope that Howie would return to form long enough to hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield to score Adam Eaton from third and give them their first lead of the game. But, Howie, with perhaps his last shot at post-season glory on the line, had other things in mind. Behind in the count 0-1, he took a mighty swing, squarely connected with a Kelly fastball, and sent a beautiful towering 400 foot blast over the center field wall for a grand slam putting the Nats ahead 7-3. As Howie triumphantly rounded the bases, Kelly hung his head, and the Dodger fans sat in stunned silence, some even heading for the exits, as the visiting dugout and the few Nats’ fans in attendance went berserk! 

The Nats sent rejuvenated reliever Sean Doolittle to the mound for the bottom of the 10th, and he set the clearly dispirited Dodgers down in order. The game ended on a spectacular catch from another “forgotten Nat,” Michael A. Taylor, who had been inserted into the lineup only because of an injury to regular Nats’ center fielder Victor Robles.

Howie’s heroics capped an amazing comeback by the “never say die” Nats. After a gutty, but not up to usual high standards, effort from starter Stephen Strasburg, the Nats faced a 3-1 deficit going into the eighth inning. Baffled most of the night by Dodgers’ starter Walker Buehler, the Nats faced future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, normally a starter, appearing in a rare relief role. With only six outs to go in their season, things looked dim for the visitors — for a moment. Then, on consecutive pitches from Kershaw, MVP candidate Anthony Rendon and Soto slammed homers to tie the game at 3-3 and send a shell-shocked Kershaw to the dugout.

So, the Nats, who started the season 19-31, appeared dead in the water, and had many fans screaming for Martinez’s head, move on to face another traditional nemesis, the St. Louis Cardinals, in the NL League Championship Series, starting in St. Louis tomorrow night at 8:08 pm on TBS. The Cards are fresh off a 13-1 humiliation of the Atlanta Braves, ending the game early with a remarkable 10-run first inning.

And, the Dodgers, who had a league-best 106 regular season victories, are done for this postseason, their dreams of World Series rings dashed. The Nats and their long suffering fans know that feeling of disappointment well — “been there, done that.” Thanks to Howie and a real “team effort,” this year is different in DC. 

PWS

10-10-19