[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 173 (Thursday, October 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CONGRATULATING THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, to lead off, I would certainly be 
remiss not to congratulate the 2019 World Series champions, the 
Washington Nationals. This year, our national pastime came down to a 
dramatic finish. The Nationals and the Astros traded blows right up 
until the final innings of game seven.
  For the first time ever, the away team won all seven games of the 
series. And now Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Juan 
Soto, and the rest of the 2019 Nationals are bringing a World Series 
trophy here to the Nation's Capital for the first time since 1924. Back 
then, of course, the home team was officially the Washington Senators, 
although still often called the Nationals. That is a distinguished name 
for a team.
  This squad has to be hands-down the most athletic, most resilient, 
most team-spirited bunch of ballplayers certainly this city has ever 
had. These remarkable players; their manager, Dave Martinez; the 
Nationals' front office; and the team's owners, the Lerner family--and 
I particularly want to mention Ted Lerner, the patriarch, who is 94 
years old. Many people thought he might not be around to see the 
Washington Nationals' first championship, but he was. He is a great 
owner, a great friend of the city, and it was fun to see him after the 
game revel in this great accomplishment. They achieved, actually, a 
small miracle. For a couple of weeks, they gave us something that all 
of Washington, DC, could unite around--a miracle indeed. It is 
something we can use around here these days. Congratulations to the 
champions.

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