Less than two years after winning a championship, a coach was bewildered by a loyal fan base turning on the team. How a title's impact lasted so briefly.
It was Washington Redskins coach Richie Petitbon.
Now manager Davey Martinez faces the same dilemma as the Washington Nationals are staring at a second straight losing season after winning the 2019 World Series. Hopefully, it doesn't take the Nats as long as the Washington Football Team to regroup.
Petitbon was gone after one year, owner Jack Kent Cooke died four years later and the franchise has been in a permanent tailspin for a generation. There's hope this season sees Washington finally return to prominence after 30 years of mediocrity, at best.
The Nats face the same problem – roster turnover plus a crumbling pitching staff forcing a rebuild. Not a retooling, but an old-fashioned reboot. Washington must admit the next couple years will stink and only then may it rise once more. Sure, the Nats can point to a successful decade as credibility to rebuild, but so could the Redskins with three titles before it all went bad.
Just like the Redskins suddenly lost aging stars Mark Rypien, Russ Grimm, Art Monk, Charles Mann and Joe Jacoby in a massive exit, so have the Nats watched talent leave. You don't lose Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper without feeling it. Nor does Stephen Strasburg's fragile frame that once more has him out for the season help any. And, the bullpen is always one pitch away from mayhem. Really, why are relievers such adrenaline junkies that disappear quickly?
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Washington's new game plan starts with re-signing Trea Turner to a long-term deal. What does it tell fans after letting Harper and Rendon go for Turner to leave, too? That Washington doesn't want to keep its own homegrown talent when it becomes expensive? Sure, the Nats blew a big contract keeping Strasburg. Washington was pretty much forced to do it after Strasburg helped win a World Series. If that hadn't happened, Strasburg probably wouldn't have been retained. Oh well, write it off as a bad break, not a bad precedent.
Juan Soto is the core player. Do whatever to keep him happy.
The pitching staff needs a total overall over this offseason. Now, nobody can do that. But, figure on Joe Ross and Eric Fedde remaining the back of the rotation. Let Patrick Corbin go. He has been 8-16 since the World Series and just doesn't have it any more.
Strasburg should move to the bullpen when returning next year. It will take a new mindset and it's not easy for a career starter to take a lesser role, but it may be the only way to get something out of him because the injuries just don't stop.
There are always relievers available in free agency. Buy them in bulk and hope one succeeds.
What the Nats should learn from their crosstown football team is fans only hang in there so long, and patience is thinner in this internet age. It took a generation before the now Washington Football Team realized it needed to rebuild its fan base that was always taken for granted.
The Nats will also see empty stands should they fail to invest in the future. Washingtonians now realize it may be a couple more years before truly competing again, which is a lengthy freefall after being spoiled for a decade. The football team just patched for decades without success and fans finally surrendered.
The Nats shouldn't make the same mistake.
Rick Snider has covered Washington sports since 1978. Follow him on Twitter: @Snide_Remarks.
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