It seems like a natural instinct to judge based on failure, especially in baseball. So it might be easy to label the Nationals as a failure for falling short of their own expectations and those of many fans in the 2015 season. But it’s often in failure where success is born, and that’s how the Nats will ultimately be judged.
The Nats set the tone for expectations shortly after signing Max Scherzer, when Bryce Harper asked, rhetorically, “Where’s my ring?”
Pundits and fans quickly followed suit, labeling the Nats the team to beat in a division that is arguably the worst in baseball. Those expectations came to a head in midseason as the Nats built a 4-1/2 game lead on July 5, then watched it all unravel after the All-Star break.
The last realistic chance to save the season ended when they were swept at home last week by the New York Mets, who came from behind to win every game. No need to relive the horror, but the bulk of the blame has been placed on Drew Storen, who walked three batters in Tuesday’s loss and surrendered the go-ahead homer to Yoenis Cespedes on Wednesday. Storen is out for the season after slamming his thumb in his own locker following Wednesday’s loss.
There has been speculation that this was Storen’s last season in a Nats uniform, and that the team will be rebuilt after this year’s disappointment. Those things may well come to pass, but it is how they respond that is the true test of character.
History is full of people who did not deal well well with failure. Scott Norwood was known as a reliable kicker for the Buffalo Bills but lasted just one season after missing a field goal that would have won the 1991 Super Bowl for the Buffalo Bills. Mitch Williams had 192 career saves, 102 of them for the Phillies, with 43 of them coming in 1993. But he pitched just 36 innings in the big leagues after surrendering a walk-off homer to Joe Carter in Game 6 of that year’s World Series.
However, there are also players who have responded to failure by achieving their greatest success. Dennis Eckersley’s most famous blown save came in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series when he served up a game-winning homer to the injured Kirk Gibson, a shot that spurred the Dodgers to an upset victory over Eckersley’s Oakland A’s. He was also the losing pitcher in Game 2 of the 1990 Series, when Oakland was swept by Cincinnati. But Eck and the A’s also won the 1989 Series over San Francisco, and he would go on to save 390 games in his Hall-of-Fame career– 339 of them after that iconic home run by Gibson – converting 84.6 of his opportunities.
Then there’s Mariano Rivera, the undisputed greatest closer of all time. His record of 652 career saves could stand for years to come. But in his first season as a closer, after saving 43 games for the Yankees in 1997, he had a chance to close out the Cleveland Indians in Game 4 of the ALDS. Roberto Alomar hit a game-tying home run, and the Tribe would go on to win the game and the series. Then in 2001, after saving 50 games, Rivera gave up the World Series winning hit to Arizona’s Luis Gonzlalez. Rivera would go on to save another 492 regular season games after that ill-fated pitch and another 15 in the postseason, winning the MVP award after the 2003 Series.
Make no mistake about it, the 2015 season has been a disappointment for the Nationals, including Drew Storen and many others. But their true measure will be in how they bounce back.
