We’ve reached the final week of the year, so it’s time to look back at the Nationals’ most significant stories of 2023. We continue the series today with sad news that came just before the start of spring training: Ted Lerner’s death …

Ted Lerner was born Oct. 15, 1925, the same day the Washington Senators lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would spend the next 94 years waiting to see a major-league ballclub from D.C. win the ultimate game.

Lerner was a smart and successful businessman, to be sure. He founded Lerner Enterprises in 1952 off a $250 loan from his wife, Annette, and built it into the largest private real estate company in the region. But his passion was baseball, and when the opportunity finally came for him to purchase the Nationals at 80, he didn’t hesitate to write the check for $450 million to Major League Baseball.

Lerner spent the next 13 years trying to build a championship franchise. It wasn’t always smooth, and mistakes were made along the way. But on Oct. 30, 2019, he stood on a makeshift stage near second base at Minute Maid Park in Houston and accepted the Commissioner’s Trophy from Rob Manfred, his lifelong dream realized at last.

“They say good things come to those who wait,” he said at the Nats’ victory parade that weekend. “Ninety-five years is a pretty long wait. But I’ll tell you, this is worth the wait.”

Today was another step toward Opening Day with the annual What’s New at Nationals Park media tour. Members of the local media gathered on yet another rainy day on South Capitol Street to see all the new features around the stadium and taste the new food and beverages available for the coming 2023 season.

Before we got to the fun stuff around the facility, the tour was kicked off with the news that the Nationals will induct founding managing principal owner Theodore N. Lerner into their Ring of Honor in a special Opening Day pregame ceremony.

Lerner, who passed away last month at the age of 97, was named managing principal owner when his family purchased the Nationals from Major League Baseball in 2006 and led the franchise to four National League East division titles and the 2019 World Series championship. He will be the 24th individual inducted into the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park and his name will be displayed on the stadium facade behind home plate, below the owner’s suite.

Created in 2010, the Ring of Honor pays tribute to some of the most elite and influential members of the Washington Nationals, Washington Senators, Homestead Grays and Montreal Expos organizations.

To also honor Lerner throughout the season, the Nationals will wear a dedicated patch on the left sleeve of all jerseys in his memory. The oval patch bears his initials below three stars, which represent D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

While all the excitement surrounding the start of a new season is down in West Palm Beach, hearts remain heavy in D.C. for the late Ted Lerner, the Nationals’ founding principal owner who passed away at the age of 97 on Monday.

The stories of how Lerner’s life was entrenched in Washington baseball have been told numerous times over the past few days. How he was born on the same day the Senators lost Game 7 of the 1925 World Series, and how he grew up to become an usher at old Griffith Stadium. How he purchased the Nationals in 2006, one year after the franchise moved to D.C. from Montreal. And how he built the team into a perennial contender that claimed four National League East division titles before winning the NL Wild Card Game, the NL pennant on his 94th birthday and the World Series two weeks later in 2019.

The team, general manager Mike Rizzo and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred have all released statements filled with condolences and kind words about the late Nats owner.

“Mr. Lerner was an irreplaceable presence whose passing leaves a profound void in the Washington Nationals family,” Rizzo said in his statement. “He was truly one of a kind.

“Those of us who had the privilege of working for Mr. Lerner observed a brilliant business mind and a uniquely thoughtful form of analysis. His confident, systematic approach to challenges provided me a life-long lesson in persistence and perseverance. His influence on me was immeasurable and I will always be grateful for the opportunities he afforded the entire Nationals organization.