Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park

Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park
The Nationals are lending celebrity chef José Andrés a really big place to cook. During the baseball hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Central Kitchen will distribute from Nationals Park thousands of free meals prepared in two of its large kitchens. The Spanish star chef and owner of gourmet restaurants in Washington and other cities across the United States founded the organization after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010. Uber Eats drivers will ferry the food to D.C....

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Let the championship run begin

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Let the championship run begin
We should be getting ready for the Nationals' home opener against the Mets today. We should be preparing to hoist a championship banner on South Capitol Street. We should be choosing our most favorite t-shirt, jackets and caps from the World Series run, and high-fiving random fans we run into on the Metro, in line at the ballpark or in the stands who are our baseball twins. While the coronavirus might have robbed us of that for the time being, it can't erase the memories of a great postseason...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Things get wild

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Things get wild
We're just six days away from April 1, and the ballfields are empty. No fooling. We only wish it was a joke. Today, the Nationals were supposed to be in New York to open the season against the Mets. A week from today, following a swing through Miami, the Nats were supposed to host the Mets for their home opener. None of those things are happening. You know why, so we're not going to use the C word. We're all sick of hearing it, if you'll pardon the expression. But you can count on MASN to...

Santangelo, fellow broadcasters join forces to benefit area food charities

Santangelo, fellow broadcasters join forces to benefit area food charities
MASN Nationals analyst F.P. Santangelo is among a cadre of broadcasters from Washington, D.C., sports franchises who are collaborating for a good cause: eradicating hunger in the District. Through "Voices of D.C. Sports: Helping to Feed the City," broadcasters covering the Nationals, Capitals, Wizards, Redskins and D.C. United are recording personalized messages using Cameo, a video shoutout platform. For a minimum $25 donation, Santangelo and other familiar voices will record a personalized...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Milestones, memories and some newer vintages

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Milestones, memories and some newer vintages
Regular readers of this space are familiar with our recaps of "Nationals Classics" on MASN. Usually, all winter long, we stoke the hot stove and feed your need for baseball with rebroadcasts of memorable games from past seasons. Well, in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic that has short-circuited the national pastime, we're back with more "Nationals Classics" to keep you satiated. Whether you're working at home, sheltering in place or planning your next strategic grocery store run for...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Lots of bonus baseball

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Lots of bonus baseball
It's been a dreary winter. Not as long as most offseasons, given the fact that the Nationals won the World Series, delaying until Halloween the beginning of the dearth of the national pastime. But months on end without baseball has a way of dragging you down. But a new season began this week when pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla. In no time, the exhibition games will be replaced by meaningful battles as other teams take aim at the Nats, baseball's new...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early success against Snakes

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early success against Snakes
February's here! Yeah, it's technically still winter, but for baseball fans, Feburary means the start of spring training. As the Nationals start heading south to the West Palm Beach home they share with their World Series opponents, fans are starting to peek at the schedule for the practice games that will take place all over Florida. Some of them are even making their own travel plans so that they can catch spring training contests in person. But if you can't make your way to the Sunshine...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Twin no-hitters are on the menu

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Twin no-hitters are on the menu
It's getting closer, I promise. Just another couple of weeks and we'll be talking about real, actual baseball. Yes, spring training is right around the corner, and before you know it, you'll be spending warm afternoons and evenings at the ballpark, bathed in sunshine and reminding people that the Nationals are World Series champions. In the meantime, we'll whet your appetites this week with a handful of "Nationals Classics" on MASN. What's on the menu? Well, a buffet of baseball fun:...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A franchise first, a wild win and young guns duel

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A franchise first, a wild win and young guns duel
The offseason now in progress has certainly proved eventful. The Nationals basked in the glow of their World Series title for just a moment, then turned their attention to the problem of defending their crown. Repeating as champs became all the more problematic when Anthony Rendon left D.C. for sunny California, but the Nats brought Howie Kendrick, Asdrúbal Cabrera and Daniel Hudson back into the fold while adding reliever Will Harris, veteran infielder Starlin Castro and slugger Eric...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Flattening the Phillies

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Flattening the Phillies
Pitchers and catchers report in another month, and before you know it, West Palm Beach will again be filled with the sounds of cracking bats and dugout chatter as the Nationals prepare to defend their World Series title. At the same time, 29 other teams will reconvene in Florida and Arizona with notions of knocking the Nats off their perch atop the major leagues. Especially motivated will be the Marlins, Mets and the 2019 National League East champion Braves. And then there's that club just up...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Walk-off after walk-off after walk-off

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Walk-off after walk-off after walk-off
Now that we're into January, we can honestly say - over and over again, if you like - that Nationals pitchers and catchers report to spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla., next month. Warms you up just thinking about palm trees and line drives, doesn't it? To get you in the proper mood for camp, we've got a full plate of "Nationals Classics" this week on MASN, including a dazzling array of walk-off victories and the second career start by newly re-signed right-hander Stephen...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Multiple walk-offs and a dinger-less win

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Multiple walk-offs and a dinger-less win
Ringing out the old the other night got the MASN staff in the mood to set the wayback machine to some dates well in advance of the Nationals' current perch on the Major League Baseball throne. Some of them, in fact, reach back to the club's inaugural season in the District. While the Nats teams of the oughts and early teens didn't experience the level of success the 2019 version enjoyed, they each had talented players and could show flashes of brilliance on the diamond. Through it all, of...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Key moments from the best season ever

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Key moments from the best season ever
The champagne (if you've got any left after October's revelry) will taste just a little sweeter this New Year's in Nats nation. Whatever else might have been going on in the world and our individual lives over the year that is now coming to a close, we will look back on 2019 with delight as we recall the way the Nationals' refusal to give up made hearts and pride swell in the District, Northern Virginia and the Maryland suburbs. The "Nationals Classics" lineup over the next seven days...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A stocking full of Nationals goodies

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": A stocking full of Nationals goodies
Not a creature was stirring - except for the MASN staff, who have put together a holiday bonanza of "Nationals Classics" for your viewing pleasure. From first thing this morning through the midnight hour on Christmas night, we'll relive moments from each of the past eight Nationals seasons. You'll see so much baseball you'll think your long winter's nap lasted all the way to April. Included on this long list (we checked it twice) are extra-inning thrillers, eye-popping power displays and...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early walk-offs and a K-heavy performance

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Early walk-offs and a K-heavy performance
We don't have a long list of "Nationals Classics" airing on MASN this week, but two of the three games went extra innings and ended in Washington walk-offs, while the third featured a strikeout-hunting hurler who reached a major milestone. Who doesn't like a walk-off, especially when it's the Nationals doing the celebrating? Our two games featuring bonus baseball sent fans home happy from RFK Stadium in the team's formative years. Sandwiched between the two games offering late heroics is...

Nationals seek candidates to run as Racing Presidents

Nationals seek candidates to run as Racing Presidents
It's been said that any youngster here in this land of opportunity can grow up to become president. But only at Nationals Park can someone don one of the faces seen on Mount Rushmore, lace up running shoes and become a Racing President. The Nationals are looking for people with the right combination of show-biz personality, athleticism and political ambition (of a sort) to take on the personae of George, Tom, Abe and Teddy during home games in the coming season. The club's entertainment...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Dr. Longball makes house calls

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Dr. Longball makes house calls
Having seen the Nationals come up with clutch hits time and again througout their remarkable playoff run of 2019, are fans now jaded and blasé about them? Naaaaah! Watching Nats hitters past and present snatching victory away from stunned opponents never gets old. With that in mind, MASN this week brings you a couple of blasts from the past that offered a glimpse of things to come. You'll witness a National League East dogfight with the Fish (a fishfight?), and a bend-but-don't-break...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Dominant pitching and coming through in the clutch

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Dominant pitching and coming through in the clutch
Happy Thanksgiving, NatsTown! Today is a day for giving thanks, and at the top of most Nationals fans' lists is the fact that a certain team sporting a curly W and blue uniform tops delivered a World Series championship to D.C. last month. Never gets tired hearing that, does it? I suspect it won't for a long time to come. Whatever's on your Thanksgiving table, you're sure to indulge today. Turkey coma, anyone? My table has traditionally included a roasted bird, stuffing, mashed potatoes,...

Duffy's World Series "word art" features Zimmerman's joyful celebration

Duffy's World Series "word art" features Zimmerman's joyful celebration
As he was searching for a focus for his latest installment in his "The Road to the World Series" collection, Philadelphia artist Dan Duffy saw the image of Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman celebrating after the last out that secured a Game 7 victory over the Astros and a Fall Classic championship and knew he'd found the perfect starting point. Zimmerman, who had seen the highs and lows of a franchise that made him its first draft pick in 2005, stopped on the Minute Maid Park field...

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Mountain cycling makes for fun afternoon

#TBT to "Nationals Classics": Mountain cycling makes for fun afternoon
Though we all know that losing a star player to free agency is just part of the business of baseball, that doesn't make it any less aggravating for fans. But seeing as how the Nationals just won their first World Series, we at MASN know you won't mind being reminded of the days when your team piled a lot of its hopes on the young shoulders of a guy named Harper. This next batch of "Nationals Classics" includes a couple of red-letter days for the 2012 Rookie of the Year from back when he was...