Jesse Dougherty covers the World Series champion Washington Nationals baseball team for The Washington Post. He previously reported on the Washington Capitals hockey team, college athletics and high school sports for The Post. His new book is “Buzz Saw: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series” (Simon & Schuster). The book’s title comes from a quote from Nationals’ star pitcher Stephen Strasburg: “You have a great year and you can run into a buzz saw. Maybe this year, we’re the buzz saw.” By May 2019, the Washington Nationals—baseball’s oldest roster—had one of the worst records and just a 1.5 percent chance of winning the World Series. Yet by blending an old-school brand of baseball with modern analytics, they managed to sneak into the playoffs and put together the most unlikely postseason run in baseball history.
Watch Video