One year ago my hometown baseball club, the Washington Nationals, were in second-to-last place in the NL East, struggling with issues on and off the field. (At least one well-known local writer–who has since repented–was calling for the manager’s dismissal.)

On May 24, 2019, the Nats began to win. And win. And win. The rest of the season, playoffs included, they won two of three ballgames they played after that now-famous 19-31 start. Including their final contest of the season… Game Seven of the World Series.

Of course the world is a little bit different today. I’m watching reruns of games past and silly “simulated” contests played out on computers. It’s cool, but just not the same, though I did enjoy watching the Nats’ “virtual ring presentation.” Flipping back and forth last night between that and the Tiger-Tom-Peyton-Phil golf match was a kind of bliss.

But oh what I would give to watch real live sports.

Even a second-to-last-place team.