Early last month, during media availability at the 2023 Winter Meetings, Washington Nationals manager Davey Martinez was asked if he could recall a favorite story about when he had a hunch, went against the book, and was rewarded. Ta.
“Have you seen it?” world series In 2019? Martinez said with a laugh, referring to the final stages of an improbable run from 19-31 to the Washington, D.C.-based team’s first World Series victory since 1924.
“Yeah, I mean, you can’t just go back and name names,” he says, refusing to pat himself on the back at first. “I had a lot of premonitions.”
“I’ll tell you what was crazy, you guys probably thought I was crazy, but when we were walking [Max] Muncy and we kind of scored the go-ahead goal,” Martinez said of Game 2 of the 2019 NLDS.
I wanted closer Daniel Hudson to issue an intentional walk and send him to Los Angeles. dodgers” slugger led Chavez Ravine 4-2 with a runner on second base and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Photo by Sean M. Huffey/Getty Images
Muncy hit a monster home run off relief pitcher Sean Doolittle in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the game 3-2, but the Nationals scored another run in the top of the eighth with an RBI homer (Asdrubal Cabrera).
Martinez told reporters that night that it was an easy decision to put the potential game-tying hit on base and the potential game-winning hit to the plate.
“I don’t really think about it much,” he explained.
“Muncey threw – Muncy hit a 400-foot ball against Doe. We didn’t want that to happen. [Muncy is] Fastball batter. we know that. Hudson throws a fastball.
“That’s why I liked the other matchup.”
The “other matchup” was Hudson vs. Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who hit a bases loaded with a walk against Corey Seager, who up to that point was 0-for-3 with 2 Ks, and then went 0-for-7 with two Ks. He had one hit. He earned a point in the series, going 0 for 4/1 in the eighth inning after getting a strikeout and ending an eight-pitch battle.
Martinez’s club held on for the win in Game 2, eventually coming from behind to win Game 5 in Los Angeles to even the best-of-5 series.
They then won four straight against St. Louis and then took a series win over Houston in the Fall Classic.
As the coach said, he often played with a hunch that season. But the first thing that came to mind for him was the game he played in Game 2 of the NLDS.
“I had no intention of forgiving that person.” [Muncy] They beat us again,” Martinez said. “It worked.”
