Posted March 26, 2020 at 5:34pm
There is no way around it: Opening Day without baseball thanks to the coronavirus pandemic is a bummer . But baseball will return — eventually.
In the meantime, the CQ Roll Call archives are awash with great photos from the early days of the Washington Nationals all the way through the World Series championship parade. Yep. That was just last year.
City and team officials of the new D.C. baseball team attend a news conference in Union Station in 2004 to announce that “Nationals” will be the team’s name. (CQ Roll Call)
Aaron Wernow, 2 1/2, of Ashburn, watches Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt take pictures with fans after running the president’s race in the middle of the fourth inning during a 2007 Nationals game at RFK stadium. (CQ Roll Call)
Washington Nationals infielder Ronnie Belliard, walks with students from Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (CESJDS) during a 2007 clean-up effort along the banks of Anacostia River. Members of the Nationals joined Kimball Elementary School and CESJDS students and the Earth Conservation Corps for the effort. (CQ Roll Call)
Chad Cordero, right, and Chris Schroder, pitchers for the Washington Nationals, look at the site of the field from the upper deck on the right-field side of the new baseball stadium in Southeast D.C. during a 2007 tour for the players. (CQ Roll Call)
Spectators watch President George W. Bush’s motorcade enter Nationals Park on Potomac Avenue SE before the 2008 home opener. (CQ Roll Call)
Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals third baseman, high-fives Jordan Thomas, 10, from Georgetown’s Hardy Middle School, during a 2011 clinic at Nationals Park to educate kids on exercise and nutrition. The event, called “Live Positively: Get the Ball Rolling,” was sponsored by the Nationals and Coca-Cola, and coincided with National Childhood Obesity Month. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Drew Storen, Washington Nationals relief pitcher, plays a bowling game on a Nintendo Wii with Sammy Liang, 17, left, Delaney O’Hagan, 16, right, and Tervian Litchmore, 17, in the pediatric unit at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Storen visited the facility in 2011 to participate in activities often used in patient’s rehabilitation. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Outfielders Bryce Harper, left, and Jayson Werth confer during batting practice before a 2012 game at Nationals Park. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Mark Lohr greets fans outside of Nationals Park on the team’s opening game in 2013 against the Miami Marlins. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
The Washington Nationals’ presidential mascots were on hand at Union Station for a dance-off to win tickets to the baseball game. Here Steven Goldberg (gray sweater) puts on his best moves to win the ticket giveaway on April 22, 2013. Goldberg walked away with two free tickets. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call)
Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer talks with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, in the Capitol after lunch with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Scherzer’s wife, Erica May-Scherzer, on May 24, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Fans are seen outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse during the parade to celebrate the World Series champions Washington Nationals on Nov. 2, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Sens. Ted Cruz, left, and Tim Kaine take a photo together in the Capitol on Dec. 5, 2019. Kaine, D-Va., placed a World Series bet with Cruz, R-Texas. As the loser, Cruz provided a Texas-themed buffet for his and Kaine’s staffers. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
The commissioner’s trophy belonging to the 2019 World Series champions Washington Nationals is seen in Russell Building on March 4, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)