Record drought: Nats aim to be 1st repeat champ since Yanks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Manager Dave Martinez got a kick out of seeing World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg and other Washington Nationals finally open their championship rings a couple of weeks ago in the clubhouse — even if it was months later than originally planned and with no one around but other members of the organization.

“It’s definitely sad that we couldn’t have the fans here with us," Martinez said, then relayed his players' reaction while checking out the bling: “They all said, ‘Hey, let’s try to go get another one.’”

Easier said than done, of course, especially lately. Beginning with Thursday night's opener of the pandemic-delayed season against the New York Yankees, the Nationals will attempt to do something no major league club has done in quite some time: win back-to-back World Series.

It’s been two decades since the 2000 New York Yankees capped a run of three titles in a row, making the current stretch the longest drought without anyone winning consecutive championships in baseball's century-plus history.

Used to be a pretty regular occurrence: There even were three straight multiple-title clubs in the 1970s, when the 1972-74 Oakland Athletics of Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter were followed by the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds of Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, who were followed by the 1977-78 Yankees of Jackson and Ron Guidry.

“You have 30 teams now, so it’s harder to win. In the older days, you didn't have free agency, so you could keep groups together,” said Max Scherzer, the three-time Cy Young Award winner scheduled to start Game 1 for Washington against New York's Gerrit Cole. “You start looking at systematic changes. How are those at play?”

When the Yankees claimed banners in bunches — 1936-39, say, or 1949-53 — there was...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Record-drought-Nats-aim-to-be-1st-repeat-champ-15426425.php