The Washington Nationals’ history, to date, has been Ryan Zimmerman’s history. But the hardest part of telling a story is figuring out when to end it, writes emmabaccellieri
Zimmerman and the Washington Nationals have shared just about every aspect of their MLB histories. That will end after Zimmerman's retirement Tuesday.There are hundreds of baseball players who have served as the face of a franchise. A team always has to have one, even if that face is nontraditional, a rookie or a midseason acquisition or a fifth starter, that says as much about the state of the club as anything else possibly could.
The basis of this relationship is usually greatness, but there is something else in it, too—a glorious alignment of fortune and timing and finances that lets a roster spot last for a generation. There are only a few dozen of these scattered across a century and a half of history, and just 60 players to ever spend a career of more than 15 years with just one club.
And there is one player whose relationship with his team has been altogether more enchanting than any of the above. He was the face of the franchise, yes, and its name became his own, but he did something more: He and the franchise grew up alongside one another. Ryan Zimmerman was the first draft pick of the Washington Nationals, selected in the first season of the club’s existence after their move from Montreal, when he was a 20-year-old out of the University of Virginia. He made his debut in the majors later that year. Now, a decade and a half later and then some, he’s
. It feels almost silly to call it the end of an era for Washington: too obvious a fact to be worth remarking on. But it’s true, and it’s the result of a one-of-a-kind career.
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