What if Michael A. Taylor‘s hit-by-pitch in the 8th inning of the 2019 Wild Card game was overturned on the video evidence? What if Ryan Zimmerman‘s broken bat blooper was caught by Lorenzo Cain in center field. Cain was playing on a sore leg. What if Josh Hader‘s 3-2 pitch to Anthony Rendon was ruled strike-3 instead of ball-4? The pitch was high and fortunately the ump called it correctly as a walk. There was no ABS video replay in those days to overturn calls.

All of that happened to load the bases with two outs in the 2019 Wild Card in a game that the Washington Nationals trailed by a score of 3-1 at the time in the 8th inning.

History says that all of the tumblers clicked into place which was essential in a game that relies on some luck, and all of the “what ifs” went the Nats way before the then 20-year-old Juan Soto stroked a single into right field that we all know veered slightly off course with that element of luck that former manager Dave Martinez called a “tricky bounce.”

Call it what you want, the Nats won on Soto’s bases clearing single plus an error on the right fielder to score three runs. The Nats took a 4-3 lead and won with that exact score.

Every step of the way in competitive games of skill there can be that one instant that changes everything. In the Nats Wild Card game of 2019, many instances made for an unforgettable moment.

Nothing else happens in the 2019 postseason for the Washington Nationals if the Nats did not win that Wild Card game. From there, the Nats had moments in the NLDS against the Dodgers before a sweep of the Cardinals in the NLCS that led to win over the Houston Astros in the World Series.

It was the Milwaukee Brewers who suffered that heartbreaking loss to the Nationals in that 2019 Wild Card game. Today, they are in the World Series against Tampa, and one of those teams will be a first time World Series winner. One of them might get a “tricky bounce” that changes their fortunes.

Only two players from that 2019 Brewers team are still on their team today. Brandon Woodruff started that 2019 Wild Card game against the Nats. His only blemish was a solo home run by Trea Turner. The other Brewers player was Christian Yelich who did not play in the 2019 NL Wild Card Game because he fractured his right kneecap on September 10, 2019, when he fouled a pitch off his leg during a game against the Miami Marlins.

The Nats were the buzz saw, although sometimes they seemed to be a chain saw, cutting into a gigantic sequoia. Actually, the Astros won 107 games, and the Dodgers won 106 games in the 2019 regular season. It was like cutting down two sequoias.

“It was our time. … Mike Morse when he ended up winning the World Series out in San Francisco, they got rolling, and [Giants’ coach] Tim Flannery said ‘sometimes it’s just your time. Baseball chooses when it’s your time.’ We beat two teams that had 107 wins or whatever it was.” — Ryan Zimmerman said

The Dodgers had existed since 1884 and never won more than 106 games before, and the Astros had never won 107 games before. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the 2019 World Series was going to be the Astros hosting the Dodgers. But it is a good thing we play the games. The Dodgers won 73 games from May 24th to the end of the season and the Nationals won 74. Maybe the Nats just were not getting the respect they deserved. When you start your season with a 19-31 record, even some Nats fans were having a hard time processing the success after May 23, 2019.

In the Nats’ winning years from 2012 to that dark day on May 23rd of 2019, it was not the Nationals time, but then something changed. Maybe it was having a guy like Gerardo Parra as the circuit breaker in the dugout, and a clubhouse allowing you to reset the switch. We all know the book that Jesse Dougherty wrote titled, “Buzz Saw” and the quote came from Stephen Strasburg who inspired the book’s title.

“You have a great year, and you can run into a buzz saw,” Strasburg said. “Maybe this year we’re the buzz saw.”

You cannot measure the intangible size of one’s heart. What the Nats might have lacked in the bullpen they made up with a postseason plan that neutralized the weak front of their bullpen. Ex-manager Dave Martinez used his starters throughout the postseason in the bullpen. Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Max Scherzer all logged valuable innings in relief roles to bridge the gap in key spots and long relief to get the Nats to the back of the bullpen, and then Davey could rely on Daniel Hudson and Sean Doolittle late in the games to finish them up. It worked. It worked almost to perfection. Some in the media doubted the Nats could keep using their starters in the bullpen  — but it worked through Game 7 of the World Series.

it took a village to make this work. From the doctors, trainers, and massage therapist to the scouts, analytics department to the front office staff. From ownership to the players, it was the inverted triangle approach to every resource from the bottom up to the players.

From the 25th man on the roster to the superstars, this team does not win without the contributions of everyone. A key hit by Adam Eaton was needed just like Howie Kendrick finishing off games. We have read the stories of Jonathan Tosches from the advanced scouting group and Harvey Sharman from the medical staff. We got to see BP pitcher Ali Modami as an emerging character in the dugout giving celebration piggyback rides. We know all of the coaches contributions from Paul Menhart to Tim Bogar to Kevin Long to bench coach Chip Hale. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.

Even Sharman is now gone from the organization. Just about everyone is gone — but not forgotten. go back to those who were gone before 2019, and particularly those who left their mark on the organization like front office assistant general manager Bob Miller who was the architect of the Joe Ross and Trea Turner trade in a three team deal. There was also Aaron Barrett who was not even on the postseason roster but made his presence felt as an inspiration to his teammates.

At the time, there 94-year-old owner Ted Lerner who had the vision to make deals that no other owner would when he made Max Scherzer the highest paid right-handed pitcher in baseball history at $30 million a year while receiving criticism from the media and other baseball executives. How dare the Nats go above the salary cap in 2015 was why the Scherzer signing drew the criticism from other teams.

While some trades were debated as “fails” at the time, could you imagine where this team would be without Eaton, Doolittle and Yan Gomes who all came to this team in multi-player trades.

While starters like Turner, Asdrubal Cabrera, Victor Robles and the catchers, Gomes and Kurt Suzuki, did not get a lot of mention, they all had some key plays throughout the postseason. Turner hit his first postseason home run in that Wild Card game.

How’s about  Anibal Sanchez  who had one of the best starts in postseason history taking a no-hitter to within one batter of the 9th inning in the first game of the NLCS against the Cardinals that set the tone in a four-game sweep.

It took a village.