Saturday marked the 21st anniversary of the first game in Washington Nationals history.
It also marked lifelong Nationals fan Sorcha Lewis’ 21st birthday, as she was born the day the franchise played its first game on April 4, 2005, since the Montreal Expos’ relocation.
The Nationals celebrated this moment by inviting Lewis to take a ceremonial “first sip,” rather than throw a ceremonial first pitch, on the mound before their 10-5 loss to the Dodgers.
Lewis, wearing a white Nationals jersey and ballcap, raised a red Budweiser bottle in her right hand as a cheers gesture before a celebratory 10-second chug.
The Nationals Park video board showed photos of a younger Lewis at games, including one where she’s holding cotton candy.
Lewis’ time as a fan has been a roller coaster.
The team did not make the playoffs over its first seven seasons in D.C., winning just 59 games during the 2008 and ’09 seasons.
Their fortunes started to change in 2012 under manager Davey Johnson, the man who led the Mets to their 1986 World Series title.
He steered the Nationals to their first NL East crown that year while winning 98 games, the most they’ve won in a season since the relocation.
They lost to the Cardinals in the NLDS.
Washington went on to win NL East titles in 2014, ’16 and ’17, but each time the club was eliminated in the NLDS.
They finally broke through in 2019, winning the first World Series in franchise history — including the history of the Expos, who began play as an expansion team in 1969.
Lewis was 14 at the time of the championship.
The Nationals have not made the playoffs since, winning no more than 71 games in a year over the last six seasons.
They began this season 3-1 but had lost four straight entering Sunday’s series finale against the Dodgers.
