October is here; and the MLB playoffs are about to commence. This time of the year, many Nationals fans feel a sense of anxiety rather than excitement. A probable reason for this phenomenon is the National’s past postseason tragedies.

In 2012, despite needing only one strike to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, the Nats ended up blowing a 7-5 lead going into the top of the ninth and a 6-0 lead from earlier in the game and lost at home in grimacing fashion. The Nats’ pitcher, Drew Storen became the main source of blame for this disappointment since he could not throw a strike to end the game.

“We should have pulled [Storen] out. He was losing his touch and becoming unreliable,” said WSHS graduate Alejandro Manrique.

Many Nats fans, however, have varying opinions on who to blame in 2012.

“If we had scored more runs earlier, we wouldn’t have had to worry about Storen giving up runs,” said math teacher and softball coach Robert Benton.

“It was a team loss, the blame goes to every player.”

Two years later, the Nationals ended up getting knocked out of the playoffs to a significant underdog, the San Francisco Giants. This, once again, caused Nats fans to become devastated.

“We do well in the season, but it’s always frustrating to watch a team that always chokes in the postseason,” said Manrique.

In both 2012 and 2014 the Nats had division titles and great seasons but still ended up lacking in success during the playoffs.

“The NL East is an easy division,” said Benton.

“You don’t have big name teams like the Dodgers, Cardinals, or Cubs,”

“So, the Nats’ division is giving them most of their success.”

Benton’s conclusion on placing blame on the easy division the Nats are in fits well with how they have performed in the playoffs. When they traditionally lose to an ‘underdog,’ it is normally to a top or second place team from the NL Central and NL West.

“The NL East is easily the weakest division in the NL. Most of the teams the Nationals play won’t prepare them for harder out-of-division teams in the playoffs,” says Lake Braddock senior Garrett Kuhn.  So, are the Nats really doing well this year? Or does their 87-59 record foreshadow a potential playoff fallout…

“The playoffs is a fresh start for every team, and you never know who could do well,” said Kuhn.

This may be true, but the Nats tend to carry a common curse when it comes to October (playoff time). Recently, one of their star players, Wilson Ramos, tore his ACL and is now out for the remainder of the playoffs. A Déjà vu from the same injury in 2012, Wilson Ramos is a key offensively that the Nats would dread missing.

The bad luck never seems to end for the Nats when it comes to the postseason.

“It’s a bad coincidence that he got injured, but it makes no sense to risk playing your starters if you already have a playoffs spot,” said senior Francis Nguyen.