Mark Zuckerman has been covering the Nationals since the team came into existence in 2005, first for the Washington Times, then when that paper dropped sports, briefly on his own expense – an amazing and costly level of dedication — before being hired by CSN and then MASN, where he remains and has become a 10-year voting member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He co-hosts a podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/na
Perhaps Zuckerman, now 75 and who remains a day-in, day-out, beat reporter at heart, would not view himself in same league with the Washington Post legends Shirley Povich, Bob Addie and Tom Boswell. In terms of continuity, however, he is. The Post has had at least 10 reporters on the Nationals beat since the first season, but they all eventually move on.
The paper’s first writer on the beat, Barry Svluga, remains as a sports columnist, writing as often about the city’s other teams as the Nats. Not his fault, of course, as baseball is no longer the main focus it once was. He’s written two books about the Nationals. Svrluga is the only other writer who really could be in this discussion. (Chelsea Janes, now the Post‘s national baseball writer — and a good one — has been covering the Nationals on-and-off since 2014, but all the other former beat writers are covering other sports or other topics now.)
I just wish Zuckerman had been able to vote for Juan Soto for Most Valuable Player in 2021. Soto finished second. Zuckerman was not one of the MVP voters that season representing the BWAA’s D.C. chapter. (The Post does not let its staffers vote.) Instead, veteran commentators Tim Kurkjian and Ken Rosenthal, neither of whom regularly covers the team, cast the Washington ballots, and both picked Soto third.
Worse, a writer from San Francisco picked Soto sixth (and Bryce Harper, the winner, fifth)! Writers from USA Today and St. Louis thought Soto was no better than the fifth best in the N.L. Harper, on the other hand, got both first-place votes from the Philadelphia chapter writers who actually cover the Phillies. Soto earned the first place nod from both New York and both Los Angeles voters. A first place vote by Zuckerman or, say, Tom Boswell from the Post, would have made the race much closer that it was.
A measure of the respect and sense of camaraderie others members of the media covering the Nationals have for Zuckerman is their willingness to participate in his annual preseason polling on a variety of predictions about the team. Even the Post reporters take part.
Earlier this year, Zuckerman wrote a piece that reflects my own feelings about the 2019 Nationals’ championship. Here’s excerpts from it:
“October 2019 was special not only because of the way the Nationals stayed in the fight and kept coming back to win in such dramatic fashion, but because of the four NLDS losses that came before it.
The first such NLDS loss – a blown 6-0 lead to the Cardinals in Game 5 in 2012 – was the worst of them all. Let’s suppose they hadn’t imploded that night. What if they won that game, then went on to beat the Giants in the NL Championship Series and the Tigers in the World Series? Would that have felt as meaningful to you?….
Heartbreak is as much a part of the sports-watching experience as jubilation is….
Yes, the heartbreak of 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017 made the ecstasy of 2019 more meaningful. It’s impossible to accept that in the moment, of course. But once the entire journey is complete, it’s easier to turn around, look back at the winding, bumpy road it took to reach this beautiful place and appreciate the role it played.”
– Mark Zuckerman, MASN Sports, Jan. 22, 2024
Long-time Nationals fans owe Mark a debt of gratitude for his intensive coverage and deep knowledge of the team’s history, long past when he could have moved on.
Washington baseball history 