You don’t have to tell Davey Martinez about sticking with it, grinding out games even if things aren’t going your way, and looking to turn things around even when it seems the odds are against you. He is Mr. 1-0 every day, of course. He knows bumpy roads and he knows they often lead to beautiful places, but he doesn’t necessarily like to always hear your 19-31 talk.
“19-31, it happened, it was there, but I don’t like that number,” Martinez told reporters late in 2020’s disappointing follow-up from the Nationals’ stunning reversal of fortune in 2019 that ended with a World Series championship following a run that began after they fell 12 under .