Ryan Zimmerman is the one who stayed. Not Bryce Harper. Not Anthony Rendon. Maybe, one day, not Juan Soto, either. But as he retired from baseball Tuesday, Zimmerman leaves the major leagues just as he arrived — as a Washington National.
There was no player no more synonymous with the Nationals — and the return of baseball itself to the District. He was the Nationals’ first-ever draft pick, a local kid from Virginia, at that. He was the one that christened the opening of Nationals Park with a walk-off home run.