Thousands of baseball fans sporting red caps and sweatshirts, emblazoned with the Washington Nationals’ curvy W, lined Constitution Avenue in Washington on Saturday to celebrate the team’s historic World Series victory.

On Wednesday, the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the series with a 6-2 comeback, clinching the city’s first baseball championship in 95 years.

Next on the team’s schedule — a visit with President Trump.

The Nationals are scheduled to meet Trump on Monday, continuing a time-honored tradition of championship teams traveling to the White House for a meeting with the president. But in a city where partisan politics has long been the dominant sport, Monday’s visit has itself taken a political turn.

On Friday, Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle publicly confirmed that he will skip the event. Doolittle has been vocal about his opposition to many of the administration’s policies.

“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle told The Washington Post. “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it.”

Even before Doolittle’s decision, this year’s World Series had delved into politics. During Game 5 of the series, Nationals fans booed Trump during an appearance at the team’s Nationals Park and taunted him with cheers of “lock him up.” During Game 7 in Houston, more than 16,000 Nationals’ fans gathered for a free viewing party back in Washington and again broke into boos when a Trump campaign ad aired during a commercial break.

While the fan response captured headlines, it was hardly the first instance of baseball intersecting with Washington politics.

The first team visit to the White House was in 1865. That summer, Washington, D.C. held a three-team baseball tournament. The Athletic from Philadelphia beat the Washington Nationals to win the tournament, but both teams were invited to visit the White House to meet President Andrew Johnson. As the story goes, the players from both teams attended and then one by one, shook the president’s hand.

Even then, the meeting had a political motivation. According to The Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum, this first meeting was arranged by the president of the National club, Arthur Pue Gorman, a white Southerner and Johnson supporter who in the aftermath of the Civil War wanted to maintain racial segregation. He saw baseball — which was then an all-white sport — and the meeting with Johnson as a way to do this.

It wasn’t until the presidency of Ronald Reagan more than a century later that invitations for championship teams from across the sports world became a regular occurrence. So too did the practice of players snubbing those invitations.

In 1991, for example, after the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA title, Michael Jordan decided to play golf rather than meet with President George H.W. Bush.

Golfer Tom Lehman declined a meeting with President Bill Clinton, referring to him as a “draft-dodging baby killer.”

Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs skipped a visit to the Obama White House, as did Boston Bruins goalie Tea Party supporter Tim Thomas.

But under the Trump administration there has been an uptick in the number of players — and in some cases entire teams — rejecting invitations to visit the White House, citing everything from scheduling conflicts to outright objections to the president’s policies.

The uptick, in part, may be due to a shift in public attitudes. Athletes who were once expected to keep their opinions silent are now cheered by some fans for speaking up and othertimes jeered when they choose not to.

When teams have accepted invitations, the decision by some players not to attend has often overshadowed the actual visit. After their victory in last year’s World Series, the Boston Red Sox visited the White House, but when they did, almost every non-white player and coach on the team was noticeably absent.

In 2017, the White House rescinded an invitation altogether after members of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors said that they were considering skipping the event. Trump tweeted the decision, saying, “invitation is withdrawn!” It was considered the first time a president ever pulled back an invite due to a spat with players.

This past summer during the Women’s World Cup, members of the Women’s National Soccer team, including Megan Rapinoe — said that if they won the tournament, they would decline an invitation to the White House. Trump responded, saying Rapinoe “should never disrespect our Country.” The team ultimately won the World Cup, but did not receive an invitation to the White House.

Since Doolittle announced his decision, he told The Washington Post that he has received a flurry of social media messages from those who disagree with his decision, calling it disrespectful.

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Deadspin, the brash and rebellious sports website, has had its entire writing and editing personnel resign just days after new management issued a mandate to staff to “stick to sports.”

On Friday, the website’s most well-known writer, Dave McKenna, was said to be stepping down, according to a post by former Deadspin Senior Editor Diana Moskovitz.

“This the final Deadspin transaction before relegation. As the last editor left with access to our work systems, I’m promoting Dave McKenna to editor-in-chief of Deadspin,” Moskovitz wrote in a post titled “Transactions, Nov. 1.”

The post continues, “McKenna has graciously agreed to accept his new position until the end of the day (this is his last day). Please note that Dave McKenna was the last [editor-in-chief] of Deadspin.”

Before the sarcasm-laden post, Moskovitz published a separate entry that was simply titled “Thank You” and notably filed under the tag “BYE.”

“I have gone over the contours of this blog in my mind so many times, and yet I still don’t know what to say,” Moskovitz said.

“So I’ll keep it simple. Thank you to our freelancers, who gave us amazing stories. Thank you to our fellow bloggers at the other sites, for being the best comrades in blog battle that we could ask for. Thank to our sources (you know who you are),” Moskovitz wrote.

She also gave a shoutout to Deadspin readers who “made this place special.”

Writers and editors began to quit the site en masse on Wednesday and the exodus continued through Friday. The Washington Post reports “around 20 writers and editors” handed in their resignations this week.

The turmoil began Monday, when executives with G/O Media, the parent company of Deadspin and other websites including Gizmodo, The Onion and The Root, sent a directive to the staffers of the sports website to write only on sports and sports-adjacent topics.

That left many writers peeved, because Deadspin had made its mark with its irreverent, and at times piercing commentary on culture, politics and media alongside coverage of the world of athletics.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik broke down the tumult at Deadspin this way on Thursday’s All Things Considered:

“So G/O Media is run by a guy named Jim Spanfeller. He worked at forbes.com and Playboy — promised advertisers, according to writers and the union there, more than they could deliver. He’s claimed that … 24 out of the top 25 stories last month were purely about sports. A number of recent editors say, hey, that’s flatly untrue; you could get as many as 100,000 readers or more for stories having little to do with sport.

“Spanfeller and others forced out an editor a couple months ago at Deadspin who didn’t want to push a more strictly sports line on writers, and a few days ago, [they] sent out a memo the morning after a post on [President] Trump being booed at the World Series, saying let’s stick to sports. And then they fired their acting editor as well.”

The acting editor who was fired was Barry Petchesky.

In a statement sent to the Daily Beast on Tuesday, G/O Media’s editorial director, Paul Maidment, said Deadspin writers should go for any story “as long as it has something to do with sports.

“However,” Maidment added, alluding to the recent firing, “We are sorry that some on the Deadspin staff don’t agree with that editorial direction, and refuse to work within that incredibly broad mandate.”

By Wednesday, Deadspin staff resignations had begun. On that same day, GMG Union, which represents Deadspin writers, tweeted a statement alleging the actions of Spanfeller were “morally reprehensible” and that he “worked to undermine a successful site.”

The union also said the mandate to cover sports only was “a thinly veiled euphemism for ‘don’t speak truth to power.’ ”

With the editorial staff no longer on the Deadspin team, the future of the popular sport and culture site is unknown. But for many of its former staffers, like onetime editor-in-chief Megan Greenwell, Deadspin’s legacy is firmly intact.

“And with that, it’s over. Deadspin no longer employs a single writer or editor. I am gutted but so very proud of this group of people. Deadspin was a good website.”

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The Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros 6-2 in Game 7 of the World Series in Houston.

It is the Nationals’ first championship since the franchise moved to Washington D.C. in 2005.

The Nationals are also the first team to win the World Series by winning four games as the visiting team.

Washington won despite being dominated by Houston starter Zack Greinke for better than six innings. They scored all of their runs in the last three innings.

The last time a Washington baseball team won the World Series was 1924, when they were called the Senators.

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Carlos Correa celebrates after hitting an RBI single for the Houston Astros against the Washington Nationals during the fifth inning in Game 7 of the World Series.

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“What a story,” said Ryan Zimmerman, according to The Associated Press. Zimmerman was the Nationals’ first draft pick in the team’s first season in the nation’s capital and the last player left from the original squad.

“I hope D.C.’s ready for us to come home!” Zimmerman said.

The game began as a duel between Greinke and Washington’s Max Scherzer. Neither lasted the game.

The Astros struck first on a solo home run by first baseman Yuli Gurriel off of Scherzer to start the bottom of the second inning. The Washington ace was pitching after being scratched from Game 6 due to an irritated nerve near his neck for which he needed a cortisone injection.

Scherzer looked like he might be in trouble after back-to-back singles by designated hitter Yordan Alvarez and shortstop Carlos Correa with no outs. But Scherzer worked out of that jam.

The Astros kept the pressure on Scherzer with two runners on again in both the third and fourth innings, but they didn’t score.

Houston’s Greinke meanwhile cruised through the first six innings allowing only one hit.

The Astros made it 2-0 on an RBI single by Correa in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Nationals finally showed signs of life in the top of the seventh inning when third baseman Anthony Rendon made it 2-1 on a solo homer to left field–just the second hit Greinke had given up. When he gave up a walk to left-fielder Juan Soto, Greinke’s night was over.

The next batter, designated hitter Howie Kendrick, hit a two-run home run off relief pitcher Will Harris that hit the right field foul pole, giving the Nationals a 3-2 lead.

A single with one out by second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera chased Harris and it appeared that Washington might break the game open. But reliever Roberto Osuna stopped the Nationals from adding to their then-meager lead.

The Nationals added another run in the eighth inning when Soto hit an RBI single, scoring right-fielder Adam Eaton who had walked and stolen second base. Washington led 4-2.

Come the top of the ninth, the Nationals loaded the bases with one out before Eaton hit a two-run single, extending Washington’s lead to 6-2.

Nats’ reliever Daniel Hudson retired the Astros in the bottom of the ninth without incident.

The winning pitcher was Patrick Corbin who threw three innings in relief of Scherzer. The losing pitcher was the Astros’ Harris.

“It’s every reliever’s nightmare that I get a chance to live,” Harris said, his eyes red-rimmed, according to the AP.

Houston left ten runners on base, the Nationals left seven.

The Nats’ ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who went undefeated in October, was named Most Valuable Player.

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Updated Wednesday at 2:05 a.m. ET

The Washington Nationals avoided elimination by beating the Houston Astros 7-2 in Game 6 of the 2019 World Series, forcing a Game 7 in Houston on Wednesday.

But even a Series-defining Game 7 could have a tough time matching the tension and drama of Game 6 which featured a controversial call that appeared to kill — at least temporarily — a Washington rally.

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg was the winning pitcher, lasting eight and a third innings, striking out seven while allowing only two runs on five hits.

Astros ace starter Justin Verlander was the losing pitcher. He pitched five innings, surrendering three runs on five hits and three walks, with three strikeouts. It was Verlander’s second loss of this series and he is 0-6 as a starting pitcher in seven career World Series games.

The Nationals drew first blood to open the game on a run-scoring single by third baseman Anthony Rendon — who delivered five RBIs before the night was out — after lead-off batter Trea Turner hit an infield single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by right-fielder Adam Eaton.

But Houston struck back immediately in their half of the first inning with a sacrifice fly by second baseman José Altuve after a first-pitch double by center-fielder George Springer, who took third base on a wild pitch by the Nats’ Strasburg. One out later, third baseman Alex Bregman hit a solo homer that gave Houston a 2-1 lead.

But those would prove to be all the runs the Astros would score.

After cruising through the second inning, the Astros’ Verlander had to pitch out of jams in the third and fourth innings, stranding two Nationals runners in both frames.

Washington, which had scored only three runs in the previous three games they had lost at home, finally capitalized in the fifth inning. Eaton and left fielder Juan Soto each hit solo homers to take the lead 3-2.

Houston threatened in the bottom of the fifth inning after right-fielder Josh Reddick singled and Springer followed with his second double of the night. But that was all the Astros got off Strasburg, who retired the next two batters.

Astros reliever Brad Peacock opened the sixth inning in place of Verlander, who had thrown 93 pitches.

The seventh inning opened with a sequence of plays that will likely be talked about for a long time.

After a single by Nationals catcher Yan Gomes, the next batter, Turner, appeared to have beaten out a dribbler to the reliever Peacock who threw late to first base. The throw got past first baseman Yuli Gurriel as the runners advanced.

But Turner was called out for running inside the base path and interfering with Peacock’s throw. After a lengthy delay in which the umpires consulted league officials in New York, the call on the field was confirmed.

So instead of having runners at second and third with no outs, the Nationals had a runner at first with one out. But a batter later, the Nationals’ Rendon launched a two-run home run that extended their lead to 5-2.

Strasburg retired the Astros without incident in the seventh and eighth innings. He was pulled for reliever Sean Doolittle after retiring the first batter he faced in the ninth.

The 2019 World Series is the first postseason series across professional baseball, hockey and basketball in which the road team won the first six games.

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Vlatko Andonovski was officially unveiled Monday as the U.S. Women’s National Team’s new head coach. The Macedonian-born 43-year-old takes the job following a successful stint in charge of the National Women’s Soccer League team Reign FC, where he was named NWSL Coach of the Year in 2019.

At an official presentation in New York City, Andonovski was introduced by U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro and USWNT General Manager Kate Markgraf.

“It’s a huge honor and I’m very excited to get started with this group of players and staff as we work towards continued success for this program. All of the talented coaches and players that have come before have built a legendary tradition of excellence and I’m committed to working very hard to continue to move this program forward,” Andonovski said in a statement Monday.

Andonovski has big shoes to fill. He replaces Jill Ellis, the most successful coach in USWNT history, who won 106 games and lost only seven. In her five-year tenure as head coach, she won two back-to-back World Cups.

He’ll also be the first man since 2014 to coach the women’s team. Five other men have taken up the mantle of USWNT head coach since the team’s formation in 1985, including Tony DiCicco, whom Ellis surpassed in becoming the winningest coach.

At the club level, Andonovski coached FC Kansas City to two NWSL titles between 2013 and 2017. He left Kansas City in 2018 to coach Washington-based Reign FC, where he led the team to two consecutive playoff appearances. Throughout his career, Andonovski has coached USWNT mainstays such as Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn.

U.S. Soccer officials said that his domestic experience and managerial style made him the perfect candidate for the job.

“We identified the qualities we thought were most important for this unique position, we talked to quite a few people in the women’s soccer community domestically and around the world, and in the end, Vlatko was the best fit with his experience with elite players, how he sees the game, how he coaches the game and manages players, and his overall personality and ability to take on a job of this magnitude,” said Markgraf.

United States players will first play under Andonovski in November, when the USWNT plays international friendlies against Sweden and Costa Rica. In January, Andonovski will be tasked with qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. If they qualify, Andonovski will have the chance to coach the team to an Olympic Gold Medal, the only major tournament Ellis did not win.

Fans began wildly speculating who would take over the USWNT when Ellis announced she would step down from his position as head coach in late July. Andonovski was reportedly on the shortlist of potential successors, something fans grew excited about.

Earlier this year, the USWNT played its way to its fourth ever World Cup title, when they beat Netherlands in the final 2-0.

Paolo Zialcita is an intern on NPR’s News Desk.

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The Houston Astros beat the 8-1 Washington Nationals in Game 4 of the World Series to tie it up 2-2.

After losing the first two games at home, the Astros came back to win Game 3 in Washington and continued that momentum through Game 4.

Second-baseman José Altuve was the first Astro to get on base in the first inning while facing Washington’s starting pitcher Patrick Corbin. Left-fielder Michael Brantley came up next with another single before third baseman Alex Bregman hit an RBI that gave the Astros their first run of the night.

First baseman Yuli Gurriel followed with an infield RBI single that brought in a second run for Houston. The Nationals got out of the top of the inning with a double play from Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon.

The Astros extended their lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning after a home run from catcher Robinson Chirinos that brought in shortshop Carlos Correa who had walked to first.

The Nationals faced rookie José Urquidy as the Astros’ starting pitcher, but the Nats didn’t score until the sixth inning. Facing Houston’s Josh James, the Nationals saw two walks and one out before the Astros brought in Will Harris. Washington scored their first and only run of the game after a groundout to first by left fielder Juan Soto brought in Gerardo Parra.

The Nationals brought Tanner Rainey in to pitch during the seventh inning, but after two walks and one out he was replaced by Fernando Rodney. Rodney gave up a single to Brantley before Bregman stepped up to bat and hit a grand slam, further solidifying the Astros’ lead 8-1.

The series continues in Washington with Game 5 on Sunday with the Nationals’ Max Scherzer facing the Astros’ Gerrit Cole.

Houston’s win over Washington on Saturday ensures that the Astros will return home to Minute Maid Park for a Game 6.

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The Houston Astros beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 in Game 3 of the 2019 World Series in a game they had to win, breaking the Nationals’ eight-game winning streak in the postseason.

Houston, trailing the series 2-0, led the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning by right-fielder Josh Reddick after shortstop Carlos Correa doubled off of Washington’s starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez.

The Astros added another run in the third inning on a single by left-fielder Michael Brantley, scoring second-baseman José Altuve, who had doubled and reached third base on an error by the Nats left-fielder Juan Soto. Houston’s 2-0 lead after three innings proved to be all they needed to take Game 3.

“I just liked the competitiveness of our at-bats,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said in a postgame interview. “We were kind of pretty focused on handing the baton to the next guy, which is really important. We’re at our best when we do that.”

The Nationals got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on a triple by center fielder Victor Robles, scoring first baseman Ryan Zimmerman who had opened the frame with a walk, making the score 2-1.

The Astros responded with a run in the fifth inning after José Altuve doubled and Brantley singled for his second RBI, extending their lead to 3-1.

The Nats had chances to score, stranding eight runners over the first five innings, and 12 overall.

Houston chased Nats’ starter Sánchez in the top of the sixth after he gave up a homer to catcher Robinson Chirinos and then walked pinch hitter Kyle Tucker. The homer made the score 4-1.

Here’s what made this a must-win game for Houston: no team in the history of the Fall Classic has ever come back to win after losing the first three games. The Astros made sure they would not be in that position.

Game 3 was the first World Series game played in the nation’s capital since 1933.

Game 4 in Washington will feature Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin against the Astros’ rookie Jose Urquidy.

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