Kyle Schwarber hit a 115.4-mph, 454-ft walk-off home run “to the moon”, giving the Washington Nationals a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins, Friday. According to the MLB’s Sarah Langs, it was the fifth-longest walk-off dinger in the MLB since 2015.
After the game, Schwarber, who left the Chicago Cubs to sign a one-year deal with the Nationals over the offseason, debuted some new headwear courtesy of the Washington Capitals.
Call this HR "Dogecoin" 'cause it landed on the moon.@kschwarb12 // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/cLx9exuFWL
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 1, 2021
Schwarber rocked a no. 21 Capitals helmet that the local hockey team sent over to its beisbol friends.
Call him KYLE SCHWARBER because we're #ALLCAPS@kschwarb12 // @Capitals pic.twitter.com/zbrRgaUFUw
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 1, 2021
“Caps. Big hockey team,” Schwarber said. “Rally helmet. Gotta love it. I guess it just came out today. It just made its appearance today. Happy to be wearing it, especially right now. Big win.”
Schwarber then decided to give it to the next entrant into the Zoom Room, Jon Lester. “He’s probably not going to wear it,” Schwarber said as he left according to The Athletic’s Maria Torres.
“Oh, he will!”
Schwarber: Should I pass this to (Lester)? He's probably not going to wear it. … Oh, he will. Let's go!
Lester: Wears it for roughly 2 mins pic.twitter.com/6FhFZ85l0Y
— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) May 1, 2021
The Capitals and Nationals kanoodled on social media after the Zoom video’s release.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 1, 2021
The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports that Nationals’ skipper Dave Martinez had the helmet since spring training and presented it to Schwarber as the player of the game.
Dave Martinez says that he's had the Capitals helmet since spring training and felt yesterday was the perfect time to bring it out. Martinez presented it to Kyle Schwarber and told him he was the player of the game.
Davey: "I put it on all the time."
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) May 1, 2021
“I think it’s fantastic when that happens,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “That’s great to hear that they’re a part of it especially as we move down the stretch here.
“I grew up in Boston but my (sport team) loyalties lay wherever I end up,” Laviolette added. “I’m excited to go to a football game. I’m excited to go to a baseball game. I love watching baseball. Just the opportunity to be outside and watch a different sport. My kids growing up, they’d have hockey practice. I’d be leaving the rink after nine hours and heading back to the same rink. A little bit of a root canal. My son and my daughter played baseball and softball. To leave the rink and go and enjoy a spring or summer afternoon and watch your kids play ball, I loved that. Some day I hope to get to return the favor to them and our group go and support them as well.”
The gesture follows the Capitals presenting a Nationals’ batting helmet — signed by the members of the 2019 World Series championship team — during the 2019-20 season.
“We gave them the (original) helmet, two weeks before the [Nats-at-Caps] game,” former Nationals’ outfielder Adam Eaton said to me. “They donated the helmet on the west coast. They raffled it off [for a hospital or something] or gave it to charity. So when we came back we brought them another helmet, signed it all. They didn’t really expect another helmet.”
The Caps and Nats’ friendship runs deep. The Capitals celebrated their Stanley Cup championship at Nationals Park in June 2018. The Nationals returned the favor the following year. The Capitals all wore Nationals shirts during the Nats’ World Series run while several players, including Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin, attended Nats’ playoff games. Ovechkin has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch several times.
Screenshot: Zoom/Nationals
