Coronavirus: Nationals to receive World Series rings in virtual ceremony
- Due to coronavirus, the Washington Nationals will celebrate their 2019 World Series title virtually.
![Washington Nationals v Houston Astros World Series Game Seven 30102019](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"></svg>)
The 2020 baseball season may be on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that will not stop the Washington Nationals from celebrating their 2019 World Series championship.
The Nationals will hold a virtual ring ceremony on Sunday, which will be broadcast both on television and online.
World Series ring celebrations are typically held early in the season right before a game in front of a sold-out home ballpark, but with the coronavirus having killed more than 324,000 people worldwide, the Nationals will unveil their rings from their own homes.
"We'd love to do it with 44,000 screaming fans in the stands," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said on Tuesday on a team-run YouTube live stream.
"It's really refreshing that we're going to be able to share this with so many more people through these different venues. I think it's unfortunate we won't do it in front of the home fans in the ballpark, but I think we're going to reach a heck of a lot more people [doing] it this way."
The decision to hold the event on Sunday was hardly arbitrary, as May 24 is now a celebrated day for the Nationals.
Washington went into May 24, 2019 with a 19-31 record before turning things around and capturing the franchise's first World Series title.
From 19-31...
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 19, 2020
...to World Series champions.
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