The Washington Nationals are going in the wrong direction.

For three years, the team went exactly .500 in games I attended, only to fall just short of that last season with a 12-13 record.  Going into Friday night against the lowly Phillies, the Nats stood at 10-10 with the chance of closing out an even five years.

But it was not meant to be.  After an 8-2 thrashing that was emblematic of the disappointing nature of this entire season, their record in my games was stuck at 10-11.

What went wrong?  Well, according to the data in my sports spreadsheet, I spent too many games wearing this (0-2):

And not enough wearing this (1-0)

To finish out the set, my Ryan Zimmerman jersey was 2-1, Bryce Harper was 3-3, Anthony Rendon 2-4, and a blue Nike Nats shirt was 2-1.

We had the pleasure of seeing Jordan Zimmermann start seven games this year in what was probably his last with the Nats.  He has been my favorite Washington pitcher to watch in person, including his performance closing 2014 with a no-hitter.  Friday night featured a bobblehead commemorating that milestone:

Zimmerann was 4-3 in those starts this year.  We were quite bad luck to Max Scherzer and Doug Fister who were each 0-2, while our presence boosted rookie Joe Ross to a 2-0 record. 

We also got to witness the incredible MVP-worthy season by Bryce Harper.  Five of his home runs came while we were at Nats Park, including the two he hit May 9 in a drubbing of the Braves.

August 5 brought not only a Jayson Werth Chia, but also a major item on my yet to be constructed sports bucket list with 1B/OF Tyler Moore taking the mound.

Let’s hope for more conventional things to celebrate in 2016.