Dave Martinez had great quote after Nationals clinched World Series berth

The Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 in Game 4 of the NLCS on Tuesday night to clinch their first World Series berth in franchise history, and manager Dave Martinez offered a great quote afterwards.

Martinez, who is in his second season managing the team, put into perspective the road traveled by the team.

Dave Martinez took a saying from his mother when he had the microphone on stage: “I can’t put this into words. I’ll say this: Often bumpy roads lead to beautiful places. And this is a beautiful place.”

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) October 16, 2019

The Nats began the season 19-31 and were a longshot to make the playoffs. They were able to qualify for the Wild Card, beat the Brewers, took down the Dodgers, swept the Cardinals, and are now in the World Series.

The Nationals were 19-31 through 50 games.

That’s the 2nd-worst record thru 50 games for any team to win a pennant, behind only the 2005 Astros (18-32), who lost in WS.

The ‘19 Nats will look to flip that script and have the worst record thru 50 gms of any team to *WIN* the WS. pic.twitter.com/ekO56N0MEC

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 16, 2019

Their 19-31 start was a bumpy road, and they ended up in a beautiful place. But the job isn’t done yet — they still have the World Series ahead.