Washington Nationals: 16 best tweets, videos, and GIFS of Nats’ 2016 campaign

As the year winds down, it’s a natural response to reflect on the year that was, and the Washington Nationals’ 2016 campaign is no exception —- so let’s take a look at the best tweets, videos, and GIFs of the year.

(Note: the list is in chronological order, not in order of which tweets and videos were better.)

1. Blake Treinen: Reliever, “Jeopardy!” answer

Blake Treinen is one of the most promising young pitchers in the Nationals’ bullpen -- but he also has a claim to fame that no other teammate can make: he was part of an answer on “Jeopardy!”.

The answer: “The Nationals’ Blake Treinen has hit 100 MPH with this type of pitch, that gets its name from its downwards motion.”

The correct response: “What is a sinker?”

2. Anthony Rendon’s love of Taylor Swift, shown in a t-shirt

Rendon also told the world of his love for Taylor Swift during an interview. How long is it before Swift writes a breakup song about Rendon?

3. Bryce Harper urges America to Make Baseball Fun Again

If anyone was going to lead this campaign, it was going to be Bryce Harper — and although it’s hard to know if baseball is necessarily more fun than it was last year, it’s safe to say that Bryce Harper has done a great job raising awareness for the cause.

4. Oliver Perez masters the art of cup shredding with his teeth

If he can continue that witchcraft and wizardry, Oliver Perez will soon have a letter of admission from Hogwarts.

5. Bryce Harper cheats on The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon welcomed Bryce Harper as a guest on The Tonight Show this past May along with model Gigi Hadid and comedian/actor Andy Samberg. Harper proceeded to cheat in the game “Catchphrase”. We’ll let this one slide.

6. The bullpen does... something (to encourage a big hit)

Other than the trademarked Dan Firova bullpen high-three, does anybody know what’s going on here?

7. “Too Many Nats”

Based on the 2014 Adult Swim parody of an 80’s TV show title sequence, Reddit user dungeonmasterlvl4 made a Nationals-themed edition, featuring Daniel Murphy as “the entire offense”, and Jonny Jonathan as The DC Strangler. It was, simply put, among humanity’s greatest accomplishments. Of course, there could only be one thing better than “Too Many Nats”...

8. “Two Many Nats”

The greatest thing since... well, “Too Many Nats”.

9. Ryan Zimmerman turns a triple play dot GIF

It’s fitting that Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals’ former franchise third-baseman, turned the first triple play in Nationals history by throwing the baseball to the Nats’ current third-baseman, Anthony Rendon. (It was also the first 3-3-5 triple play in MLB history, so that’s something.)

10. Bryce Harper holds Katie Ledecky’s gold medals

Harper held Ledecky’s 4 gold medals while she threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park. She thanked him by sending him one of her swim caps to wear while he celebrated the Nats’ 2016 NL East title.

11. “That’s my favorite player!”

Trea Turner has only been on the Nats for a few months, but he seems to have a friend in Anthony Rendon, who calls Turner his favorite player. (Coincidentally, Turner’s favorite player seems to be Rendon.)

12. Rally Pigeons strike during Game 2 of the NLDS

These pigeons obviously had no understanding of the magnitude of the game. On the bright side, Nats fans got to see Mark Melancon attempt to shoo away pigeons between pitches.

13. Bryce Harper remembers Harambe

Before Game 5 of the NLDS, Harper remembered America’s favorite gorilla on his bat knob.

14. Max Scherzer’s wife throws away a no-hitter jersey

Max and Erica May Scherzer nearly made a tragic mistake in October when Erica threw away Max’s jersey from his second no-hitter of 2015. Luckily for Max, he rescued it from the garbage. Why Max (or Erica) left the important jersey just lying around is still unknown.

15. Max Scherzer wins the Cy Young while on a boat

Max Scherzer was on a boat in the Virgin Islands when he found out he won the NL Cy Young Award. Because of course he was.

16. Adam Eaton’s baby approves of the Adam Eaton trade

Eaton’s 8-month-old son approved of a trade that many weren’t too happy with. Luckily for him, he’s considerably more adorable than any other baseball analysts.