LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Here in the nation's capital, we're setting politics aside for a moment to celebrate the Washington Nationals' first World Series title. The team held a victory parade today, and thousands of excited fans turned out to cheer them - people like J.P. Chevalier.
JP CHEVALIER: This is fun. This is awesome. I was supposed to be going up to Pennsylvania today, and I found out this was going on. It's, like, forget that (laughter). I'm staying here - blew off my girlfriend.
FADEL: Chevalier is a native to the area, and you don't have to guess how he's feeling today.
CHEVALIER: Awesome. There's no feeling like it. You can't describe it (laughter). And they're letting us drink beer out here, you know? (Laughter) That's usually a no-no.
FADEL: Baseball fans in D.C. waited decades for a parade like this. The city went 33 years without a major league team before the former Montreal Expos moved to Washington in 2005. The previous franchise, then known as the Senators, won it all in 1924. And the area has not seen a World Series title since the Homestead Grays of the Negro League. So yeah, you can understand why 73-year-old Leland Aucoin had a lot of pent-up emotions today.
LELAND AUCOIN: Oh, it's fantastic. Are you kidding me? This happens once in a lifetime. We'll never see - we'll probably never get this again. I've been waiting for it since 2010. I became a fan.
FADEL: The Nationals are actually the third major D.C. sports team to win a national title in the past year and a half. The Washington Mystics clinched the WNBA title in October, and the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup last year. That's why some of those fans out on the street today were using a new nickname for D.C. - the district of champions. Others, like Aucoin, prefer to use more familiar Washington language.
AUCOIN: I mean, it's - we're like a nation. We're like a political convention. It's like Election Night. It's wonderful. We're all winners (laughter).
FADEL: Just some of the National fans who turned out in droves today on the streets of Washington, D.C., to celebrate their team's historic World Series win.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY SHARK")
PINKFONG: (Singing) Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, baby shark. Mommy shark... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
