As Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon approached the batter’s box for his first at-bat of Thursday’s Opening Day game at Nationals Park, the chant started in the upper deck.
The chant is, almost assuredly, a reference to the star’s ongoing contract extension talks with the team. Both sides have expressed an interest in making a deal happen. But for those in Washington, D.C., it was an obvious play on the “Lock her up!” chants that were frequently directed at Hillary Clinton by supporters of Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign. It was often described as the “go-to refrain” whenever Clinton’s name, the Clinton Foundation or her infamous email server was referenced during rallies and speeches.
Thursday, the modified version of the chant was not being directed at a political figure. No, Nationals fans decided to creatively twist the phrase to plead with the Nationals organization to keep Rendon.
One of the league’s best at his position, Rendon will become a free agent at the end of this season if a long-term extension is not worked out before then. The chant didn’t stop at Rendon’s first plate appearance — it continued for the next three.
The Nationals have repeatedly expressed their desire to, well, lock up Rendon’s future with the team, and if they don’t, Rendon is quickly becoming one of the best players set to hit the market next winter. Rendon agreed to a $18.8 million salary for 2019, his final year of arbitration eligibility.
“We love Anthony,” Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said in February. “He’s a guy I scouted for a long time. We drafted, signed and developed him into an elite player. He’s a guy we look at [being] in a Nationals uniform for a long time to come. We’ve had prior conversations that didn’t bear any fruit, but we’re going to continue to have dialogue.”
Scenes from Nationals Park on Opening Day
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