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Drinks are on Ryan Zimmerman as he celebrates his jersey retirement at Nationals Park on Saturday.
The 37-year-old retired infielder will reportedly treat Nationals fans to a beer at The Salt Line—a Navy Yard restaurant, in which Zimmerman is an investor, right across the street from the ballpark—before and after Washington’s game against the Phillies on Saturday afternoon, according to Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post.
The generous act from Zimmerman comes on the same day that the Nationals plan to officially retire his No. 11 jersey. It will be the first number that the franchise has retired since moving to the nation’s capital in 2005.
Zimmerman was synonymous with the franchise’s relocation to Washington when he became the team’s first draft pick after moving from Montreal. The Nationals selected him as the No. 4 pick in the 2005 draft and he quickly became a fan favorite in the city.
After bursting onto the scene during his rookie season, Zimmerman went on to establish himself as a franchise centerpiece for the next decade and a half. He made the NL All-Star team twice in 2009 and ’17, while also earning a Gold Glove in ’09 and two Silver Slugger award in ’09 and ’10.
Despite his individual triumphs, Zimmerman could never seem to power the Nationals to postseason success. Washington battled through the division time and time again during the early stages of the infielder’s career but faltered each time in the early playoff rounds.
That misfortune finally changed in 2019, when the Nationals defeated the Astros in the World Series in a thrilling seven-game series. Zimmerman achieved another first for the franchise in Washington when he hit the first World Series home run in Nationals history in his first ever at-bat in the World Series.
Zimmerman officially announced his retirement this February. He retired as the franchise’s all-time leader, both for the Expos and the Nationals, in numerous statistical categories including hits (1846), home runs (284), RBIs (1061) and games played (1799).
