NEW YORK -- Last Oct. 30, the Nationals were about to make franchise history. It was Game 7 of the 2019 World Series between Washington and Houston at Minute Maid Park.

Before the game, longtime Nationals radio broadcaster Charlie Slowes and his partner, Dave Jageler, were surprisingly calm. They felt they were never going to be more prepared. This would be it. The season was going to end one way or another.

It’s no surprise Slowes and Jageler were ready; they have been together 14 years and are one of the most popular duos in baseball.

• Q&A: Slowes on calling Nats' World Series win

“We have seen the franchise on the field at its worst. We have seen the team turn it around in 2011 and get a whole lot better,” Slowes said.

One can imagine how Slowes was feeling when the Nationals were three outs away from winning their first World Series in franchise history. He was behind the mic as they held a 6-2 lead, thanks to a seventh-inning power surge by Anthony Rendon and Howie Kendrick. In the ninth, Washington closer Daniel Hudson was on the mound and got two quick outs -- the Astros' George Springer popped out to second and José Altuve struck out.

“At that moment, when José Altuve struck out on three pitches, that’s when the feeling came over my body and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. This is going to happen. The Nationals are going to win the World Series,’” Slowes said. “Right then, you try to remain calm. You have all these things going through your head, thinking what you would say when they win. I kind of had a buildup to it during the last at-bat. The ballpark was amazingly quiet. That’s the difference between winning on the road and winning at home. Everyone was standing, but you could hear a pin drop.”

Michael Brantley stepped to the plate. The moment was at hand.

Brantley worked the count to 3-2, then fouled off a pitch. At that instant, Slowes knew Hudson was going to the slider down and in. Here was Slowes’ call:

"It will be another 3-2 pitch to Michael Brantley. Hudson sets, the kick and here it comes … Swing and a miss! Swing and a miss! Swing and a miss! And a World Series Game 7-winning 'Curly W' is in the books! The celebration is on! The Washington Nationals are the world champions!"

“For some reason I say things in a moment like three times for emphasis,” Slowes explained. “I did the same thing on swing and a miss. I can’t tell you why. I think it’s how I make myself believe what’s happening at that moment. That was just my euphoria for the moment.

“There were a lot of moving parts. In the middle of the ninth inning, Dave was changing clothes, preparing for his champagne bath. We had Grant Paulsen with postgame interviews. Dave was down on the field as soon as it was over. … I was the last to go down. I didn’t do any interviews until I went into the clubhouse.”

The one thing Slowes remembers was that the players were starving by the time they moved into the clubhouse. You don’t normally see that during a celebration.

“At that point, after the celebration … inside [the clubhouse] might not have been as long as the previous ones during the postseason. They wanted to celebrate with their families,” Slowes said. “And the families were gathering outside the clubhouse wanting to celebrate with them. Seeing the look in their eyes, of parents seeing their sons realize the dream they had since they were taking them to their Little League games, is one of the greatest memories that will stick with me.”

Almost seven months later, Slowes is still on cloud nine. With the start of the season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, he eagerly awaits Opening Day at Nationals Park when the Nationals raise the championship flag.

“You stay on the cloud for a quite a while,” Slowes said. “I think we are all looking forward to that next celebration, which would have been Opening Day -- a packed ballpark and raising the championship banner. We received a taste of that with the first home Spring Training game for the Nationals. They raised the banner in West Palm Beach. They had the world championship logo put up around the ballpark. So I think everybody is looking forward for that next championship celebration.”