The Fan Experience

Like the rest of their season, September and October were a wild roller coaster ride for the Washington Nationals and their fans. September opened with a miserable 4-6 stretch, including losing 3 out of 4 to division rivals the Atlana Braves, effectively ending the Nats' hopes to reclaim the National League East title. In the middle of this stretch was a ridiculous come-from-behind win, during which the Nats capped off a 7-run 9th inning by walking off the New York Mets (9/3/19) September also saw a rare five-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, at home; this series included a made-up rainout game (9/16/19). The Nats secured their spot in the NL Wild Card game during that stretch.

October opened with a bang: the thrilling Wild Card victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, followed by a nail-biting series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League Championship, and finally the ultimate victory in the World Series, beating the powerhouse Houston Astros in an unprecedented series where neither team won a single game at home.

This chart maps the average (mean) fan resting heart rate and sleep score over this period, plotted against the significant game and series dates. The mean scores are culled from the entire volunteer pool; the sleep score is created by FitBit and based on total minutes of sleep, total minutes of deep sleep, overall restfulness/restlessness, and other factors, and its maximum score is 100.

Noteworthy observations:

  • Fan median heart rate for September and October is consistently higher than the overall 6-month median; the heart rate climbs gradually during the championship chase, then falls dramatically a few days after the World Series victory.
  • Sleep scores are likewise lower during the stretch run than before, with lowest scores aligned to key playoff games, and rebound after the World Series victory.
  • Fan heart rate is consistently higher during the series against the Dodgers than against the Cardinals.
  • The highest overall heart rate is in NLDS Game 5 (against the Dodgers)-- even more stressful/exciting than the World Series. This may be due in part to the Nationals history of prior NLDS eliminations.
  • The highest sleep quality in the sample is 10/28/19--two nights before the start of the World Series.

Click on the legend to hide or unhide plot lines.


Dashed vertical green lines mark important milestone games. Other dashed vertical lines mark the playoff game days, in the opponent's primary color