The Baby Shark
On May 9th, 2019, Gerardo Parra signed with the Washington Nationals having been released by the San Francisco Giants. After a forgettable start to his Nationals tenure, he changed his walk up music on June 19th to the sickly repetitive kids favorite, "Baby Shark."
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That day, Parra had 2 hits and the Nationals won 15 of their next 19 games. And just like that, there was a new Shark in Nats Park.
Fortunately, for Bernadina and Nationals Fans who've been around since 2012, the original Shark lives on.
On July 24th, 2019, The Washington Post's DC Sports Bog ran an article called, Long before Gerardo Parra’s ‘Baby Shark,’ Nats fans chomped for Roger Bernadina. It was a look back to those vintage Shark memories and all the fun that came with it.
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NBC Sports picked it up later that week, Washington Nationals Shark Week: From Sharkadina to Baby Shark highlighting the Shark-a-rine.
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Then, when the Nationals clinched a payoff spot and won the 2019 National League Wild Card Game, and Parra had played a role in the successful season, The Washingtonian reached out to get a quote about how we feel about a new Shark in town: Nationals Fans Behind the “Original Shark” Nickname Have a Message for Gerardo Parra.
​Do you have a message for Gerardo Parra?
Stoltenberg: I would say, bring some shark magic to the playoffs.
-Washingtonian, October 7, 2019
One thing is for sure. Nationals Fans remember Roger Bernadina and have fond memories of "The Shark" and the grassroots energy that Shark Fans brought to the stadium.