Werth "honored" to be added to Nats' Ring of Honor

There will be those who look at Jayson Werth's name on the façade of the upper deck down the first base line at Nationals Park, unveiled tonight and there to stay as long as this stadium lives, and question whether the outfielder was worthy of such an honor.

Those people probably have always scoffed at the $126 million contract the Nationals gave Werth way back in December 2010 and still don't believe it was the right move for the franchise.

But if you watched the ceremony that took place tonight between games of a doubleheader with the Cubs, watched how Nationals players looked at their former teammate with reverence, how club executives beamed with pride listening to him speak, watched fans applaud the video tributes and gift presentations and especially watched Werth choke up as he recalled his seven years with the Nats and his 22 years in professional baseball ... well, you understood that in the end, he was worth it.

"Obviously, this is a huge honor and step in a direction that I wasn't expecting," Werth said. "I feel like I'll always have ties to the Nationals, and I wouldn't want it any other way. This is my home."

He won't be remembered as the best player in Nationals history. He won't be remembered as the most honored player in Nationals history, having never made an All-Star team or won an award. But he will be remembered as one of the players - the first prominent free agent to sign with this club - who helped transform the franchise from a perennial 100-loss team into a perennial contender.

No, the Nats never won a playoff series while Werth was here. But they'd never come close to making the playoffs before he arrived. And teammates don't hesitate to credit him for helping make that transformation possible.

"When you look back on it, four divisions in seven years, coming from where the franchise was when I signed here, I think it's a pretty good accomplishment," Werth said. "But when I signed here, my goal was to win, and win a lot. We won a lot of regular-season games. We never got past the first round, but we gave ourselves a chance. We were there. Even the off-years were successful years, for the most part. ... A big change from where the organization was before I got here, for sure."

Werth's Nationals tenure ended in disappointment, with another Game 5 loss in the National League Division Series, one in which he committed a critical error in left field. His contract up, he hoped he could return for another season, but the Nats were ready to move on.

After sitting out all of spring training looking for work, Werth finally got a minor league offer from the Mariners. He packed his stuff, left his family behind in Northern Virginia, and reported first to Peoria, Ariz., and then Tacoma, Wash. A hamstring strain, though, landed him on the disabled list this summer, and that's when the 39-year-old knew it was time to hang 'em up.

"I felt like it was the baseball gods telling me it was time," he said. "It was pretty easy to slide into a normal life, a normal routine. It was good to be home."

Werth has spent the summer with his family, coaching teenage son Jackson (who now stands eye-to-eye with his 6-foot-5 father) and enjoying life away from baseball in an official capacity. But he doesn't intend to disappear from the game altogether, and certainly not from the Nationals.

"This is where we choose to live," he said. "We chose Washington for all the right reasons. Like I said, this is home. So, we're part of the community. Whether I'm in some capacity that is an actual job, or is coming in to hang out every once in a while, is fine by me."

Tonight's ceremony included the presentation of an actual ring for Werth to wear on his finger, a framed photo of the celebration of his Game 4 homer autographed by teammates, a camouflage rocking chair brought out by Ryan Zimmerman and video tributes from Ian Desmond, Mike Bordick, Bryce Harper, Adam LaRoche, Pat Burrell, Anthony Rendon, Danny Espinosa, Michael A. Taylor, Brad Lidge, Trea Turner, Chase Utley and Mark DeRosa.

And when it was his turn to speak to the crowd, Werth went out of his way to praise Harper, Dusty Baker and Max Scherzer (who he said is the only teammate he had worthy of comparison to the late Roy Halladay). Then he began talking about his parents, who were in attendance, and choked up.

He walked off the field to one final ovation and looked up at his name next to previous Ring of Honor inductees Frank Howard, Frank Robinson and Jackie Robinson. Years from now, some will bump when they see his name and question why it's there.

Those who witnessed this era of Nationals baseball up close will understand exactly why it deserves to be there forever.

"I'm just honored," Werth said. "I think if you would have told me back in 1997, back in Springfield, Illinois, when I got the call I was going to play for the Baltimore Orioles, if you would have said my career would have ended up like this, I wouldn't have believed you at all. Things have gone 100 times better than I ever expected."