WASHINGTON -- Teddy wins! Teddy wins!

For the first time, the Teddy Roosevelt mascot won the Presidents Race in the middle of the fourth inning at Nationals Park -- a pursuit that drew attention even from a White House spokesman and Sen. John McCain.

Long-suffering 'Teddy' beat his foam competition to the finish line for the first time in 534 Presidents Races at Nationals Park on Wednesday. Brad Mills/US Presswire

Teddy -- Mr. Rough Rider, himself -- had lost 533 times since 2006, according to ESPN's research department, when the Washington Nationals began having races among 10-foot-tall foam renderings of Roosevelt, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln at home games.

The crowd cheered wildly Wednesday when Teddy triumphed in the last game of the 2012 regular season, which turned out to be a 5-1 victory for Washington against the Philadelphia Phillies. Teddy was helped when a green mascot wearing a Phillies jersey -- a distant cousin of the Phillie Phanatic, perhaps? -- knocked down the other three presidents.

The game's very next batter, Washington third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, hit a homer leading off the bottom of the fourth for the home team's first run of the afternoon. The hitter after that, Michael Morse, doubled and eventually scored, too.

Coincidence?

Asked whether he'd been inspired by the outcome of the mascot race, Zimmerman rolled his eyes.

"I am so glad Teddy won, so we can stop talking about Teddy. People get more excited for a mascot race than a game," Zimmerman said, before adding in a voice drenched with sarcasm: "Yes, I'm excited Teddy won. I'm ecstatic."