From the moment Nationals manager Dave Martinez heard the phrase “Stay in the fight,” the message clicked with him. He adopted the saying to motivate his team through its World Series title-winning season in 2019, and now he is sharing those words as inspiration during the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinez teamed up with BreakingT, a sports merchandise company, to create “Stay in the fight” face masks. All proceeds from the sales of the masks will go to the humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief.

“When we first started this phrase -- as everybody knows -- we were struggling,” Martinez said of the 2019 Nats team that began the season 19-31. “We were going through some rough times throughout the season. But I always felt like, ‘Hey, you know what? Things will turn around.’ I heard the phrase, got it and I said, ‘Hey, this is us. Every day we wake up and we’ve got to stay in that fight.’ The boys took that and ran with it.”

The masks, sold in a three-pack for $35, feature the catchphrase in capitalized, bold red letters. Martinez hopes the significance of the saying can have a positive influence beyond baseball.

“We all -- in some way, some form -- have to stay in that fight,” he said. “Right now is a perfect example with this pandemic. There’s people out there risking their lives every single day to keep the rest of us safe and healthy. I’m proud of those people. I’m proud of what this whole country is doing in stepping up. It’s hard telling millions and millions of people to stay home and not socialize. It’s tough.

“For me, that’s part of staying in the fight.”