History of the Washington Nationals facts for kids

The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball team formed in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. In 2005, the Expos moved to Washington, D.C., and were renamed the Nationals. The franchise won the National League pennant in 2019, and has won its division five times. They won the World Series in 2019 against the Astros in game 7.

History

Montreal Expos

The Montreal Expos joined the National League in 1969, along with the San Diego Padres, with a majority share held by Charles Bronfman, a major shareholder in Seagram. Named after the Expo 67 World's Fair, the Expos' initial home was Jarry Park. Managed by Gene Mauch, the team lost 110 games in their first season, coincidentally matching the Padres inaugural win–loss record, and continued to struggle during their first decade with sub-.500 seasons.

Starting in 1977, the team's home venue was Montreal's Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Summer Olympics. Two years later, the team won a franchise-high 95 games, finishing second in the National League East. The Expos began the 1980s with a core group of young players, including catcher Gary Carter, outfielders Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, third baseman Tim Wallach, and pitchers Steve Rogers and Bill Gullickson. The team won its only division championship in the strike-shortened split season of 1981, ending its season with a three games to two loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

The team spent most of the 1980s in the middle of the NL East pack, finishing in third or fourth place in eight out of nine seasons from 1982 to 1990. Buck Rodgers was hired as manager before the 1985 season and guided the Expos to a .500 or better record five times in six years, with the highlight coming in 1987, when they won 91 games. They finished third, but were just four games behind the division-winning Cardinals.

Bronfman sold the team to a consortium of owners in 1991, with Claude Brochu as the managing general partner. Rodgers, at that time second only to Gene Mauch in number of Expos games managed, was replaced partway through the 1991 season. In May 1992, Felipe Alou, a member of the Expos organization since 1976, was promoted to field manager, becoming the first Dominican-born manager in MLB history. Alou would become the leader in Expos games managed, while guiding the team to winning records, including 1994, when the Expos, led by a talented group of players including Larry Walker, Moisés Alou, Marquis Grissom and Pedro Martínez, had the best record in the major leagues until the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike forced the cancellation of the remainder of the season. After the disappointment of 1994, Expos management began shedding its key players, and the team's fan support dwindled.

Brochu sold control of the team to Jeffrey Loria in 1999, but Loria failed to close on a plan to build a new downtown ballpark, and did not reach an agreement on television and English radio broadcast contracts for the 2000 season, reducing the team's media coverage.

2001 contraction

In November 2001, Major League Baseball's owners voted 28–2 to contract the league by two teams—according to various sources, the Expos and the Minnesota Twins, both of which reportedly voted against contraction. Subsequently, the Boston Red Sox were sold to a partnership led by John W. Henry, owner of the Florida Marlins. In order to clear the way for Henry's group to assume ownership of the Red Sox, Henry sold the Marlins to Loria, and baseball purchased the Expos from Loria. However, as the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, operator of the Metrodome, won an injunction requiring the Twins to play there in 2002, MLB was unable to revoke the Twins franchise, and so had to keep the Twins and Expos as part of the regular season schedule. In the collective bargaining agreement signed with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in August 2002, contraction was prohibited through to the end of the contract in 2006.

Creation of the Nationals

With contraction no longer an option for the immediate term, MLB began looking for a relocation site for the Expos. Some of the choices included Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Washington, D.C.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; somewhere in Northern Virginia such as Arlington or Dulles; Norfolk, Virginia; Las Vegas; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Washington and Virginia emerged as the front-runners.

In both 2003 and 2004, the Expos played 22 of their home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, and the remaining 59 in Montreal.

On September 29, 2004, MLB announced that the Expos would move to Washington, D.C., in 2005.

The Expos played their final game on October 3 at Shea Stadium, losing by a score of 8–1 against the New York Mets, the same opponent that the Expos first faced at its start, 35 years earlier. On November 15, a lawsuit by the former team owners against MLB and former majority owner Jeffrey Loria was struck down by arbitrators, bringing to an end all legal actions that would impede a move. The owners of the other MLB teams approved the move to Washington in a 28–1 vote on December 3 (Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos cast the sole dissenting vote).

Washington baseball history revived

Numerous professional baseball teams have called Washington, D.C. home. The Washington Senators, a founding member of the American League, played in the nation's capital from 1901 to 1960 before moving to Minnesota and becoming the Twins. These Senators were owned by Clark Griffith and played in Griffith Stadium. With notable stars including Walter Johnson and Joe Cronin, the Senators won the 1924 World Series and pennants in 1925 and 1933, but were more often unsuccessful and moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season where the team was renamed the Minnesota Twins. A second Washington Senators team (1961–1971) had a winning record only once in their 11 years, though bright spots, such as slugger Frank Howard, earned the love of fans. The second Senators team moved to Arlington, Texas, for the 1972 season and changed their name to the Texas Rangers, and Washington spent the next 33 years without a baseball team.

Although there was some sentiment to revive the name Senators, political considerations factored into the choice of Nationals, a revival of the first American League franchise's "official" nickname used from 1905 to 1956. Politicians and others in the District of Columbia objected to the name Senators because the District of Columbia does not have voting representation in Congress. In addition, the Rangers still owned the rights to the Senators name, although the Nationals were able to acquire the rights to the curly "W" from the Rangers.

Washington, D.C., mayor Anthony A. Williams supported the name "Washington Grays", in honor of the Negro-league team the Homestead Grays (1929–1950), which had been based in Pittsburgh, but played many of their home games in Washington. In the end, the team owners chose the name "Washington Nationals", which had been the official name of the American League's Washington Senators from 1905 to 1956.

Opposition from the Orioles

The move was announced despite opposition from Peter Angelos, owner of the nearby Baltimore Orioles, who infamously announced "There are no baseball fans in Washington, D.C. That's a fiction." Since 1972, the Orioles had been the only MLB franchise in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area, which he considered a single market. Angelos contended that the Orioles would suffer financially if another team were allowed to enter the market, although the Orioles and the Washington Senators had shared the market successfully from 1954 through 1971, and four other major metropolitan areas (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco Bay Area) of roughly comparable size to Baltimore-Washington each have two MLB teams (in all cases, one each in the National and American Leagues). This reasoning disturbed many in Washington who recalled that it was the Griffith family, owners of the Washington Senators, who allowed the St. Louis Browns to move to Baltimore and become the Orioles in 1954 in the first place.

On March 31, 2005, Angelos and Major League Baseball struck a deal to protect the Orioles against any financial harm the Nationals might present.

Under the terms of the deal, television and radio broadcast rights to Nationals games are handled by the Orioles franchise, which formed a new network (the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) to produce and distribute the games for both franchises on both local affiliates and cable/satellite systems. MASN was not, however, immediately available on all cable providers, adding to the frustration of Nationals fans. In fact, most in the DC area missed almost the entirety of the Nationals' first two seasons. The deal with Angelos makes the Nationals the only major league baseball team that does not own its own broadcast rights.

Seasons

2005

Then President George W. Bush throws out a ceremonial first pitch in 2005.

• On April 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson (after being the last player to ever wear a Montreal Expo jersey) had the honor of being the first batter for the Washington Nationals and he promptly responded with the first hit for the new Washington incarnation of the team. Outfielder Terrmel Sledge hit the Nationals' first home run in the April 4 contest.
• On April 6, 2005, the Nationals recorded their first-ever regular season win by beating the Phillies, 7–3. The win came in their second game of the season and was highlighted by Wilkerson hitting for the cycle.
• On April 14, 2005, the Washington Nationals won their first regular season home game at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C, by a score of 5–3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. President George W. Bush kept up a tradition of sitting U.S. Presidents by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in Washington, exactly 95 years after William Howard Taft started the tradition at Griffith Stadium. There were 45,596 fans in attendance, including former Senators players and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Liván Hernández threw eight shutout innings, and Vinny Castilla was denied the chance to hit for the cycle when Diamondback reliever Lance Cormier hit him with a pitch in the bottom of the eighth; Castilla needed only a single to complete the cycle. Chad Cordero recorded the save for Washington.
• Between May 29 and June 15, 2005, the Nationals compiled a 15–2 record including a franchise record 10-game win streak (June 2–12). Ten of those games were decided by 1 run.
• On August 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson became the first Washington Nationals player to ever hit a grand slam, against then Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Duaner Sánchez. The Nationals won the game 7–0 on a four-hit complete game shutout by John Patterson.
• During his August–September callup, Ryan Zimmerman recorded 23 hits in 58 at-bats. He thus became the first member of the Washington Nationals to complete the season with a batting average of at least .300 in at least 50 at-bats.
• The Nationals led all National League teams in interleague play in 2005, recording 12 wins.
• At the halfway mark of the season, the Nationals were in first place in the National League East division, with a record of 50–31. However, they went 31–50 in the second half of the season, finishing at 81–81.

2006

• On May 19, 2006, the Nationals opened their first-ever regular season interleague series against the Baltimore Orioles. Although the Orioles won the first game of what would become known as the Beltway Series (which consisted of three games in Washington and three in Baltimore), the two teams split the season series, with the home team winning twice and the visitors once. These games marked the Orioles' first matchup with a Washington-based team in 35 years, as they played against the original Senators from 1954 to 1960, and against a new Senators team from 1961 to 1971.
• On Father's Day, June 18, 2006, against the New York Yankees, the paid attendance was 45,157, the third-largest ever to see a single baseball game in the history of RFK Stadium. In that game, the Nationals beat the Yankees 3–2 on a two-run walk-off home run by rookie Ryan Zimmerman. (A 1962 doubleheader drew more spectators, as did the Nationals' first-ever home game with Arizona.)
• On September 2, 2006, the Nationals rallied from three runs down in the first game and from five runs down in the second game to take a day–night doubleheader sweep from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the first day-night doubleheader as part of the team's history in Washington.
• On Labor Day, September 4, 2006, Ramón Ortiz took a no-hitter into the ninth inning vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, but gave up a single to Aaron Miles on his second pitch in the 9th to break up the bid. Then he gave up a home run to Albert Pujols, ending his chance to get his second career shutout. Ortiz himself also hit a home run in the 8th inning. The Nationals won 5–2.
• On September 16, 2006, Alfonso Soriano became the fourth player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season when he stole his 40th base in the first inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Soriano followed that feat on September 22 by hitting his 40th double, becoming the first member of the "40–40 Club" to also hit 40 doubles in the same season.

2007

Ryan Zimmerman

After losing four starters (Liván Hernández, Tony Armas, Ramón Ortiz and Pedro Astacio) from the prior year, the Nationals invited an extraordinary 36 pitchers to spring training.

On Opening Day, the Nationals lost their starting shortstop Cristian Guzmán and center fielder Nook Logan for five weeks due to injuries. At the end of April, starting pitcher Jerome Williams hurt his ankle while batting and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Then, in the space of just 10 days in May, Shawn Hill, John Patterson, and Jason Bergmann went on the disabled list. Jerome Williams returned, pitched one game, and went back on the DL with a shoulder injury. The Washington Post's wrote: "Almost everything that could sink a team's attitude has befallen the Nationals. They started the year 1–8, then they lost eight in a row to drop to 9–25."

They put journeymen Mike Bacsik, Micah Bowie, Tim Redding, and Jason Simontacchi, along with rookie reliever Levale Speigner into the starting rotation, amidst predictions that the 2007 Nationals might equal the 1962 Mets' record of futility of 120 losses in one season. But the Nationals bounced back, going 24–18 in their next 42 games through June 25. But on that day, a day in which Bergman made his first start off the DL, the Nationals received the news that shortstop Cristian Guzmán, their leadoff hitter (and second on the team with a .329 batting average) was lost for the rest of the season due to a thumb injury he had received the day before tagging out a runner.

The Nationals finished the 2007 season 73–89, improving their record by two more wins than in 2006.

• On April 17, 2007, one day after the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech where 33 faculty and students were murdered in the largest mass shooting in US history, the Nationals wore Virginia Tech baseball hats as they hosted the Atlanta Braves. The idea was e-mailed to team President Stan Kasten by Nationals fan Dave Lanham following the shootings. One of these hats was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to be displayed.
• On May 12, 2007, the Nationals hosted the Florida Marlins. Tied 3–3 in the bottom of the ninth, Marlins pitcher Jorge Julio faced Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded and two outs. Zimmerman hit the 2–2 pitch over the right-center field wall for a walk-off grand slam. Also during this game, right fielder Austin Kearns hit the Nationals' first inside-the-park home run. The game ended at 1:42AM after two separate extended rain delays.
• On August 7, 2007, while on the road against the San Francisco Giants, Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik allowed Barry Bonds' 756th career home run, giving him first place on the career home run list. However, the Nationals won the game 8–6.
• On September 23, 2007, the Nationals played their final game at RFK Stadium, a 5–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

2008

Nationals 2008 team during warm up

• On March 30, 2008, the Nationals held the grand opening of their new ballpark, Nationals Park, with a rare one game series against the Atlanta Braves. Continuing the tradition, President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Nationals manager Manny Acta. The Nationals beat the Braves in dramatic fashion when, with two out in the bottom of the 9th inning, Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo walk-off home run off of pitcher Peter Moylan. This gave the Nationals a 3–2 victory. The first hit was recorded by Cristian Guzmán, the first RBI was recorded by Nick Johnson, the first run scored was recorded by Cristian Guzmán, the first home run was recorded by the Braves' Chipper Jones, and the first starting pitchers were Odalis Pérez for the Nationals and Tim Hudson for the Braves. President Bush was in the ESPN television booth at the time of Jones' homer and was the one who called it.

2009

• In April 2009, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn wore jerseys that improperly spelled the team's name as "Natinals". They later switched to properly spelled jerseys in the 3rd inning. Majestic Athletic, the uniform supplier for MLB later apologized. This spawned a rash of jokes both on the internet and on television regarding Nationals and futility. The jersey worn by Dunn was later auctioned for $8000 to benefit the Washington Nationals Dream foundation.
• On July 27, 2009, Josh Willingham hit two grand slams in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The first grand slam was hit against Jeff Suppan and the second against Mark DiFelice. Willingham became the 13th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat.
• On September 30, 2009, Justin Maxwell hit a two-out full count walk-off grand slam off Francisco Rodríguez of the 2009 New York Mets on Fan Appreciation Day, the Nationals' last home game of the season.
• On October 4, 2009, the Nationals' last game of the season, the Nationals won after 15 innings, the longest game for the team as part of its Washington history. The Nationals also became the first team in MLB history to start the season losing seven in a row and close the season winning seven in a row.

2010

• On April 5, 2010, President Barack Obama kept up a tradition of sitting U.S. Presidents by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in Washington.

Stephen Strasburg during his major league debut

• On June 7, 2010, the Nationals selected Bryce Harper of Southern Nevada. Harper was expected to break the contract record set by Stephen Strasburg. Harper is also a client of Strasburg's agent Scott Boras. With 26 seconds left to sign, Harper and Boras agreed to a $9.9 million, five-year contract, falling short of Strasburg's 15.5 million over four years.
• On June 8, 2010, the first overall pick, Stephen Strasburg had his major league debut, attracting a sellout crowd of 40,315. Strasburg struck out 14 batters in seven innings, giving up just 2 earned runs in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 14 strikeouts were a record for the Nationals—the most in a single game by a National since the franchise moved to D.C.
• On July 29, 2010, the Nationals traded Matt Capps to the Minnesota Twins for Wilson Ramos. Ramos was considered to be the top catching prospect in the American League.
• On July 30, 2010, the Nationals traded infielder Cristian Guzmán to the Texas Rangers for two minor league pitchers. Guzmán had to approve the deal because he has 10-and-5 rights (players with 10 years in the major league and five consecutive years with their current team cannot be traded without their consent).
• On September 6, 2010, the Nationals won their 60th game of the season, eclipsing their win totals from the 2008 and 2009 season (finishing with 59 wins each time). September call-up Danny Espinosa hit two home runs including a grand slam in the Nationals' 13–3 win over the Mets at Nationals Park.
• On September 20, 2010, the Nationals recorded their lowest attendance ever since they came to Washington, with just 10,999 in attendance for a game against the Houston Astros. The poor attendance continued during the whole series, with fewer than 12,000 on September 21, fewer than 13,000 on September 22, and 14,633 on September 23.
• On September 23, 2010, team president Stan Kasten announced he would resign at the end of the season. Kasten did not explain in detail his reason for resigning and said, "It's just time to be doing something else."
• On November 10, 2010, the Nationals unveiled a new logo and uniforms.
• On December 5, 2010, the Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a seven-year deal worth $126 million.

Jayson Werth playing for the Nationals against the Orioles in May 2011

2011

On June 23, 2011, the Nationals won a 1–0 game to put them above .500 with a record of 38–37 (.507), the latest point in the season the team had been above .500 since 2005. Immediately after the game, manager Jim Riggleman resigned, citing the team's refusal to discuss extending his contract. Bench coach John McLaren was named the interim manager. It was later reported that Davey Johnson was signed through the end of the 2011 season, with an option for 2012 (as a candidate in a search that would include minority candidates), and a contract as a front office consultant through 2013.

The Nationals finished the 2011 season in third place with a record of 80–81, their second-best record since they moved to Washington. They only played 161 games because a home game against the Dodgers was cancelled due to rain. The game was not made up because it was inconsequential to the playoffs with no room on the schedule to play it.

On December 23, Washington traded prospects A. J. Cole, Derek Norris, Tom Milone and Brad Peacock for All-Star Pitcher Gio González.

After the 2011 season, the last remaining member of the Expos – Liván Hernández – departed the Nationals, although his association with the team was non-continuous.

2012

On September 20, the Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to clinch a spot in the playoffs and became the first Washington-based baseball team to advance to the postseason in 79 years. On October 1, the Nationals clinched the National League East division and later clinched the best record in Major League Baseball at 98–64. However, the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS 3 games to 2.

2013

In November 2012, manager Davey Johnson signed a contract to return for the 2013 season, and announced that he would retire from managing at the end of that season.

2014

On October 31, 2013, the Nationals announced the hiring of Matt Williams to replace Davey Johnson as the team's manager for the 2014 season. The Nationals clinched the NL East on September 16, 2014, after beating the Atlanta Braves. Jordan Zimmermann pitched the Nationals' first no-hitter (since moving from Montreal in 2005) on the last day of the 2014 regular season, September 28, 2014, against the Miami Marlins.

2015

The Nationals started their season in a skid, falling to the bottom of their division. On April 28, 2015, after a seven-game losing streak, with rookie starting pitcher A. J. Cole on the mound, the Nationals found themselves in at a nine-run deficit against their archrival, the Atlanta Braves. But the team clawed back to win the game 13–12, overcoming their largest run deficit ever. Over the coming weeks, the Nationals rebounded from their poor start to the season, rising to the top of the division behind a career-best season for outfielder Bryce Harper. On June 20, 2015, the Nationals shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates, with Max Scherzer throwing a no-hitter that was nearly perfect. The game was the second no-hitter in Nationals history. Scherzer became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1973 to throw two no-hitters in a single season regular season on October 3, 2015, shutting down the New York Mets in a performance that also equaled Ryan's historic mark of 17 strikeouts in a no-hitter. However, the Mets won the division, clinching it in late September.

2016

On May 11, 2016, Max Scherzer became the fourth pitcher in history to strike out 20 batters over nine innings in a single game, joining Roger Clemens (twice), Randy Johnson, and Kerry Wood. He led the National League in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched and won the NL Cy Young Award, becoming the sixth pitcher in history to win the award in both leagues. The Nationals won the East division with a 95–67 record but lost in the NLDS to the Dodgers.

2017

In 2017, the Nationals again won the East division but lost in the NLDS to the Cubs, marking the fourth time out of four playoff appearances since 2012 in which the team was eliminated in the NLDS. Max Scherzer won the NL Cy Young Award for the second year in a row

2018

2018 saw the Nationals host the MLB All-Star Game, but the team would regress and miss out on the playoffs, barely cracking .500 with an 82–80 record. Bryce Harper left the team after the season, signing with the Philadelphia Phillies as a free agent.

2019

Even without Harper, the Nationals would excel in 2019, earning a Wild Card berth with a 93–69 record, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card play-in game, and winning their first playoff series since their arrival in Washington, D.C., upsetting the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games in their NLDS. They went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS to win the National League pennant, their first in team history dating back to their days in Montreal. When they faced the Houston Astros in the World Series, it was also the first appearance for a Washington-based team since the first AL Senators lost to the New York Giants in 1933. The Nationals went on to win their first World Series title 4 games to 3, becoming the second Washington, D.C.-based professional sports team to win their first championship in the same year, following the WNBA's Washington Mystics a few weeks earlier, and also became the third men's professional sports team to win their first title, following the NHL's St. Louis Blues and the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

2020

Following the 2019 season, Anthony Rendon departed to the Los Angeles Angels in free agency. The team signed Stephen Strasburg to a seven-year, $245 million contract extension. The 2020 season was shortened to 60 games, and the Nationals finished with a disappointing 26–34 record.

2021

The Nationals got off to another disappointing start in 2021 and were under .500 at the trade deadline. GM Mike Rizzo opted to trade many of the franchise's cornerstone players in exchange for prospects, most notably trading ace pitcher Max Scherzer and homegrown star Trea Turner to the Dodgers. The moves signified the end of an era for the team. The Nationals finished last in the National League East with a 65–97 record.

2022

The 2022 season was the Nationals franchise's worst since 1976, as they finished last in the National League East with a 55–107 record. On August 2, 2022, first baseman Josh Bell and outfielder Juan Soto were traded to the San Diego Padres.

2023

In 2023, the Nationals finished last in the National League East for the fourth year in a row, posting a 71–91 record.

See also

• Washington Nationals nicknames