Washington Nationals Are An American Professional

Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based
in Washington, D.C.. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB)

as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to
2007, the team played in RFK Stadium; since 2008, their home stadium has
been Nationals Park, located on South Capitol Street in the Southeast
quadrant of D.C., near the Anacostia River.[6]
Washington Nationals
2019 Washington Nationals season
Established in 1969
Based in Washington, D.C., since 2005
Team logo Cap insignia
Major league affiliations
 National League (1969–

present)
o East Division (1969–

present)
Current uniform
Retired numbers 42 (as Montreal
Expos: 8, 10, 10, 30)
Colors
 Scarlet red, navy blue,

white[1][2][3]
Name
 Washington Nationals (2005–

present)
 Montreal Expos (1969–2004)
Other nicknames
 Nats
Ballpark
 Nationals Park (2008–present)

 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial
Stadium (2005–2007)
o a.k.a. RFK Stadium
 Olympic Stadium (1977–2004)

o Hiram Bithorn
Stadium (2003–2004)
 Jarry Park Stadium (1969–1976)
Major league titles
World Series 2019

titles (1)
NL Pennants (1) 2019
East Division  1981

titles (5)  2012
 2014
 2016
 2017
Wild card 2019

berths (1)
Front office
Owner(s) Mark Lerner[4][5]
Manager Dave Martinez

General Manager Mike Rizzo
President of Mike Rizzo

Baseball
Operations
The Nationals are the eighth major league franchise to be based in

Washington, D.C., and the first since 1971. The current NL club was founded
in 1969 as the Montreal Expos, part of the MLB expansion. The Expos were
purchased by MLB in 2002 after a failed contraction plan,[7] and the team
was moved to Washington, D.C., and named the Nationals before the 2005
season, marking the first franchise relocation in MLB since the third
Washington Senators moved to Texas in 1971.
While the team initially struggled after moving to Washington, the Nationals
had considerable success throughout the 2010s, winning the 2019 World
Series, their first, in addition to four division titles.[8] The team's two overall
first picks in the MLB draft, Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in
2010, attracted new levels of attention to the team. Harper became the
youngest position player to be selected to the MLB All-Star Game, while
Strasburg was named the 2019 World Series MVP.[9][10]
Contents
HistoryEdit
Early baseball in Washington, D.C.Edit

Main article: History of Washington, D.C. professional baseball
Multiple short-lived baseball franchises, including two named the Nationals,

played in Washington with the National Association in the 1870s.[note 1] The
first Washington Nationals team in a major league played in the American
Association in 1884.[15] Another Washington Nationals team also played in
the Union Association during its only season in 1884.[16] The first Washington
Nationals of the National League played from 1886 to 1889.[17]
Washington SenatorsEdit
Main articles: Washington Senators (1891–1899), Washington Senators (1912), History of the
Washington Senators (1901–1960), and Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Washington Statesmen played in the American Association in 1891,

[18] before jumping to the National League as the Senators the following
season. The Washington Senators, who were often referred to as the
Nationals,[19] played in the National League from 1892 to 1899. They were
followed by another Washington Senators franchise in 1901, a charter
member of the new American League, who were officially named the
Washington Nationals from 1905 to 1956. The first American League
Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis after the 1960 season and became
the Minnesota Twins. They were replaced in Washington by an expansion
team, the second Senators franchise, which began play in 1961 and moved
to Arlington, Texas after the 1971 season to become the Texas Rangers.
Montreal ExposEdit
Main article: Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were part of the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion,
which included the Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers),[20] Kansas
City Royals, and San Diego Padres. Based in Montreal, the Expos were the
first Major League team in Canada.[21]
The majority-share owner was 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.[22][23] 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 manager, becoming the
first Dominican-born manager in MLB history.[22] 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,[24][25] 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.
Proposed 2001 contractionEdit
Main article: 2001 Major League Baseball contraction plan
After the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along
with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[26][27] 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.
[28] Subsequently, the Boston Red Sox were sold to a partnership led by John
W. Henry, owner of the Florida Marlins.[28][29] In order to clear the way for
Henry's group to assume ownership of the Red Sox, Henry sold the Marlins to
Loria, and MLB purchased the Expos from Loria.[28] However,
the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, operator of the Metrodome,
won an injunction requiring the Twins to play there in 2002.[28] Because MLB
was unable to revoke the Twins franchise, it was compelled to keep both 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 until the end
of the contract in 2006.[30] By that time, the Expos had become the
Washington Nationals and the Twins had made sufficient progress towards
the eventual building of a new baseball-specific stadium that contraction was
no longer on the agenda.

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Washington Nationals Are An American Professional

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Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based

in Washington, D.C.. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB)

2019 Washington Nationals season

Based in Washington, D.C., since 2005

Team logo Cap insignia

Major league affiliations

 National League (1969–

o East Division (1969–

 Scarlet red, navy blue,

 Washington Nationals (2005–

 Nationals Park (2008–present)

 Olympic Stadium (1977–2004)

 Jarry Park Stadium (1969–1976)

Major league titles

World Series 2019

NL Pennants (1) 2019

East Division  1981

Wild card 2019

Owner(s) Mark Lerner[4][5]

Manager Dave Martinez

President of Mike Rizzo

The Nationals are the eighth major league franchise to be based in

Early baseball in Washington, D.C.Edit

Multiple short-lived baseball franchises, including two named the Nationals,

The Washington Statesmen played in the American Association in 1891,

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