Washington Nationals

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1969
• Home ballpark: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
• Owner: Mark Lerner
• Team colors: Scarlet red, navy blue, and white

Overview

The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team playing in the National League East division. When the franchise was formed in 1967, it was based in Canada as the Montreal Expos. The Expos enjoyed several periods of success in Montreal but were sidetracked by the financial realities of baseball. As the team struggled to draw fans in the early 2000s, the franchise fell under control of MLB and was in serious danger of being disbanded. Instead, a deal was reached to relocate the Expos to Washington, DC, where they became the Nationals. The Nationals began play in 2005, and by 2012, had risen to become one of the best teams in the National League (NL). Despite the team’s regular season success, the Nationals faltered in the playoffs. However, this changed in 2019, when the Nationals made the World Series and captured the first championship in franchise history.

History

By the 1960s, Montreal had a long history of supporting minor league baseball, so when MLB officials were looking to expand, they chose to place an expansion team in the Canadian city. The team was named the Expos after the World’s Fair of 1967—called Expo 67 in Canada—which was held in Montreal. The Expos began play in 1969 and made history just nine games into their inaugural season when pitcher Bill Stoneman threw a no-hitter. That accomplishment marked a high point for the season, as the team finished with 110 losses. Most expansion teams struggle in their first few seasons, and Montreal was no exception. The Expos finished below .500 from 1969 to 1978, topping out at seventy-nine wins in 1973 and 1974.

As the team struggled on the field, the Expos were slowly building a winning team from their talented minor league system. By 1979, Montreal was powered by stars such as catcher Gary Carter, outfielder Andre Dawson, and pitcher Steve Rogers, leading to the first winning record in franchise history. The Expos missed a playoff berth by two games that season, and in 1980, fell one game short. In 1981, Montreal added rookie speedster Tim Raines and made its first ever playoff appearance. The team was aided by a months’ long players’ strike as the season was split into two halves with the Expos winning the second-half championship. Montreal won the opening-round series but fell in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

The Expos remained competitive throughout most of the 1980s, but by mid-decade, many of their stars had moved on to other teams. As player salaries began to rise in the 1980s and 1990s, the small-market Expos struggled to keep up and often could not sign their best players. In the early 1990s, Montreal again rebuilt itself through its minor league system with a core of young players including Larry Walker and Marquis Grissom. In 1994, the Expos seemed certain to win their first outright division title when their season was again impacted by a labor dispute. Montreal had the best record in baseball in mid-August when another players’ strike led to the cancellation of the remainder of the season. The Expos failed to recapture that level of success for the rest of the decade and again watched as their star players signed elsewhere or were traded away.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the franchise was plagued both by plummeting attendance and an unwillingness by management to spend money on the team. As rumors began to fly about relocating the franchise, MLB announced in 2001 that the Expos would be one of two teams to be eliminated as part of a league contraction. After that plan was shot down in the courts, MLB assumed control of the Expos and attempted to find a new home for the team. In 2004, the league announced that the franchise would be moving to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season. The team was renamed the Nationals, the original name of the AL’s Washington Senators who played in the city from 1901 to 1960.

After a surprisingly competitive first season in Washington, the Nationals trailed off and were among the worst teams in baseball for the next five years. However, the losing seasons did give the Nationals the first pick in the MLB Draft in both 2009 and 2010, allowing them to select pitcher Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper in back-to-back years. By building a team around these two players, Washington was able to win the NL East in 2012 and make the playoffs. In the deciding fifth game of the National League Division Series (NLDS), the Nationals held a 6–0 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, only to see the Cardinals storm back to win the game. Washington won division titles again in 2014, 2016, and 2017, but each time the team lost in the NLDS. In the latter two series, the Nationals held a lead in Game Five before losing the game by one run.

In 2019, Washington finished with ninety-three wins and made the NL playoffs as a wild card team. After upsetting the favored Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, Washington swept the Cardinals in the NLCS to advance to the World Series. Their opponent was the Houston Astros who finished the regular season with a MLB-best 107 victories. Washington jumped out to a 2–0 lead, only to fall behind 3–2 with the series heading back to Houston. The Nationals won Game Six and rallied in Game Seven for a 4–3 series win, clinching the first world championship in team history.

However, after winning the World Series, things began to fall apart of the Nationals. They began to dismantle their core of star players through trades and began a rebuilding process that saw the team linger at the bottom of the NL East standings from 2020 to 2023.

Notable players

Twelve former players and managers associated with the franchise have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As of 2024, all but one of the inductees played with the franchise when it was based in Montreal. The exception was catcher Ivan Rodriguez who spent just two seasons in Washington and entered the Hall of Fame as a member of the Texas Rangers. Catcher Gary Carter played with the Expos from 1974 to 1984 and again in 1992 and was selected to seven All-Star teams with Montreal. Over his nineteen-year career, Carter made eleven All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves for defensive excellence. Outfielder Andre Dawson was an Expo from 1976 to 1986, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1977. Dawson finished his career in Montreal with 225 home runs and 838 runs batted in (RBIs), both third all-time in the team record books. In 1987, the year after leaving the Expos, Dawson won the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Tim Raines played in Montreal from 1979 to 1990, winning three NL stolen base titles during that time. Raines is the all-time franchise leader in stolen bases with 635 and runs scored with 947. Although not a member of the Hall of Fame, pitcher Steve Rogers is the franchise leader in wins with 158 and shutouts with 37.

Outfielder Larry Walker was with the Expos from 1989 to 1994, making the first of his four career All-Star appearances with Montreal in 1992. Walker was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of the Colorado Rockies, where he won the 1997 NL MVP award. Outfielder Vladimir Guerrero played in Montreal from 1996 to 2003. Guerrero hit 234 home runs with the Expos, second-most in team history and made four of his nine career All-Star games with Montreal. He was another former Expo who won an MVP award after leaving the team, capturing that honor in 2004 with the Anaheim Angels.

The first star player in Washington Nationals’ history was infielder Ryan Zimmerman, who made his MLB debut in 2005. As of 2024, Zimmerman was the franchise leader in home runs with 284 and RBIs with 1,061. Stephen Strasburg’s career was derailed by injuries, but when healthy, he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the NL. From 2010 through the 2022 season, Strasburg struck out a franchise-best 1.723 batters and was the MVP of the 2019 World Series. He is also second on the franchise list in wins with 113. Bryce Harper played for the Nationals from 2012 to 2018, making the All-Star team in six of his seven seasons in Washington. Harper won the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year Award and the 2015 NL MVP award. Max Scherzer won the Cy Young Award in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers before signing as a free agent with Washington in 2015. Scherzer went on to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards with the Nationals in 2016 and 2017 and led the NL in strikeouts three times. Prior to being traded in 2021, Scherzer was third on the team list in strikeouts with 1,610.

Bibliography

Frommer, Frederic J. You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions. Taylor Trade, 2013.

Humber, William. “Montreal Expos.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 4 July 2016, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/montreal-expos. Accessed 27 May 2020.

Russell, Jake. 100 Things Nationals Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books, 2016.

“Washington Nationals.” Baseball Almanac, 2024, www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/washington‗nationals.shtml. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

“Washington Nationals Franchise History.” MLB.com, 2024, www.mlb.com/nationals/history. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

“Washington Nationals / Montreal Expos All-Time 25-Man Roster.” FOX Sports, 30 June 2017, www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/washington-nationals-montreal-expos-all-time-25-man-roster-113016. Accessed 27 May 2020.

“Washington Nationals Team History.” Sports Team History, 2020, sportsteamhistory.com/washington-nationals. Accessed 27 May 2020.

“Washington Nationals Team History & Encyclopedia.” Baseball Reference, 2024, www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.