Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Washington Nationals

 
Hoover's Profile: Washington Nationals Baseball Club, LLC
Home > Library > Business & Finance > Hoover's Profiles
Contact Information
Washington Nationals Baseball Club, LLC
1500 S. Capitol St., SE
Washington, DC 20003-1507
DC Tel. 202-675-6287
Fax 202-640-7999

Type: Private
On the web: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com

This team is hoping to make Washington the capital of baseball. Washington Nationals Baseball Club owns and operates the professional baseball franchise that represents the nation's capital in Major League Baseball. The team was founded in 1968 as the Montreal Expos (the expansion franchise was awarded to Charles Bronfman, whose family built the Seagram's distilling business) but struggled for many years to build a fan base in Quebec. MLB, which took over the team from Jeffery Loria in 2002, relocated the Expos to Washington, DC, in 2005. Real estate developer Ted Lerner purchased the team from the league in 2006.

Officers:
Managing Principal Owner: Theodore N. Lerner
President: Stanley H. (Stan) Kasten
Director Baseball Operations: Brian Parker

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Company History: Washington National Corporation
Top
Home > Library > Business & Finance > Company Histories

Incorporated: 1923 as Washington Fidelity National Insurance
SIC: 6311 Life Insurance; 6321 Accident & Health Insurance; 6719 Holding Companies Nec

Through its two primary operating companies, Washington National Insurance Company and United Presidential Life Insurance Company, Washington National Corporation operates as an insurance holding company involved in marketing and underwriting life insurance, annuities, and health insurance for individuals and groups. After undergoing several years of extensive restructuring during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Washington National was poised to compete in the volatile market for individual and group health insurance, banking on its more than 60 years of experience as an underwriter of accident and health insurance to guide it through one of the most turbulent, yet potentially lucrative, periods in the health insurance industry's history.

The first link in the chain of events that led to Washington National's formation was the establishment of Washington Life and Accident Insurance Company of Chicago in 1911. This company, the earliest predecessor to Washington National, was organized as an assessment insurance organization, or an insurer with the authority to assess or charge its policyholders for losses the company incurs, rather than being restricted to a fixed premium for a specific type of insurance coverage. Assessment companies, occasionally referred to as stipulated premium companies, were relatively common during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but many later exited the business, a course Washington Life and Accident Insurance Company of Chicago took in 1923 when it was reorganized and incorporated as Washington Fidelity National Insurance Company. When this latter company was incorporated, it merged with two insurance companies, Fidelity Life & Accident Insurance Company of Louisville and United States National Life & Casualty Company, although the merger transaction was not completed until three years later, in 1926.

In 1931, Washington Fidelity National Insurance Company, the insurance concern created in 1923, changed its name to Washington National Insurance Company (WNIC), a name the company would keep for the rest of the century. Thirty-seven years after adopting its new and permanent name, WNIC formed Washington National Corporation as a holding company, but during the intervening years, WNIC developed into an insurance company specializing in group accident and health insurance. WNIC entered the group accident and health insurance market, which comprised insurers writing accident and health insurance to groups of people sharing common characteristics, in 1930, when the company began writing loss of time insurance for teachers. In the years leading up to the formation of Washington National by WNIC, WNIC's stake in group accident and health insurance for teachers remained substantial, accounting for roughly 25 percent of the company's group accident and health business, the largest segment of WNIC's insurance business.

As WNIC's accident and health insurance business grew, taking on other groups of policyholders in addition to teachers, the company grew in other areas as well, acquiring Des Moines, Iowa-based Great Western Insurance Company in 1938 and Chicago, Illinois-based Hercules Life Insurance Company the following year. In conjunction with the acquisition of Hercules Life, WNIC also assumed the insurance business formerly belonging to National Life Insurance Company, which operated as a separate operation from WNIC until 1948.

By the mid-1960s, WNIC was one of the 25 largest insurance underwriters in the country, writing a full-line of life and accident and health insurance. Assets in 1966 totaled $437 million, capital funds amounted to $101 million, and insurance in force equalled $3.2 billion, figures that had doubled during the previous decade. The company by this point conducted business in every state except Hawaii, Alaska, and New York, employing a sales force nearly 4,000 strong. With two-thirds of the company's business derived from accident and health premiums and the remaining third generated by life insurance business, WNIC occupied an enviable position in the insurance industry, boasting a 35-year record of never registering an underwriting loss. Dramatic changes were in the offing, however, not because WNIC's operations required significant readjustment--the company's market position was sound--but because of the substantial benefits a corporate reorganization would engender. The reorganization that ensued led to the formation of Washington National Corporation.

During the late 1960s, the trend among insurance companies was to form holding companies, a corporate maneuver that then permitted insurance companies to diversify--something WNIC's chairman at the time, G. Preston Kendall, wanted to pursue. Preston, whose father, George Kendall, and uncle, Harry Kendall, had founded WNIC, announced in late 1967 that WNIC was organizing a holding company to enable WNIC's diversification into variable annuities (policies that provide income payments of varying amounts depending on the earnings of the investments supporting the annuity). Washington National Corporation was incorporated early the following year as a holding company to acquire all of the outstanding stock of WNIC through a share-for-share exchange, marking the beginning of Washington National's existence and ushering in a period of dramatic growth for WNIC and its new holding company.

Washington National spent the next decade taking full advantage of its classification as a holding company by branching out into other fields in the insurance business. By either forming subsidiary companies or acquiring companies, the newly formed holding company broadened the scope of its operations and evolved into a well-rounded insurance entity. The first step toward the company's decade-long diversification was taken in early 1969, slightly more than a year after Washington National was incorporated, when Washington National announced its intentions to acquire Anchor Corporation, one of the largest and oldest mutual fund organizations in the world, and its life insurance subsidiary, Anchor National Life Insurance Company. The acquisition of Anchor, the largest mutual manager ever absorbed by an insurance company, aped another insurance industry trend of the period that saw a rash of affiliations between mutual fund companies and insurance companies, as insurance carriers fought to keep pace with each other in the race toward diversification. Later that year, Washington National added another subsidiary company to its corporate umbrella when it formed Washington National Equity Company as a broker-dealer to enable the sale of mutual funds and variable annuities by the holding company's sales force. Along with its equity company, the holding company formed Washington National Corporation Development Company to engage in equity-related real estate investments.

The following year, in 1970, Washington National acquired Washington National Trust Company, a non-banking trust company that added trust services to Washington National's growing list of business lines. By the time this deal was concluded, however, Washington National was in the midst of dealing with a potentially debilitating problem that required the concerted attention of the company's management and temporarily halted the formation and acquisition of additional subsidiaries.

The company's unblemished record of underwriting accident and health insurance without a loss came to an end in 1969, when a rise in hospitalization costs and an increase in the number of accident and health insurance claims impaired Washington National's ability to generate profits, making for disappointing losses in 1969 and 1970. The losses incurred by the company during the two-year slide, however, reflected deeper-rooted problems than an unexpected increase in accident and health claims and the sudden escalation of hospitalization costs, both of which were typical occurrences in the insurance industry. Instead, the losses were attributable to the manner in which Washington National salespeople were compensated, a system that was based on the volume of group business written by a salesperson, rather than on the profitability of business written. Accordingly, salespeople could generate more business and get paid more money if they offered the lowest premiums possible, and they could retain that business if they avoided raising premiums for existing business. For the customer and the salesperson this system of remuneration had its obvious advantages, but for the company itself the focus on volume rather than profitability sent its earnings into a tailspin and sent the company's management scurrying to correct the problem in 1970.

To ameliorate Washington National's future profitability, the company's management adjusted the company's rate structure to reflect the rising cost of hospital care and established new premium rates to protect it from continued cost increases. A profit center accounting system was established to determine the profitability of each of the company's lines of business, insurance premiums were adjusted according to specific geographic areas and, perhaps most importantly, the company's compensation system was amended to reward profitability of business written and not volume. With these changes, and the concurrent rise of a new generation of corporate managers, Washington National was able to arrest the retrogressive slide its earnings had experienced in 1969 and 1970 and return to the more robust financial performance characterizing its past.

Once headed in the right direction, the company resumed its diversification efforts, forming Anchor National Financial Services in 1971, which was created to market a full range of financial services, including mutual funds, life, accident and health insurance, as well as trust services, to Anchor Corporation clients. The following year, Washington National acquired Nathan Hale Life Insurance Company of New York, later renaming it Washington National Life Insurance Company of New York. The purchase of Nathan Hale Life extended Washington National's geographic presence into the New York state market, one of the few places where none of the holding company's subsidiaries were involved. Despite the number of subsidiaries Washington National had either formed or acquired since being established in 1969, WNIC continued to be the primary engine driving Washington National's growth, accounting for 85 percent of the holding company's revenues, earnings, and total assets. The importance of WNIC to Washington National's existence would increase as the 1970s progressed and Washington National began divesting properties instead of acquiring them.

Two more subsidiaries were formed after the acquisition of Nathan Hale Life--Washington National Trust Company, a non-banking trust company, in 1974, and Washington National Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary created for insurance brokerage sales purposes, in 1977--but in 1978 the holding company reversed its direction, shedding one of its subsidiaries rather than adding one, when it sold Anchor Corporation. Anchor Corporation's life insurance subsidiary, Anchor National Life Insurance Company, was sold eight years later, in 1986, but its divestiture and the sale of Anchor Corporation did not reflect Washington National's strategy to downsize. Instead, during the span separating the sale of Anchor Corporation and the sale of Anchor National life, the holding company was setting the foundation for an acquisition that would be an integral contributor to its operations in the 1990s. During the late 1980s and into the 1990s, there were two chief operating companies that constituted the essence of Washington National; one was WNIC and the other was a company Washington National slowly began to acquire in 1981.

Founded in 1965, United Presidential Life Insurance Company initially sold whole life endowment policies, typically the most expensive type of life insurance sold, under which a policyholder receives the value of the policy if he or she survives the endowment period. The company did not begin to record its exponential growth until it switched to selling term insurance in the early 1970s. Term insurance, a cheaper alternative to endowment insurance that covers the policyholder for a limited, specified duration, became widely popular during the early 1970s and United Presidential Life benefitted accordingly. The company moved into the brokerage market in 1974, using independent agents instead of company employees to sell its policies and earned the reputation as a quick, reliable insurer, garnering business from larger insurance carriers because it issued policies more expeditiously.

The next milestone in United Presidential Life's growth occurred in 1981, when the company's core insurance product switched from term insurance to universal life insurance, a type of insurance under which premiums were flexible, protection was adjustable, and insurance company expenses and other charges were disclosed to the policyholder. Universal life insurance had been developed in the late 1970s and by 1981 had just been approved by governing insurance regulatory bodies, clearing all obstacles barring United Presidential Life's move into selling the newly developed insurance except one: The company needed additional capital. Washington National removed this last barrier in 1981, when it purchased 23.5 percent of United Presidential Life's unissued stock and thereby provided United Presidential Life with more than $3 million.

Once United Presidential Life began selling universal life insurance, success was immediate. The company's annualized new premium leapt from $800,000 to three million dollars and Washington National's stake in the company increased as well, rising to 30.3 percent by 1984, when Washington National was given 25 percent representation on United Presidential Life's board. At the time, United Presidential Life officials claimed Washington National was merely a silent partner, while Washington National officials stated the company's interest in United Presidential Life was solely for investment purposes, but three years later, Washington National, through WNIC, paid $19 a share for the 2.6 million United Presidential Life shares it did not already own, giving Washington National a new subsidiary company and one of the two primary operating companies that would carry the holding company into the 1990s.

As Washington National entered the 1990s, it stripped itself of one more subsidiary acquired during its acquisitive spree in the 1970s, selling Washington National Life Insurance Company of New York (formerly Nathan Hale Life Insurance Company of New York) to Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company, based in Binghamton, New York. The divestiture of this subsidiary was made against the backdrop of declining revenues, as Washington National recorded successive decreases in its annual revenue between 1989 and 1992. The company's annual revenue total had flirted with the one billion dollar mark the year after the acquisition of United Presidential Life was completed, reaching $963.7 million, but by 1992 the company's revenues had slipped to $570.4 million. After divesting some unprofitable businesses, Washington National recorded a ten percent increase in revenues in 1993, when the holding company collected $628.5 million. Late that year, Washington National's Individual Health and Employee Benefits Division were combined into a single Health Division, as the company prepared to contend with impending nationwide health care reform.

As Washington National planned for the future, two business areas (later combined in 1993) were targeted to carry the company forward: individual health care and group employee benefits. With a focus on these two business segments, the company moved away from life insurance and annuities, gearing itself for a larger stake in the accident and health insurance field "outside of big cities in areas farther away from the major players," as the company's chairman related to Crain's Chicago Business. Much of the company's success in this volatile arena depended on its ability to respond to whatever legislative changes the country's health care industry underwent, the extent and manner of which remained undetermined as Washington National entered the mid-1990s.

Principal Subsidiaries

Washington National Insurance Company; United Presidential Life Insurance Company

Further Reading

Cartwright, Levering, "Washington National Insurance Co.," Investment Dealer's Digest, April 19, 1965, pp. 40-41.

Con, Brian, "Wash. Nat'l Divests Another Unit in Restructure," National Underwriter--Life & Health Financial Services, April 1, 1991, p. 36.

Frisby, Kent J., "Washington National Corporation," Wall Street Transcript, December 10, 1973, p. 35, 249.

"An Insurer Turns to a Bank for a Loan," Business Week, April 18, 1972, p. 58.

"Merger Is Slated by Anchor Corp., Insurance Firm," Wall Street Journal, March 12, 1969, p. 6.

Nieman, Janet, "Washington National Shifts Gears," Crain's Chicago Business, June 8, 1992, p. 46.

"Tight Operating Policy Benefits Washington National Insurance," Barron's, April 3, 1967, p. 37.

"Washington National Corp.," Wall Street Journal, July 18, 1988, p. 25.

"Washington National Corp.," Wall Street Transcript, April 5, 1971, p. 23,713.

"Washington National Insurance to Set Up a Holding Company," Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1967, p. 16.

"Washington National Sees 'Substantially Better' 1971 Profit," Wall Street Journal, May 13, 1971, p. 17.

"Washington National Unit Increases Stake in United Presidential," Wall Street Journal, August 14, 1984, p. 4.

"Washington National's Unit," Wall Street Journal, March 10, 1987, p. 15.

"United Presidential Life," Indiana Business Magazine, October 1990, pp. 29-33.

— Jeffrey L. Covell


Wikipedia: Washington Nationals
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the current Major League Baseball team. For other uses, see Washington Nationals (disambiguation).
"Nationals" redirects here. For other uses, see Nationals (disambiguation).
Washington Nationals
Established 1969
Based in Washington since 2005
Washington Nationals.svg
Team logo		 Washington Nationals Insignia.svg
Cap Insignia
Major league affiliations
Current uniform
NLE-Uniform-WAS.PNG
Retired Numbers 42
Colors
  • Red, Navy Blue, Gold, White

                   
Name
  • Washington Nationals (2005–present)
Other nicknames
  • The Nats, Natinals
Ballpark

[2] - The Expos played twenty-two home games in San Juan during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, and the remainder in Montreal.
Major league titles
World Series titles (0) None
NL Pennants (0) None
East Division titles (1) 1981
[3][4]
Wild card berths (0) None

[3] - In 1981, a players' strike in the middle of the season forced the season to be split into two halves. Montreal won the division in the second half, despite having the second best record in the division when considering the entire season, two games behind St. Louis.
[4] - In 1994, a players' strike wiped out the last eight weeks of the season and all post-season. Montreal was in first place in the East Division by six games when play was stopped. No official titles were awarded in 1994.
Owner(s): Ted Lerner
Manager: Jim Riggleman (interim)
General Manager: Mike Rizzo
Baseball current event.svg For current information on this topic, see 2009 Washington Nationals season.

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB). The team moved into the newly-built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium. The new park is located in Southeast D.C. near the Anacostia River and with views of the Capitol.[1]

The Nationals name derives from the two former Washington baseball teams which had the same name (used interchangeably with Senators). Their nickname is "the Nats" — a shortened version that was also used by the old D.C. teams.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1969. The then-Montreal Expos were the first major league team in Canada. They played their home games at Jarry Park Stadium and later in the Olympic Stadium. The Expos had its highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when it had the best record in baseball. The team's subsequent shedding of players caused fan interest to drop off. After the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[2][3] After being purchased by MLB in 2002, the team was moved before the 2005 season to Washington and renamed the Nationals. This was the first complete name change for a relocating team in MLB since 1972, when the Washington Senators left D.C. to become the Texas Rangers.

The franchise is one of three teams (along with the Rangers and Seattle Mariners) never to have played in a World Series. As the Montreal Expos, the team won a division championship, and advanced to the National League Championship Series in their only playoff appearance during the strike-shortened 1981 season.

Contents

Montreal Expos (1969–2004)

Main article: Montreal Expos

Bronfman era (1969–1990)

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, and continued to struggle during their first decade with sub-.500 seasons. By 1976, they were back in last place, losing 107 games.

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 3 games to 2 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 1982–1990. 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 4 games behind the division-winning Cardinals.

Brochu era (1991–1999)

Bronfman sold the team to a consortium of owners in 1991, with Claude Brochu as the managing general partner.[4][5] 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.[4] 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 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.

Loria/MLB era (1999–2004)

Brochu sold control of the team to Jeffrey Loria in 1999,[6][7] but Loria failed to close on a plan to build a new downtown ballpark or to bring in additional investors as he had promised. Loria also lost goodwill by failing to sign television and English radio broadcast contracts for the 2000 season.

Contraction

In November 2001, MLB's owners voted 28–2 to contract MLB by two teams — according to various sources, the Expos and the Minnesota Twins, both of which reportedly voted against contraction.[8] Subsequently, the Boston Red Sox were sold to a partnership led by John W. Henry, owner of the Florida Marlins.[9][8] 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.[8] However, as the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, operator of the Metrodome, won an injunction requiring the Twins to play there in 2002,[8] MLB was unable to revoke the Twins franchise, and so had to keep the Twins and Expos as part of the MLB schedule. In the collective bargaining agreement signed with the players association in August 2002, contraction was prohibited through to the end of the contract in 2006.[10]

Relocation to Washington

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; Washington, D.C.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Northern Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia; New Jersey; and Charlotte, North Carolina. In the decision-making process, Commissioner Bud Selig added Las Vegas, Nevada to the list of potential Expos homes.

On September 29, 2004, MLB officially announced that the Expos would move to Washington, D.C. in 2005.[11] The Expos played their final game on October 3, 2004 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. The move was approved by the owners of the other teams in a 28–1 vote on December 3 (Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos cast the sole dissenting vote). In addition, on November 15, 2004, a lawsuit by the former team owners against MLB and former majority owner Jeffrey Loria was struck down by arbitrators, ending legal moves to keep the Expos in Montreal.

Washington Nationals (2005–present)

Washington baseball history revived

Main article: History of Washington, D.C. professional baseball

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. These Senators were founded and 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. A second Washington Senators (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 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.[12] Politicians 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 and MLB was unable to acquire those rights from the team.

Fallout from the relocation

Opposition from the Orioles

The move was announced despite opposition from Peter Angelos, owner of the nearby Baltimore Orioles. Since 1972, the Orioles had been the only MLB franchise in the Baltimore-Washington area, which he considered a single market in spite of vastly different cultures and populations in the two cities. Angelos contended that the Orioles would suffer financially if another team were allowed to enter the market. Critics objected that the Orioles and the Washington Senators had shared the market successfully from 1954 through 1971. 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 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, who 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 which does not own their own broadcast rights.

The ballpark controversy

Nationals at bat against the San Diego Padres in RFK Stadium.

The team's relocation to Washington was contingent on a financing plan for the Nationals' new stadium—this plan quickly became the subject of much debate on the D.C. Council.

Three Council members who supported Mayor Anthony Williams's plan were ousted in September 2004's Democratic party primary. In addition, an opinion poll conducted by the Washington Post during the peak of the controversy found that approximately two-thirds of District residents opposed the mayor's stadium plan.

Much of the controversy centered on the fact that the city would be helping finance a $581 million stadium without state or county support, despite the fact that a large portion of the team's fan base would be drawn from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs.[13] (The District of Columbia is not part of any state or county; the city is administered as a territory directly by the United States federal government, with the city council serving as the territorial legislature.)

During December 2004, the move to Washington itself was called into doubt when the D.C. Council sought to change details of the stadium's financing. When the Council voted on December 14 to require 50 percent private financing for any new stadium, MLB ceased promotional activities for the Nationals and announced that they would consider looking for a new market.

Eventually, the council passed an amended plan on December 21, 2004 that proved slightly more financially favorable to the city, while remaining acceptable to MLB. Mayor Williams signed the stadium financing package on December 30.

During the 2005 season, a private financing plan for construction of the stadium was negotiated between the city and a syndicate of bankers led by Deutsche Bank. The negotiations of the details ran into another problem in November 2005. The bankers requested a letter of credit or other financial guarantee of $24 million US, $6 million for each of four years, ensuring payment of lease revenues against various risks including poor attendance and terrorism. The city requested that Major League Baseball provide this guarantee, which they were unwilling to do.

On December 22, 2005, the Post reported that Major League Baseball had specifically instructed prospective owners not to offer to pay cost overruns on the stadium if they were selected as the owners. Bidders were also told not to communicate with the press about these issues.

In February 2006, the DC City Council imposed a $611 million cap on the stadium.

Finally, on March 5, Major League Baseball signed a lease for a new ballpark, agreeing to the city's $611 million cap. MLB also agreed to contribute $20 million toward the cost of the stadium, although it did not agree to cover stadium overruns. Further, MLB added the condition that excess ballpark tax revenue earmarked for debt service for the bonds to be available for cost overruns. Two days later, on March 7 the DC City Council, by a vote of 9–4, approved a construction contract for a state-of-the-art stadium with a contemporary glass-and-stone facade, seats for 41,000 fans and a view of the U.S. Capitol, and affirmed its demand that public spending on the project be limited to $611 million. The votes were the final actions needed to satisfy the terms of the deal struck in September 2004, paving the way for the sale of the team.

Major League Baseball had agreed at the time that the franchise was moved to Washington, DC, to sell the team to an owner or ownership syndicate. Several dates for sale of the team were set and missed due to the legal wrangling regarding the building of the stadium. The delay was harshly criticized by city residents and leaders as reported in the Washington Post.

Selecting from a finalized group of three potential ownership syndicates, Major League Baseball announced in July 2006 that it had chosen the Lerner Enterprises group, led by billionaire real-estate developer Theodore N. Lerner. The final sale price of the team was $450 million and the transfer of ownership was completed July 24, 2006. In late September 2006, Comcast finally agreed to broadcast the Nationals games.

Notable firsts from the 2005 season

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. However, Philly Kenny Lofton hit a three-run homer and Jon Lieber pitched 5 2/3 effective innings, leading the home team Philadelphia Phillies to an 8–4 victory over the new Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. (Lieber was credited with the win for the Phillies and would also score a win for Philadelphia in the last game of the 2005 Nationals season.) Outfielder Terrmel Sledge hit the Nationals' first home run in the April 4 contest.
  • On April 6, 2005, the Washington 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.
  • 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 Sanchez. 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.

Notable moments from the 2006 season

  • On Father's Day, June 18, 2006, the paid attendance was 45,157, the second-largest ever to see a single baseball game in the history of RFK stadium. In that game, the Nationals beat the New York 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.[14]
  • September 2, 2006, the Nationals rally 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 Ramon Ortiz takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, yet gives up a single to Aaron Miles on his 2nd pitch in the 9th to break up his no-hitter. Then he gave up a home run to Albert Pujols, which ended his chance to get his second ever career shutout. Ortiz himself also hit a home run in the 8th inning into the bullpen beyond the left-field fence at RFK. The Nationals won 5–2.
  • September 16, 2006, Alfonso Soriano becomes the fourth player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season when he steals his 40th base in the first inning of a game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. The other three are José Canseco of the Oakland Athletics in 1988, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants in 1996, and Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners in 1998. Soriano follows that feat on September 22 by hitting his 40th double vs. the New York Mets, becoming the first member of the "40–40 Club" to also hit 40 doubles in the same season.

2007 season

Main article: 2007 Washington Nationals season

After losing four starters (Liván Hernández, Tony Armas, Ramon Ortiz and Pedro Astacio) from the prior year, the Nationals invited an extraordinary 36 pitchers to spring training.[15][16] On Opening Day, the Nationals lost their starting shortstop (Cristian Guzman, hamstring) and center fielder (Nook Logan) for five weeks. At the end of April, one of their starters, 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."[17]

They pressed journeymen Mike Bacsik, Micah Bowie (a relief pitcher), 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.[18]. The Nationals were also able to top the worst record in the American League set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers of 43 wins and 119 losses during the same predictions on the 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 Guzman, 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 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. In September, the Nationals won five out of six games with the New York Mets, contributing to the Mets' collapse out of first place.

Notable moments from the 2007 season

  • 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.[19] The idea was e-mailed to team President Stan Kasten by Nats fan Dave Lanham following the shootings. One of these hats was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to be displayed[20].
  • 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 the walk-off grand slam.[21]. Also during this game, right fielder Austin Kearns hit the Nationals' first inside-the-park home run. The game is further notable for ending at 1:42AM after two separate extended rain delays.
  • On August 7, 2007, Washington 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, a 5–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Notable moments from the 2008 season

Main article: 2008 Washington Nationals season
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. For the record, the first hit was recorded by Cristian Guzman, the first RBI was recorded by Nick Johnson, the first run scored was recorded by Cristian Guzman, the first home run was recorded by the Braves' Chipper Jones, and the first starting pitchers were Odalis Perez 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.

Notable moments from the 2009 season

Main article: 2009 Washington Nationals season
  • 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.
  • On July 27, 2009, Josh Willingham hit 2 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, Justin Maxwell hit a two-out full count walk off grand slam off of Francisco Rodriguez of the New York Mets on Fan Appreciation Day, the Nationals' last home game of the season.
  • On October 4th, the Nationals's 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 to start the season losing 7 in a row and close the season winning 7 in a row.

New ownership and "The Plan"

When Ted Lerner took over the club in mid-2006, he hired Stan Kasten as team president. Kasten was widely known as the architect of the Atlanta Braves before and during their run of 14 division titles. Kasten was also the general manager or president of many other Atlanta-area sports teams, such as the Atlanta Thrashers. "The Plan," as it became known, was a long-range rebuilding and restructuring of the team from the ground up. This plan included investing in the farm system and draft picks, and having a suitable team to go along with their new stadium.

At the end of the 2006 season, the Nationals did not re-sign free agent and star OF Alfonso Soriano. Soriano signed a $136 million contract with the Cubs, and Washington received two draft picks in return. OF Jose Guillen was also allowed to depart via free agency, and another high draft pick was obtained. Another high priced player, 2B/DH Jose Vidro, was traded to the Seattle Mariners for prospects OF Chris Snelling and RHP Emiliano Fruto. In mid-2006, the Nationals received OF Austin Kearns, 2B/SS Felipe López, and RHP Ryan Wagner from the Reds, giving up LHP Gary Majewski, LHP Bill Bray, SS Royce Clayton, 2B Brendan Harris and RHP Daryl Thompson. In August they traded RHP Liván Hernández to the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospects LHP Matt Chico and RHP Garrett Mock. Other players traded or let go from the 2005 season were OF Preston Wilson, RHP Hector Carrasco, IF Jamey Carroll, and OF Terrmel Sledge. The team also acquired pitching prospects Luis Atilano from Atlanta, Shairon Martis from San Francisco and Jhonny Nunez from the Dodgers. In 2006, they had two first-round draft picks, OF Chris Marrero, and RHP Colten Williams, and signed them both to developmental contracts. The Nationals also signed a 16-year-old Dominican shortstop, Esmailyn Gonzalez, for $1.4 million.[22] Gonzalez was later revealed to be 20 years old at the time of his signing.[23]

In the front office, the Nationals hired the well-respected former Arizona scouting director Mike Rizzo to be the vice president of baseball operations, second in charge under then-general manager Jim Bowden.[24]

As for their farm system, the Nationals had a lot of work to do. By the spring of 2007, Baseball America had ranked the Nationals organization as dead last twice in four years in terms of minor league talent.[25]

The Nationals had five of the first seventy picks in the 2007 first-year player draft: their own two, and three compensation picks (two from losing Soriano, and one for Guillen). The team selected players that many considered to be four of the top 30 players available.[25] Overall, the Nationals signed all of their top twenty draft picks.[26] One of them, a first-round supplemental pick, Michael Burgess, was, by the end of the year, picked by Baseball America as the top prospect for the entire Gulf Coast League.[27] Their rookie team, Vermont, sent three starting pitchers Colton Willems, Glenn Gibson, and Adrian Alaniz, and two position players, first baseman Bill Rhinehart, and outfielder Aaron Seuss to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game.[28] By the end of the season, three Vermont pitchers landed in the Top 20 prospects for the New York-Penn League:

  • 2007 second-round Jordan Zimmermann was ranked #5
  • 2006 fourth round LHP Glenn Gibson (later traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for Elijah Dukes) was ranked #9
  • 2006 first round RHP Colton Willems was ranked #11.[29]

In the low-A South Atlantic League Top 20, two players made the list:

  • Chris Marrero was ranked #5
  • Justin Maxwell, who played a few games with the Nationals during September, was ranked at #18.[30]

In addition, after having no teams in the Dominican Summer League, the Nationals fielded two clubs in 2007, one of which won the DSL Championships.[31]

People of note

Baseball Hall of Famers

Washington Nationals Hall of Famers
Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Montreal Expos

Gary Carter

Tony Perez
Frank Robinson

Dick Williams
Names in Bold Inducted as Nationals or Expos

Broadcasters

Main article: List of Washington Nationals broadcasters

Current roster

Washington Nationals roster
view • talk • edit
Active roster Inactive roster Coaches/Other
Pitchers
 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches

60-day disabled list


† 15-day disabled list
* Suspended list
# Bereavement list
Roster updated 2009-11-06
Transactions • Depth Chart
→ More rosters


Retired numbers

NatsRetired42.png
Jackie
Robinson
-
Retired 1997
See also: List of Major League Baseball retired numbers

With the exception of 42, retired for all MLB teams to honor Jackie Robinson, the Nationals have no retired numbers. The Montreal Expos retired the number 8 for Gary Carter, the number 10 for both Rusty Staub and Andre Dawson, and the number 30 for Tim Raines. The Nationals returned these numbers to circulation: In the 2006 season, number 8 was worn by second baseman Marlon Anderson and was worn by Aaron Boone, number 10 was formerly worn by shortstop Royce Clayton and catcher Brandon Harper and is currently worn by infielder Ronnie Belliard, and number 30 was worn by reliever Mike Stanton and pitcher Chris Booker. The retired numbers for the Expos are now displayed at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, home of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.

Washington Hall of Stars

RFK Stadium had a series of banners displaying a Washington Hall of Stars above its right-field fence. A newer version hangs on the facing of one of the parking garages near the center-field entrance to Nationals Park.

Figures from all of sport, including sportswriters, are eligible, but, as yet, no Nationals figures have been honored. The following Washington Senators are so honored:

Sievers (the second time around), Hinton and Howard played for the "New Senators" who became the Rangers; Vernon, Yost and Hodges managed the new Senators and Selkirk was an executive for the second franchise. All others either played for or managed the "Old Senators" who became the Twins. Neither the Twins nor the Rangers ever retired any numbers while they were the Washington Senators, nor have they so honored any former Senators since their moves, with the exception of Harmon Killebrew, whose number 3 was retired by the Twins on his election to the Hall of Fame.

Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard are also listed on the Hall of Stars banner, honoring their contributions playing for the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues. Both are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, as are Johnson, Griffith, Goslin, Cronin, Harris, Rice, Wynn and Killebrew.

Season standings

Main article: Washington Nationals seasons

The following is the previous five seasons of the franchise:

MLB
season		 Team
season		 League[32] Division[32] Regular season Post-season Awards
Finish Wins Losses Win% GB
2005 2005 NL East 5th 81 81 .500 9
2006 2006 NL East 5th 71 91 .438 26
2007 2007 NL East 4th 73 89 .451 16 Dmitri Young (CPOY)[33]
2008 2008 NL East 5th 59 102 .366 32½
2009 2009 NL East 5th 59 103 .364 34

Bold denotes a playoff season, pennant or championship; italics denote an active season.

Franchise records

What follows are the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos team records.

Single season records

Batting

  • Batting Average: Vladimir Guerrero, .345 (2000)
  • On-base percentage: Mike Jorgensen, .444 (1974)
  • Slugging Percentage: Vladimir Guerrero, .664 (2000)
  • OPS: Vladimir Guerrero, 1.074 (2000)
  • At Bats: Warren Cromartie, 659 (1979)
  • Runs: Tim Raines, 133 (1983)
  • Hits: Vladimir Guerrero, 206 (2002)
  • Total Bases: Vladimir Guerrero, 379 (2000)
  • Doubles: Mark Grudzielanek, 54 (1997)
  • Home Runs: Alfonso Soriano, 46 (2006)
  • Runs Batted In: Vladimir Guerrero, 131 (1999)
  • Walks: Ken Singleton, 123 (1973)
  • Strikeouts: Andrés Galarraga, 169 (1990)
  • Stolen Bases: Ron LeFlore, 97 (1980)
  • Singles: Mark Grudzielanek, 157 (1996)
  • Runs Created: Vladimir Guerrero, 154 (2000)
  • Extra-Base Hits: Vladimir Guerrero, 84 (1999)
  • Times on Base: Vladimir Guerrero, 296 (2002)
  • Hit By Pitch: Ron Hunt, 50 (1971)
  • Sacrifice Hits: Larry Lintz, 23 (1974)
  • Sacrifice Flies: Andre Dawson, 18 (1983)
  • Intentional Walks: Vladimir Guerrero, 32 (2002)
  • At Bats per Strikeout: Gary Sutherland, 25.3 (1971)
  • At Bats per Home Run: Bob Bailey, 12.6 (1970)

Pitching

  • ERA: Pedro Martínez, 1.90 (1997)
  • Wins: Ross Grimsley II, 20 (1978)
  • Won-Loss %: Bryn Smith, .783 (1985)
  • WHIP: Pedro Martinez, .932 (1997)
  • Hits Allowed/9IP: Pedro Martinez, 5.89 (1997)
  • Walks Allowed/9IP: Bryn Smith, 1.45 (1988)
  • Strikeouts/9IP: Pedro Martinez, 11.37 (1997)
  • Games: Mike Marshall, 92 (1973)
  • Saves: Chad Cordero, 47 (2005)
  • Innings: Steve Rogers, 301 ⅔ (1977)
  • Strikeouts: Pedro Martínez, 305 (1997)
  • Games Started: Steve Rogers, 40 (1977)
  • Complete Games: Bill Stoneman, 20 (1971)
  • Walks Allowed: Bill Stoneman, 146 (1971)
  • Hits Allowed: Carl Morton, 281 (1970)
  • Strikeout to Walk: Javier Vazquez, 4.73 (2001)
  • Losses: Steve Rogers, 22 (1974)
  • Earned Runs Allowed: Steve Rogers, 126 (1974)
  • Wild Pitches: Steve Renko, 19 (1974)
  • Hit Batsmen: Ramon Ortiz, 18 (2006)
  • Batters Faced: Bill Stoneman, 1,243 (1971)
  • Games Finished: Mike Marshall, 73 (1973)

Career records

record All-time Active Currently with team
Batting (as of September 4, 2009)
Games played Tim Wallach 1767 José Vidro 1186 Ryan Zimmerman 576
batting average† Vladimir Guerrero .323 Vladimir Guerrero .323 Ryan Zimmerman .286
on-base percentage† Rusty Staub .402 Vladimir Guerrero .390 Ryan Zimmerman .348
slugging percentage† Vladimir Guerrero .588 Vladimir Guerrero .588 Ryan Zimmerman .478
OPS† Vladimir Guerrero .978 Vladimir Guerrero .978 Ryan Zimmerman .826
At bats Tim Wallach 6529 José Vidro 4257 Ryan Zimmerman 2267
Runs Tim Raines 947 Vladimir Guerrero 641 Ryan Zimmerman 335
Hits Tim Wallach 1694 José Vidro 1280 Ryan Zimmerman 649
Total bases Tim Wallach 2728 Vladimir Guerrero 2211 Ryan Zimmerman 1083
Doubles Tim Wallach 360 José Vidro 304 Ryan Zimmerman 155
Triples Tim Raines 82 Vladimir Guerrero 34 Cristian Guzmán 24
Home runs Vladimir Guerrero 234 Vladimir Guerrero 234 Ryan Zimmerman 85
RBI Tim Wallach 905 Vladimir Guerrero 702 Ryan Zimmerman 349
Walks Tim Raines 793 José Vidro 397 Ryan Zimmerman 218
Stolen bases Tim Raines 635 Vladimir Guerrero 123 Nyjer Morgan 24
Sacrifice flies Andre Dawson 71 José Vidro 34 Ryan Zimmerman 22
Sacrifice bunts Steve Rogers 101 Javier Vázquez 65 Liván Hernández 45
Hit by pitches Ron Hunt 114 Vladimir Guerrero 50 Austin Kearns 30
Intentional walks Vladimir Guerrero 130 Vladimir Guerrero 130 Ryan Zimmerman 18
Plate appearances Tim Wallach 7174 José Vidro 4753 Ryan Zimmerman 2518
Extra base hits Tim Wallach 595 Vladimir Guerrero 494 Ryan Zimmerman 252
Pitches seen Brad Wilkerson 11562 Brad Wilkerson 11562 Ryan Zimmerman 9932
Pitching (as of September 4, 2009)
Wins Steve Rogers 158 Javier Vázquez 64 Liván Hernández 50
Saves Jeff Reardon 152 Chad Cordero 128 Mike MacDougal 14
Innings pitched Steve Rogers 2837.2 Javier Vázquez 1229.1 Liván Hernández 895.1
Strikeouts Steve Rogers 1621 Javier Vázquez 1076 Liván Hernández 611
Earned Run Average ‡ Tim Burke 2.61 Pedro Martínez 3.06 Liván Hernández 3.88
Games pitched Tim Burke 425 Luis Ayala 320 Saúl Rivera 235
Games started Steve Rogers 393 Javier Vázquez 191 Liván Hernández 129
Complete games Steve Rogers 129 Liván Hernández
Pedro Martínez		 20 Liván Hernández 20
Shutouts Steve Rogers 37 Pedro Martínez 8 Liván Hernández 2
Save opportunities Chad Cordero 152 Chad Cordero 152 Saúl Rivera 16
Caught stealing Liván Hernández 26 Liván Hernández 26 Liván Hernández 26
Pickoffs John Lannan 8 John Lannan 8 John Lannan 8
Games finished Jeff Reardon 281 Chad Cordero 226 Saúl Rivera 53
Batters faced by pitcher Steve Rogers 11702 Javier Vázquez 5183 Liván Hernández 3800
Pitch count Liván Hernández 14155 Liván Hernández 14155 Liván Hernández 14155
Holds Luis Ayala 87 Luis Ayala 87 Saúl Rivera 45
Fielding (as of September 4, 2009)
Games played (defensive) Tim Wallach 1757 José Vidro 1105 Ryan Zimmerman 567
Games started (position player) José Vidro 980 José Vidro 980 Ryan Zimmerman 563
Innings (position player) José Vidro 8354.2 José Vidro 8354.2 Ryan Zimmerman 4957.1
Total chances Gary Carter 8759 José Vidro 4815 Cristian Guzmán 1805
Putouts Andrés Galarraga 7893 Brian Schneider 4187 Dmitri Young 1063
Assists Tim Wallach 3354 José Vidro 2795 Cristian Guzmán 1134
Double plays Andrés Galarraga
José Vidro		 606 José Vidro 606 Cristian Guzmán 261
Caught stealing (catcher) Brian Schneider 178 Brian Schneider 178 Jesús Flores 38

† minimum of 2000 plate appearances ‡ minimum of 500 innings pitched

[34]


Minor league affiliations

Radio and television

The Nationals' flagship radio station is WFED, "Federal News Radio" at 1500 & 820 AM, which is owned by Bonneville International. Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler are the play-by-play announcers.

Nationals' telecasts are predominantly on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), with a handful of games simulcast on WDCW, "DC50." Bob Carpenter is the TV play-by-play announcer while Rob Dibble is the new color analyst.

The team has struggled to attract fans with attendance averaging in the middle of the league in the team's second year in Washington. Local TV ratings have declined to the lowest in the league by a significant margin.[35][36]

See also

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Washington Nationals

Footnotes

  1. a RFK Stadium Fast Facts

References

  1. ^ - Nationals victorious in stadium debut
  2. ^ CNNSI.com - Baseball - 1994 strike ended a spectacular season - Monday August 26, 2002 12:43 AM
  3. ^ Baseball Contraction Primer
  4. ^ a b Montreal Expos (1996). Expos Media Guide 1996. 
  5. ^ Blair, Jeff (1991-06-15), "Brochu group goes to bat for baseball survival here; Expos sale official as Bronfman era ends", Montreal Gazette: C.1 
  6. ^ Montreal Expos (2000). Expos Media Guide 2000. 
  7. ^ Blair, Jeff (1999-12-10). "Expos to field better team, Loria says Ebullient new chairman vows to increase salary limit, build new ballpark for 2002 season". The Globe and Mail (The Globe and Mail): pp. S.1. 
  8. ^ a b c d Schoenfield, David (2002-02-05). "Still 30 teams: Contraction timeline" (HTML). ESPN.com. http://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/s/2002/0205/1323230.html. Retrieved 2009-02-19. 
  9. ^ Mnookin, Seth (2006). Feeding the Monster. How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top.. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-8681-2. 
  10. ^ MLB.com (2002-08-30). "Deal in place, games go on". Press release. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20020830&content_id=116907&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2006-12-28. 
  11. ^ Myles, Stephanie (2004-09-30), "31,395 say goodbye", Montreal Gazette: C1 
  12. ^ DC Vote - Media Coverage
  13. ^ Letters | Economist.com
  14. ^ [1][dead link]
  15. ^ Thomas Boswell (March 7, 2007). "Nats' Starting Pitching Could Be a Real Problem". p. E03. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030602143_pf.html. 
  16. ^ Barry Svrluga (February 26, 2007). "Nats' St. Claire Knows the Task at Hand". Washington Post. p. E01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/25/AR2007022501373.html. 
  17. ^ Thomas Boswell (June 4, 2007). "Nationals Are Managing Just Fine With Acta". p. E01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060301428.html. 
  18. ^ Linton Weeks (May 8, 2007). "Baseball Most Foul: The Nats Reinvent Bad". Washington Post. p. C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/07/AR2007050701636.html. 
  19. ^ Nats Show Their Support - washingtonpost.com
  20. ^ SignOnSanDiego.com > Sports - Nationals don Virginia Tech baseball caps during game
  21. ^ ESPN - Zimmerman's walk-off grand slam ends rain-delayed game - MLB
  22. ^ Aaron Fitt (January 12, 2007). "Top 10 Prospects: Washington Nationals". http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/263086.html. 
  23. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-nationals-fakeagename&prov=ap&type=lgns
  24. ^ Barry Svrluga (June 5, 2007). "Nationals Counting on Draft-Day Payoff". Washington Post. p. E01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401755.html. 
  25. ^ a b Mark Zuckerman (September 7, 2007). "From worst to ... not quite first". Washington Times. http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/SPORTS02/109070105/1005/SPORTS. 
  26. ^ Bill Ladson (August 16, 2007 title=Nats agree to terms with McGeary: Lefty was club's sixth-round pick of 2007 First-Year Player Draft). MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070816&content_id=2151632&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. 
  27. ^ Chris Kline (September 20, 2007). "Gulf Coast League Top 20 Prospects List: Young talent proves tough to gauge". Baseball America. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/264872.html. 
  28. ^ Ben Badler (August 9, 2007). "Experienced Former College Players Fill NYPL All-Star Rosters". Baseball America. http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=525. 
  29. ^ Aaron Fitt (September 26, 2007). "New York-Penn League Top 20 Prospects List". Baseball America. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/264923.html. 
  30. ^ Bill Ballew (October 1, 2007). "South Atlantic League Top 20 Prospects List". Baseball America. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/264942.html. 
  31. ^ Bill Ladson (September 7, 2007). "Notes". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070907&content_id=2194744&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. 
  32. ^ a b "Washington Nationals History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 
  33. ^ Bill Ladson (2007-10-26). "Young honored by Players Association". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071026&content_id=2283333&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2008-11-08. 
  34. ^ Washington Nationals career leaders
  35. ^ Steinberg, Dan (July 7, 2008). "Nats: Last in the League, Last in TV Ratings". Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/07/nats_last_in_the_league_last_i.html. 
  36. ^ OURAND, JOHN (July 7, 2008). "MLB ratings down, but networks look ahead". Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.preview&articleid=59453. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 

External links

v • d • e
Washington Nationals
Formerly the Montreal Expos • Based in Washington, D.C.
The Franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Key Personnel
Owner: Ted Lerner • President: Stan Kasten • General Manager: Mike Rizzo • Manager: Jim Riggleman
Rivalries
Important Figures
Retired Numbers
Minors
v • d • e
Principal owners of the Washington Nationals franchise
Montreal Expos (1969-2004)
Washington Nationals (2005-present)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Best of the Web: Washington Nationals
Top

Some good "Washington Nationals" pages on the web:


Nationals Home Page
washington.nationals.mlb.com
 
Schedule
sports.espn.go.com
 
Roster
washington.nationals.mlb.com
 

Stats
washington.nationals.mlb.com
 
Stadium
sports.espn.go.com
 
 
 

 

Copyrights:

Hoover's Profile. ©2008 Hoover's, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Company History. International Directory of Company Histories. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Washington Nationals".  Read more