Theodore N. Lerner became the principal owner of the Washington Nationals when his family bought control of the team from Major League Baseball in July 2006. He remained involved in the team until his death at age 97 on Feb. 12, 2023.
Born the day the original Senators lost the 1925 World Series, Ted Lerner lived long enough to see his Nationals win a world championship in 2019.
“They say good things come to those who wait,” Lerner said at the Nationals’ championship parade. “Ninety-five years is a pretty long wait,” noting the Senators’ lone title in 1924. “But I’ll tell you, this is worth the wait.”
“The championship ballclub he helped create stands as a reminder of the love he had for this great game and the passion he had for giving back to his hometown,” the Nationals said in a statement announcing Lerner’s death.
Lerner was born and raised in the District and worked as an usher at Griffith Stadium as a teenager before amassing a fortune as a real etsate developer in the D.C. area.
The ownership group headed by Lerner paid $450 million to purchase the Nationals from MLB, which had taken control of the financially struggling Montreal Expos in 2002 before moving the team to D.C. after the 2004 season.
Lerner led one of several groups competing to buy the former Expos. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said MLB was seeking an owner with the financial means and deep D.C. roots to keep the team in Washington.
“It has long been my dream to bring the national pastime back to my hometown,” Lerner said after assuming ownership. “I plan on doing everything I can to make sure that this franchise becomes an international jewel for MLB, D.C. and the nation.”
It took seven seasons for Lerner’s hope to pay off. Fans had begun to criticize team ownership for all the losing. That changed with the drafting in 2009 of pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The Lerner family paid Strasburg $15 million, a record for an amateur player.
“We committed to the world that we would not take any profits out of this franchise for 10 years,” Lerner told Nats’ broadcaster Bob Carpenter in 2014 as the Nationals were on their way to a second division title.
When Strasburg was called up in June 2010, he struck out 14 Pirates in a thrilling game that Baseball Digest years later called the best debut ever. Although injuries shortened his career, Strasburg was named the MVP of the 2019 World Series.
In 2010, the team drafted 17-year-old Bryce Harper, paying him more than $16 million over five years. He made his debut early in 2012 and was voted rookie of the year as the nationals won their first N.L. east title.
Lerner’s strong relationship with super agent Scott Boras helped the Nationals sign Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $210 million, deal. Behind a strong pitching staff led by Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez, both joined in 2015 by Scherzer, the Nationals won division titles in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Still, the team was unable to advance in the post-season until 2019.
Lerner was born in D.C. to observant Orthodox Jewish parents. His father was born in British-controlled Palestine and worked as a clothing salesman after emigrating in 1921 to America. His mother was Lithuanian. As team owner, Lerner never attended Nationals game on Friday evenings, observing the Sabbath.
Young Ted grew up as a fan of baseball and the Senators, officially known as the Nationals. He attended the 1937 All-Star game at Griffith Stadium, scraping up enough money to buy a 25-cent ticket. He later took a job as an usher because he couldn’t afford to pay his way in to watch the games.
He attended Roosevelt High School in D.C., the same school from which future baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn graduated. After serving in the Army in Texas at the end of World War II, he attended George Washington University. In 1950, he earned a law degree from George Washington, but decided to pursue a career in real estate.
He became a major player in suburban housing projects and was an early developer of shopping malls, including Wheaton Plaza and Tyson’s Corner. In 2023, the Lerner family fortune was estimated at $6.6 billion.
Lerner was heavily involved in construction of city-financed Nationals Park in the down-trodden Navy Yard district along the Anacostia River. The Lerners spent millions on apartment building, stores and restaurants to promote nearby development. Although slowed by the recession that began in 2008 as Nationals Park opened, the area is now flourishing.
The Lerners remain involved in many philanthropic efforts through the Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation. Ted and Annette Lerner were founding members of the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington,
Ted Lerner was inducted into the Washington D.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He was added to the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park in 2023.
Washington baseball history 