June 7, 2018 (updated 2021, 2023): The film "Little Big League" from 1994, directed by Andrew Scheinman, with a screenplay by Gregory Pincus and Adam Scheinman (the director's brother), has several clear, if coincidental, connections to the Senators. The premise of the movie is that a 12-year-old, played by Luke Edwards, inherits the Minnesota Twins … Continue reading The ‘Little Big League’ film’s ties to the Senators and sabermetrics
Author: Andrew C. Sharp
I'm a retired daily newspaper journalist and life-long baseball fan. I blog about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
A history of the ownership of the expansion Senators
May 23, 2018: The franchise that became known as the expansion Senators had an 11-year run in the Nation’s Capital from 1961 through 1971 before moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to become the Texas Rangers. The expansion team, created as soon as the original Senators departed for Minnesota, essentially had three sets of owners. … Continue reading A history of the ownership of the expansion Senators
‘Oil’ Smith, Peckinpaugh and the 1925 World Series
February 21, 2018: Catcher Earl "Oil" Smith played on five World Series teams in his 12-year career, spanning the 1920s. Although Nats' shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh often gets blamed for his record eight errors, you could argue that it was Smith who cost the Senators a second world championship in 1925. Washington became the first team … Continue reading ‘Oil’ Smith, Peckinpaugh and the 1925 World Series
Earl McNeely, World Series hero
January 16, 2018: A 26-year-old rookie who came up in August, George Earl McNeely drove in the winning run in the 12th inning of the seventh game in the 1924 World Series, the Washington Senator’s only championship. Before his playing days ended, McNeely, known by his middle name, managed – and owned – a Pacific … Continue reading Earl McNeely, World Series hero
Toby Harrah, the last man standing
My autographed Toby Harrah photo as a Senator November 29, 2017: Colbert Dale "Toby" Harrah, the last active player who had worn a Senators' uniform, wasn't really ready to be a regular major league shortstop in 1971, but with Ed Brinkman traded to Detroit, the job became his. Not surprisingly, he was over-matched, but then … Continue reading Toby Harrah, the last man standing
Elmer Valo, Senators’ record-setting pinch-hitter
November 21, 2017: On May 23, 1960, the Yankees released 39-year-old Elmer Valo, a 20-year major league veteran who had been carving a niche as a pinch-hitter and part-time outfielder in the late 1950s. He was signed the next day by the Washington Senators, who immediately anointed the left-hand hitter as the team’s go-to bat … Continue reading Elmer Valo, Senators’ record-setting pinch-hitter
Fact and fiction about Mantle’s ‘565-foot’ homer
November 17, 2017: Mickey Mantle’s mammoth home run off Senators' lefty Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium on April 17, 1953, is one of the most famous tape-measure blasts of all time. In fact, most sources credit this homer with creating the “tape-measure’’ phrase, although obviously no tape measure was used to calculate the distance. (Mantle … Continue reading Fact and fiction about Mantle’s ‘565-foot’ homer
Nick Johnson, Sabermetric star
November 7, 2017 (updated): First baseman Nick Johnson, who came to Washington with the Expos in 2005, was an on-base machine in his four seasons with the Nats, his on-base percentage was .418, the Nationals' record until Juan Soto's departure for San Diego at .427. (Bryce Harper's, in comparison, stood at .388 when he left … Continue reading Nick Johnson, Sabermetric star
Mickey Mantle and D.C.
Nov. 6, 2017: On April 17, 1953, Mickey Mantle hit a home run off Washington lefty Chuck Stobbs that cleared the left-field stands at Griffith Stadium. The blast gave rise to the term "tape-measure homer," largely because Mantle and Yankees publicist Red Patterson later posed for a photo with a prop designed to look like … Continue reading Mickey Mantle and D.C.
Buck Freeman, the first true power hitter
October 31, 2017: When Babe Ruth set a major league record with 29 home runs in 1919, his total topped what was recognized by many as the previous mark: the 25 home runs hit by baseball’s first real power hitter: Buck Freeman of the Washington Senators. Freeman hit his 25 round-trippers playing for the 11th-place … Continue reading Buck Freeman, the first true power hitter
George Selkirk molded the expansion Nats
October 29, 2017 (updated May 2020): George Selkirk became the expansion Senators second general manager on Nov. 21, 1962. He succeeded Ed Doherty, who had been fired at the end of the 1962 season by then Senators majority owner Elwood R. “Pete” Quesada. As a player, Selkirk, nicknamed “Twinkletoes” because of his running style, had … Continue reading George Selkirk molded the expansion Nats
Books about Washington baseball
October 25, 2017 (last updated December 2025): These are books I'd recommend about the history of baseball in Washington: The Washington Senators by Morris A. Bealle (1947, Columbia Publishing Company), long out of print, subtitled “An 87-year History of the World’s Oldest Baseball Club and Most Incurable Fandom.’’ The Washington Senators by Shirley Povich (1954, … Continue reading Books about Washington baseball
Ninth and Tenth Place
October 25, 2017: In the 1960s, teams had a dubious opportunity that hadn’t been afforded since the 19th century: a chance to finish 9th or 10th. From 1961 to ’68 in A.L. and ’62 to ’68 in the N.L., the leagues had 10 teams each with no divisions, which produced 30 chances to finish where … Continue reading Ninth and Tenth Place
‘Boom Boom’ Beck and Camilo Pascual
October 24, 2017: Walter “Boom Boom” Beck was the Senators’ pitching coach from 1957 through 1959. He was hired in the fall of 1956 by Chuck Dressen, the Nats’ manager at the time and, like Beck, a native of Decatur, Ill. When Cookie Lavagetto replaced Dressen early in 1957, Boom Boom stayed on. Beck helped … Continue reading ‘Boom Boom’ Beck and Camilo Pascual
Griffith Stadium: graveyard for would-be home runs
May 15, 2016: Most of those familiar with baseball history know that cavernous Griffith Stadium, home of the original Washington American League team from its opening until 1960 and to the expansion Senators in 1961, was a difficult place to hit a ball out of the park. That was especially true before Calvin Griffith moved … Continue reading Griffith Stadium: graveyard for would-be home runs
Bennie Daniels’ places in baseball history
January 10, 2017: The 1961 Washington Senators were assembled in a hurry after Calvin Griffith took his established team to the Twin Cities. Two days after the expansion draft in December 1960, the new Senators acquired a pitcher named Bennie Daniels along with two other players from Pittsburgh in exchange for the aging Bobby Shantz. … Continue reading Bennie Daniels’ places in baseball history
Jim King, the last original expansion Nat
April 19, 2017: Jim King started in left field for the San Francisco Giants in the first Major League game ever played in California. His best seasons, however, came after he was selected by the expansion Washington Senators, with whom he remained for six and half years, longer than any of the other 27 players … Continue reading Jim King, the last original expansion Nat
Dick Phillips kept at it and finally got there
April 8, 2017: Between games of a double-header in Chicago on May 5, 1963, on a day the White Sox honored Minnie Minoso for his outstanding seasons there, a 31-year-old rookie with the Washington Senators was feted by a marching band and presented with a new car and other gifts. The player was Richard Eugene … Continue reading Dick Phillips kept at it and finally got there
‘Curly’ Ogden played a key role for 1924 champs
August 2, 2017: Warren Harvey “Curly” Ogden became part of World Series lore in 1924 when Washington manager Bucky Harris started him in game seven as a ploy to fool Giants manager John McGraw. The idea was to get McGraw to play rookie first baseman Bill Terry and other left-hand batters against the right-handed Ogden, … Continue reading ‘Curly’ Ogden played a key role for 1924 champs
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