May 9, 2020 (revised Jan. 29, 2021): The Covid-19 pandemic caused the 2020 season to be reduced to 60 games, the first time since the labor contract turmoil of 1994 and 1995 that fewer than 162 games have been played. Prior to that, the 1981 season was cut short by a player strike, and teams … Continue reading The effect of playing time lost to crises
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
Ray Morgan, Nats’ Deadball-era second baseman
May 1, 2020: Getting caught stealing forever links Ray Morgan to Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. Getting out of jail—a month into a year’s sentence—when Clark Griffith showed up in court with a scouting job offer—is another reason Morgan has a place in the game’s lore. Morgan played second base for the Washington Senators in … Continue reading Ray Morgan, Nats’ Deadball-era second baseman
In 1-0 games, Walter Johnson won 38, lost 26
April 20, 2020: In his Hall-of-Fame career, Walter Johnson pitched in 64 games that ended 1-0. He won 38 of them. Johnson came in as a reliever in two of the 1-0 games (he lost both) and he didn’t complete three others. In no fewer than 10 of his 26 losses, the lone run he … Continue reading In 1-0 games, Walter Johnson won 38, lost 26
Ryan Zimmerman’s 11 walk-off home runs
April 4, 2020: When Ryan Zimmerman won the first game at Nationals Park with a walk-off home run in 2008, it was the fourth time Zim had hit a game-ending homer. His total now stands at 11, the last coming on August 22, 2018, against the Phillies. The 11 game-ending home runs tie Zimmerman for … Continue reading Ryan Zimmerman’s 11 walk-off home runs
Clyde Kluttz, veteran catcher on the last winning Griffith team
March 14, 2020: Clyde Kluttz was a backup catcher in the majors for nine seasons, the last two of them with the Washington Senators in 1951 and ’52, the last Griffith team to finish above .500. After seven years in the National League, Kluttz was sent to the minors by the Pirates after the 1948 … Continue reading Clyde Kluttz, veteran catcher on the last winning Griffith team
‘First in War…’: the myth that never died
I remember reading Douglass Wallop’s 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant in junior high school around 1960, not knowing at the time that it had been turned into the hit 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees. Wallop was born 100 years ago in Washington, attended the University of Maryland in College Park and … Continue reading ‘First in War…’: the myth that never died
How the Nats won the NLDS, NLCS and World Series
January 13, 2020: After the dramatic comeback win over the Brewers to keep their season alive, the Nationals opened the division series at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 3 against Los Angeles, a team that had the league's best won-loss record: 106-56. N.L Division Series Game One: Patrick Corbin started against 14-game-winner Walker Buehler. The Nats … Continue reading How the Nats won the NLDS, NLCS and World Series
Social media groups and other Nats sites
January 10, 2020 (updated January 2025): A number of other places on the web are devoted to Washington, D.C., baseball, past and present. Here's are links to some of them: "The Expansion Washington Senators: https://www.facebook.com/groups/463338547208950/ Because the pages is now private, you need an invitation from a current member to join. D.C. Baseball History Yesterday … Continue reading Social media groups and other Nats sites
Ernie Shore’s ‘perfect game’ against the Nats
December 9, 2019: One of the most famous stories about Babe Ruth’s career – especially when he was a pitcher – was the day he started a game against the Senators and was ejected after walking the first batter. The runner was thrown out trying to steal on the first pitch by Ruth’s replacement, Ernie … Continue reading Ernie Shore’s ‘perfect game’ against the Nats
D.C. and the Homestead Grays
December 2, 2019: The Homestead Grays, a renowned team before baseball’s desegregation, traced its roots to Black workers in a steel-mill town across the river from Pittsburgh in 1912. The Grays called Washington home for at least half of their league games, beginning in 1940. The Negro National League team, lead by Buck Leonard and … Continue reading D.C. and the Homestead Grays
The ups and downs of a championship season
November 20, 2019: The 2019 season that ended with a world championship for Washington began slowly, even before a month-long slump dropped the Nationals – famously in retrospect – to 19-31, the farthest any team had fallen in the wild-card era (since 1995) before eventually winning the World Series. Surprisingly, given the team's hot finish, … Continue reading The ups and downs of a championship season
World Series winners at last!
My copy of card no. 1 from the 2020 Topps set November 1, 2019: The Nationals' five-month sprint to victory in the World Series elicited feelings of disbelief, joy and relief at the same time after so many years of frustration for fans of Washington baseball. As bad as the Nats played the first two … Continue reading World Series winners at last!
Sept. 20, 1942: War shadows Nats’ comeback vs. A’s
September 28, 2019: When the two worst teams in the American League met at Shibe Park for a September 20, 1942, doubleheader, Philadelphia’s legendary owner-manager Connie Mack readily admitted that the results were not foremost on his mind. His A’s had clinched the basement for a third season in a row, but the team avoided … Continue reading Sept. 20, 1942: War shadows Nats’ comeback vs. A’s
Jackie Price at Griffith Stadium in 1950
August 21, 2019: Jackie who? If that was your reaction, you obviously never heard of the man described in 1950 in the Sporting News as “America’s Greatest Entertainer.” Price, an amazingly acrobatic baseball player, performed his tricks with bat, ball and glove for a capacity crowd before the Senators’ game on July 22, 1950. He … Continue reading Jackie Price at Griffith Stadium in 1950
Aug. 18, 1953: Nats top Yanks, 10-8, with 7 in 9th
July 31, 2019: The Yankees were cruising to their fifth straight A.L. pennant in 1953 when they took on the Senators in New York for a three-game series on Aug. 18. The Nats[1] had just split a doubleheader in Boston with the Red Sox, while the Yanks had won four straight after pummeling the then-sixth … Continue reading Aug. 18, 1953: Nats top Yanks, 10-8, with 7 in 9th
Gehrig’s farewell speech and the Senators
As of July 4, 2019, 80 years had passed since Lou Gehrig gave his heartfelt and heartbreaking speech at Yankee Stadium. He bid farewell to baseball, famously calling himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” despite being stricken with an incurable illness that would claim his life and come to bear his … Continue reading Gehrig’s farewell speech and the Senators
Sept. 12, 1962: Tom Cheney strikes out a record 21 batters
June 15, 2019: In 2018, for the first time in any season, strikeouts exceeded hits. The top 20 batters who struck out the most in a season have done so since 2009. The top 30 are all since 2000. Dozens of pitchers today average a strikeout or more every inning. In an average game, between … Continue reading Sept. 12, 1962: Tom Cheney strikes out a record 21 batters
Aug. 9, 1967: Down 7-0, Nats top Twins in 20 innings
May 28, 2019: The slow climb of Gil Hodges’ Washington Senators teams had brought the 1967 squad to heights unknown: a 55-55 record after shutting out the Twins in Minnesota on August 7. None of the previous expansion Nats in their six years had reached .500 so far into the season. A month earlier on … Continue reading Aug. 9, 1967: Down 7-0, Nats top Twins in 20 innings
The 1969 A.L. home-run race
April 23, 2019: Harmon Killebrew signed with the Washington Senators in 1954 and appeared in his first major league game in June under the “Bonus Baby” rule that kept him on the Nats’ roster. It took him until 1959 to win a regular job as the Senators’ third baseman. He proceeded to tie for the … Continue reading The 1969 A.L. home-run race
Hondo: the expansion Senators’ enduring star
April 21, 2019: If anyone on the expansion Senators teams is remembered today by casual fans, surely that player is Frank Howard, the massive slugger brought to Washington in what undoubtedly was the best trade longtime GM George Selkirk ever made. Posting on a Facebook page about the expansion team in May 2020, Russ White, … Continue reading Hondo: the expansion Senators’ enduring star
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