April 21, 2019: Walter Johnson's 1913 season ranks with one of the best ever by a pitcher. The Big Train went 36-7, leading both leagues in victories, complete games (29), innings (346), strikeouts (243), shutouts (11) and earned run average (1.14). The ERA figure is retrospective because the American League had just begun to use … Continue reading A ‘joke’ game and scoring changes cost The Big Train a record
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
July 13, 1954: Dean Stone’s weird All-Star victory
April 7, 2019: Dean Stone had a good enough rookie season with Washington in 1954 that he made the All-Star team, albeit as an injury replacement. Bob Porterfield, a 20-game winner the year before, and Senators first baseman Mickey Vernon were the Nats’ representatives before Stone was added after Ferris Fain of the White Sox … Continue reading July 13, 1954: Dean Stone’s weird All-Star victory
The 1945 A.L. pennant race
March 26, 2019: Even as the war in Europe was nearing its end, major league rosters in 1945 were stocked with players too old for the draft – or the big leagues, under normal circumstances – or otherwise medical unfit. The St. Louis Browns of 1944 had reached the World Series for the first time … Continue reading The 1945 A.L. pennant race
The reunion of the 1969 Senators
March 21, 2019: On Sunday morning, Nov. 8, 1998, in suburban Chantilly, Va., Tom Holster and members of the Washington Baseball Historical Society sponsored a reunion of the 1969 Senators team. The star of the event was the ’69 team’s rookie manager, Ted Williams. His health weakened by several strokes, the 80-year-old Williams still was … Continue reading The reunion of the 1969 Senators
When D.C. nearly got the Padres
February 19, 2019: As soon as it became clear in September 1971 that the Senators would move to Texas, a committee appointed by D.C. Mayor Walter Washington was dispatched to San Diego to talk to the majority owner of the expansion Padres, C. Arnholt Smith. The Padres were about to finish last in the National … Continue reading When D.C. nearly got the Padres
The expansion Nats’ struggles to reach .500
February 3, 2019: Prior to the sudden improvement under Ted Williams in 1969, the expansion Washington Senators rarely reached the .500 mark beyond the early days of the season. Even the ’69 team struggled to win more games than it lost until a September surge. On July 30, the ’69 Senators’ record stood at 53-54 … Continue reading The expansion Nats’ struggles to reach .500
Two All-Star game slights
January 19, 2019: The rules for the annual MLB All-Star games require that every team, no matter how bad, must have a representative. The expansion Nats were no worse than many bad teams over the years, but Washington's lone "All-Star" twice was given short shrift. Dick Donovan was an obvious and deserving pick in 1961, … Continue reading Two All-Star game slights
Sept. 27, 1940: Red Sox rout Nats, 24-4, at Fenway Park
January 1, 2019: As the 1940 season was ending, three Senators' pitchers combined on Sept. 27 to surrender the most runs allowed in an American League game that year. The potent Red Sox lineup of 1940 hadn’t been enough to overcome weak pitching. In between four second-place finishes (1938-39 and 1941-42), the Sox were mired … Continue reading Sept. 27, 1940: Red Sox rout Nats, 24-4, at Fenway Park
Ellis Clary: Wartime Nat; longtime Griffith scout, coach
December 1, 2018: Ellis Clary played for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns for nearly four seasons during World War II. He had an at-bat during the Browns’ only World Series appearance in 1944. Once his playing career ended, he spent six years as a coach with the Senators in the 1950s and more … Continue reading Ellis Clary: Wartime Nat; longtime Griffith scout, coach
May 8, 1963: Rudolph retires 25 in a row; Lock’s slam wins it
November 17, 2018: Left-hander Don Rudolph stood out for two reasons in the early 1960s: He was married to a highly paid exotic dancer, and he worked faster on the mound than any of his contemporaries. Neither of those achievements, however, played a significant part in the performance of his career the evening of Wednesday, … Continue reading May 8, 1963: Rudolph retires 25 in a row; Lock’s slam wins it
A history of the ownership of the original A.L. Senators
November 11, 2018: When the National League dropped four cities, including Washington, after the 1899 season, an opening was left for the upstart American League. What remained of the Kansas City team from the Western League was moved to Washington, D.C., where the Senators became an original member of the A.L in 1901. The team … Continue reading A history of the ownership of the original A.L. Senators
Tom Ferrick kept the original Nats over .500 one last time
October 21, 2018: On September 28, 1952, at Fenway Park, journeyman reliever Tom Ferrick pitched four scoreless innings and was the winner in a 5-4 Senators’ victory. The season-ending win let Washington finish at 78-76, the last time the original Senators had a winning year. It also would be Ferrick’s last time on a major … Continue reading Tom Ferrick kept the original Nats over .500 one last time
March 30, 2008: Zimmerman opens Nationals Park with walk-off homer
September 22, 2018: With Washington’s new ballpark due to open, Nationals’ management lobbied Major League Baseball to let the team to start the National League season on ESPN’s Sunday night game, March 30, 2008.[1] Despite the Nats’ dim prospects, MLB granted the request, putting Washington in the national spotlight for an opener for the first … Continue reading March 30, 2008: Zimmerman opens Nationals Park with walk-off homer
Ed Brinkman, an unsung glove record-setter
July 25, 2018: A Gold Glove shortstop but perennial weak hitter, Edwin Albert Brinkman played 15 seasons in the majors, the first 10 of them with the expansion Washington Senators. Traded to Detroit in October 1970 in the infamous Denny McLain deal, he led the Tigers to a division title and was voted Tiger of … Continue reading Ed Brinkman, an unsung glove record-setter
June 9, 2007: Speigner beats two-time Cy Young winner Santana
June 20, 2018: The 2007 Washington Nationals were plodding along a dozen games under .500 when the team arrived in Minnesota late on June 7 for a weekend series. The Twins were playing .500 ball, clearly a disappointment a year after they had won the division behind Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, batting champ Joe … Continue reading June 9, 2007: Speigner beats two-time Cy Young winner Santana
The ‘Little Big League’ film’s ties to the Senators and sabermetrics
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
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
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