Lefty Sammy Solis faced a daunting task when he came in the eighth inning on July 29, 2016, in San Francisco against the Giants. Two other Nats relievers had loaded the bases without retiring a batter. Max Scherzer had left after seven solid innings with a 4-1 lead. Oliver Perez started the inning by giving … Continue reading Four pitchers in Nats’ games got a triple play from the first batter they faced
Category: The Washington Nationals, 2005 to date
The former Montreal Expos, relocated to D.C. for the 2005 season
Senators’ Alyea, Nationals’ Milone homer on first pitch they see
Outfielder Brant Alyea was a September call-up for the expansion Senators in 1965. Manager Gil Hodges sent him up as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning against the Angels in D.C. on September 12. He hit lefty Rudy May’s first pitch over the left-field fence. The three-run homer put the Nats up 6-0 on the … Continue reading Senators’ Alyea, Nationals’ Milone homer on first pitch they see
‘Baseball Bill’ helped stop Bob Short from coming back to D.C.
“Baseball Bill” Holdforth was a longtime bartender and voracious beer drinker who also was a rabid Washington Senators’ fan. He was an usher at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium before the team moved to Texas. In 1978, Holdforth earned himself a place in Washington baseball history through his determination to ensure that Robert Short paid a … Continue reading ‘Baseball Bill’ helped stop Bob Short from coming back to D.C.
Presidential openers and D.C.
During his long tenure in Washington, Clark Griffith cultivated relationships with every U.S. President from William Howard Taft to Dwight Eisenhower. The Nats’ owner helped keep baseball going during World War I and again in World War II. See my SABR team ownership history (or on this site) of the original Senators for more about … Continue reading Presidential openers and D.C.
The University of Maryland, the Nats and MLB
College Park, home of the University of Maryland’s main campus, is just eight miles by car outside of Washington, D.C. The proximity came into play during World War II when travel restrictions forced major league teams to find spring training sites nearer their home cities. In 1943, ’44 and ’45, the Senators arranged to train … Continue reading The University of Maryland, the Nats and MLB
Howie Kendrick: 2019 post-season hero
Without the hitting heroics of Howie Kendrick, the Washington Nationals would not have reached the 2019 World Series. The veteran infielder, acquired at the trade deadline in 2017 for a minor league pitcher who never made it, had a career season in 2019. Then, his 10th-inning grand slam beat the favored Dodgers in Game Five … Continue reading Howie Kendrick: 2019 post-season hero
Win Mercer, 1890s’ heartthrob, two-way star of the N.L. Senators
George Barclay “Win” Mercer was a 20-game winner in back-to-back seasons for woeful Washington teams in the 1890s’ National League. He batted .305 as a frequently used position player in a five-year stretch from 1897 to 1901. By all accounts, the popular Mercer was a handsome ladies man and a big-time gambler. His nickname, reflecting … Continue reading Win Mercer, 1890s’ heartthrob, two-way star of the N.L. Senators
The 2022 Nationals’ unwelcome records
Let us count the ways the Nationals of 2022 smashed a number of long-standing franchise and season records for futility. A 55-107 fifth-place finish, worst since Washington regained a team in 2005, can do that. The Nationals finished 46 games behind the Braves and Mets, who tied with 101 wins, and 14 games behind the … Continue reading The 2022 Nationals’ unwelcome records
Who, if anyone, was the model for ‘Joe Hardy’?
Joe Hardy was the fictional baseball star created by J. Douglass Wallop in his 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, adapted soon after for Broadway and film as Damn Yankees. Middle-aged Washington Senators fan Joe Boyd makes a deal with the devil to become a great player (Joe Hardy) and, he hopes, … Continue reading Who, if anyone, was the model for ‘Joe Hardy’?
Paolo Espino’s near-record innings pitched without a win
When Paolo Espino took the mound to start the Nationals’ penultimate game of 2022, he was on the verge of becoming the pitcher who threw the most innings in a season without winning a game. In 18 previous starts, although his record was 0-8, he always had lasted at least four innings. Espino Facing the … Continue reading Paolo Espino’s near-record innings pitched without a win
All-Star Games in D.C.: 1937, 1956, 1962, 1969 and 2018
During the depth of the Great Depression, with a quarter of the American workforce unemployed, baseball attendance had fallen by 40 percent. A World’s Fair was scheduled in Chicago in the summer of 1933, and the city’s mayor wanted a major sports event to accompany it. He asked the publisher of the Chicago Tribune for … Continue reading All-Star Games in D.C.: 1937, 1956, 1962, 1969 and 2018
2022: A record 43 games without a starter winning
Washington’s Tanner Rainey saved a 3-2 victory for Josiah Gray over the Phillies on July 6, 2022, in Philadelphia. As poorly as the Nats were playing, nobody could imagine then that it would be seven weeks – 43 games – before another Nationals’ starting pitcher would win a game. Victories by starters clearly are far … Continue reading 2022: A record 43 games without a starter winning
Ty Cobb’s last hit came at Griffith Stadium
Connie Mack’s Athletics were battling the Yankees for the 1928 pennant when Philadelphia came into Washington for a double-header on September 3, 1928. Down 6-0 with two outs left in the first game, Mack sent up 41-year-old Ty Cobb as a pinch-hitter against Bump Hadley of the Senators. Cobb, in his second year playing for … Continue reading Ty Cobb’s last hit came at Griffith Stadium
The Cracker Jack Classics and other RFK exhibitions
For six years, starting in 1982, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium played host to a star-studded old-timers game that was originally called the Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic. On July 19, 1982, a crowd of 29,196 attended the first of these five-inning games with the proceeds benefiting players who retired before the pension system … Continue reading The Cracker Jack Classics and other RFK exhibitions
Post-1900 A.L., N.L., Washington has never been no-hit at home*
Playing at home, Washington's American and National League teams -- be it the current Nationals, the original Nationals/Senators or the expansion Senators -- have never been no-hit.* Here's a look at the visiting teams that have been no-hit in D.C. and no-hitters throw by Washington pitchers on the road. The Nationals, 2005 to 2022: Nationals’ … Continue reading Post-1900 A.L., N.L., Washington has never been no-hit at home*
Sept. 26, 1964: At D.C. Stadium, Stottlemyre was last pitcher to get five hits at bat
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the designated hitter became universal for 2022. Pitchers, unless another Shohei Ohtani emerges, will no longer routinely bat in either league. So it’s worth looking back at a memorable game 58 seasons ago: September 26, 1964, the last time a pitcher actually had – and will ever again have … Continue reading Sept. 26, 1964: At D.C. Stadium, Stottlemyre was last pitcher to get five hits at bat
April 11, 1966: Emmett Ashford’s debut comes at D.C. Stadium
Emmett Ashford had trouble getting into D.C. Stadium on April 11, 1966, to become the first Black umpire in the Major Leagues. A Secret Service detail protecting Vice President Hubert Humphrey, there to throw out opening day’s ceremonial first pitch, stopped Ashford under the grandstands as he entered the stadium. “Listen, there are no Negro … Continue reading April 11, 1966: Emmett Ashford’s debut comes at D.C. Stadium
Charlie Brotman, voice of the Senators and the inaugurals
Charlie Brotman grew up in D.C. and graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1946. After two years in the Navy, he decided he wanted to be a sports announcer. “Who didn’t?” he once told an interviewer, so he enrolled at the National Academy of Broadcasting in the District, in addition to attending classes at … Continue reading Charlie Brotman, voice of the Senators and the inaugurals
July 15, 1952: The record of 12 straight hits reached at Griffith Stadium
(updated July 8, 2024) Does any individual achievement deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak? Given that nobody before or after his 1941 record has come near it, the answer is clearly "no." Yet of all the multi-game records of shorter duration, another far less heralded feat continues … Continue reading July 15, 1952: The record of 12 straight hits reached at Griffith Stadium
Soto, at 23, was in a class by himself
Juan Soto turned 23 on October 25, 2021. Although he finished second to Bryce Harper for the National League 2021 Most Valuable Player award*, he set or extended a number of statistical marks during a trying season for the Washington Nationals. In November, for the second year in a row, fans helped vote him onto … Continue reading Soto, at 23, was in a class by himself
Washington baseball history 