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
Category: The Washington Nationals, 2005 to date
The former Montreal Expos, relocated to D.C. for the 2005 season
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
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
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
Washington baseball history 