Table of Content

  • June 28, 1907: Nats steal 13 bases off catcher Branch Rickey

     Before the New York Highlanders signed him in 1907, catcher Branch Rickey told manager Clark Griffith that a sore arm kept him from throwing well. Griffith, however, was desperate for a backup catcher. On June 28, Griffith started Rickey behind the plate against the last-place Washington Nationals in a game at Hilltop Field in New… Read more

  • Where the Nats stood on the rebuild after 2023

    After the elation of winning the 2019 World Series, it’s been a rough ride for the Washington Nationals and their fans. First, Covid-19 prevented fans from celebrating at Nationals Park during the curtailed 2020 season. Since then, no World Series winner in history has fallen so fast and so far. The 2020 Nats finished tied… Read more

  • The best cards of the only expansion Nat that fans remember

    Hastily assembled in December 1960, the expansion Senators lost 100 games four seasons in a row. Manager Gil Hodges, hired in May 1963, pushed for a trade of the Senators’s best pitcher, lefty Claude Osteen, to the Dodgers, for several unproven players and one slugging outfielder, 6-foot-7 Frank Howard.  “Hondo,” the beloved hero of so… Read more

  • Last A.L. team to finish 10th? The 1968 Senators

    Baseball traditionalists chafe at the current setup that allows six teams from each league to make the post-season, but surely few of them want a return to the 1960s when the first round of expansion presented 15 opportunities for teams to finish 10th. Thanks to the horrendous Cleveland Spiders, losers of 134 of 154 games… Read more

  • May 16, 1933: a record debut for Cecil Travis

    Shortstop Cecil Travis had a good enough career with the Senators that many argue he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Were it not for his nearly four years in the Army and a foot injury during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, it’s quite possible he’d be a Hall of Famer. As it… Read more

  • In 1958 at Griffith Stadium, Ted Williams edged Pete Runnels for sixth batting title

    After Washington infielder “Pete” Runnels slumped to .230 in 1957, Calvin Griffith foolishly traded him to the Boston Red Sox. By mid-July in 1958, Runnels was hovering around .330 and leading the league in hitting, thanks in part to the tutelage of Ted Williams. The Splendid Splinter was coming off a season in which he… Read more