Table of Content

  • A pitcher wearing number 1? It’s happened before

    It’s rare but not unique. Five pitchers in MLB history had worn uniform number 1 before MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals began wearing it in 2023. Gore became the first Nationals’ pitcher to wear a single-digit number, let alone number 1. He also became the first MLB pitcher to wear it for more than one… Read more

  • One-year (D.C.) wonder: Soriano’s 2006 season

    The initial excitement over baseball’s return to D.C. in 2005 and the unexpected thrill of a team in first place in July had faded a bit by that December. The Nationals second-half collapse had focused attention on the transplanted team’s lack of ownership. On December 8, however, hopes for the 2006 season were instantly raised… Read more

  • Four pitchers in Nats’ games got a triple play from the first batter they faced

    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… Read more

  • June 18, 1961: Devastating loss sends expansion Nats into downward spiral

    The expansion Senators, surprisingly, split their inaugural season’s first 60 games. After beating the Orioles on June 15, the Nats stood 30-30 in fifth place in the 10-team league when they arrived in Boston to begin a four-game series. The Red Sox were two games under .500 in sixth place. After blowing a 6-0 lead Friday… Read more

  • 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… Read more

  • 1949 Nats set record, winning nine in a row but finishing last

    Until 1949, no Washington team since Clark Griffith’s arrival in 1912 had ever lost 100 games. Managed by Joe Kuhel, the ’49 Senators[1] finished at 50-104, despite being in fourth place, a game over .500 on June 12. A May 1949 winning streak also would become, at season’s end, the record for consecutive wins by… Read more