Table of Content

  • Inside Joe DiMaggio’s Legendary 56-Game Hit Streak

     As Joe DiMaggio was on his way to hitting in 56 consecutive games, he actually set the 20th century major league record at Griffith Stadium on June 29, 1941, before a capacity crowd of 31,000. The fans were there to follow DiMaggio’s quest during a Senators’ double-header with the Yankees. The American League and post-1900… Read more

  • 2024 Nats led majors in steals – and caught stealing

    The 2024 Washington Nationals led both leagues in stolen bases (barely) and the number of times caught stealing (by a large margin). That resulted in a relatively low success rate of 75.3 percent, a full 10 percentage points worse than the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 85.5 percent, which led the majors. Yet unlike the Dodgers, the… Read more

  • Sept. 21, 1946: A million fans and a tribute to a dying hero

    The game between the Senators and Red Sox in Washington on Sept. 21, 1946, was memorable for two reasons unrelated to the outcome: It pushed Griffith Stadium’s attendance over one million for the first (and only) time and it turned into a melancholy tribute to the dying Walter Johnson. Knowing that a Saturday crowd coming… Read more

  • ‘Fastest’ pitchers in 1962? The Washington Senators’ staff

    The lengthening of MLB games has led to rule changes aimed at producing more actions in less time. Some fans like the changes. Others find them appalling. The “Manfred man” runner on second base to begin an extra inning seems to draw the most ire.  Banning extreme shifts, which had not existed much 20 or… Read more

  • Home No-Hitters: The Nationals’ Unique Streaks Explained

    When the Nationals were no-hit by Michael Lorenzen on August 9, 2023, in Philadelphia, it ended the longest active streak by a major league franchise of not having been victimized that way. The Nats’ predecessor, the Montreal Expos, were last no-hit on July 18, 1999, in New York when the Yankees’ David Cone threw a… Read more

  • Patrick Corbin Sets Record Amid Nats’ Struggles

    On July 30, 2024, a night after squandering a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, the Nationals were shut out in record-setting fashion, 17-0, by the Diamondbacks in Arizona. The 17-run margin topped the 24-8 drubbing by the Padres on July 16, 2021, just before Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo began the teardown of the… Read more