April 29, 1886
The Washington Nationals made their National League debut when they played the Philadelphia Quakers at the Swampoodle grounds in Washington D.C. The veteran Philadelphia ball club was managed by Harry Wright and the Washington ball club was managed by Mike Scanlon.
The Washington fans were eager to see how their new Nationals team would fare against the Quakers who 
finished the 1885 season in 3rd place in the National League with a 56-54 record.
The local fans were delighted as the Nationals’ 27 year-old starting pitcher Dupee Shaw out pitched the Quakers’ 23 year-old starter Dan Casey and captured the opening day victory by the score of 6-3.
The Nationals will go on to beat the Quakers in the three game series two games to one. The Washington fans and their ball club will realize soon enough that one series doesn’t guarantee you a successful season.
The Nats improved their record to 3-1 when they beat the Boston Beaneaters 12-11. After that victory the Nationals went on to lose their next twelve games. The Nats struggled through the rest of the ’86 season as the team ended their inaugural NL season in last place in the eight team league, with a record of 28-92, and finished 60 games behind the first place Chicago White Stockings.
Team Name G W L T PCT GB RS RA Chicago White Stockings 126 90 34 2 .726 - 901 555 Detroit Wolverines 126 87 36 3 .707 2.5 836 538 New York Giants 124 75 44 5 .630 12.5 693 558 Philadelphia Phillies 119 71 43 5 .623 14.0 620 498 Boston Beaneaters 118 56 61 1 .479 30.5 657 659 St. Louis Maroons 126 43 79 4 .352 46.0 548 712 Kansas City Cowboys 126 30 91 5 .248 58.5 494 874 Washington Nationals 125 28 92 5 .233 60.0 444 799
