By Jeff Stuart
In their inaugural 2005 season the Washington Nationals played exceptionally well for the first half of the season. At the mid-season point, after winning 9 of 10 and sweeping the Pirates at home and the Cubs in Chicago, their record stood at 51-30. They were in first place on July 4. Then came the collapse. They went 30-51 the rest of the season. They finished last, a spot familiar to Washington fans of earlier franchises. But they finished with a .500 record, a consolation prize.
In 1961 the Expansion Senators also got off to an unexpectedly good start. After 62 games their record stood at 30-30. A highlight of that season was a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, who left DC the year before. from May 26 to May 28. On Saturday May 27 they hammered the Twins, 14-4 at Griffith Stadium. Chuck Hinton and Gene Green each had 3 TBI. That team also collapsed but their collapse was triggered by a seismic event on a Sunday afternoon, June 18th, in Boston. Bloody Sunday Indeed. It was a doubleheader. “It’s Incredible!” screamed the headline in the Washington Post, “Bosox Score 8 in the 8th to Take First, Win Second in 13th.” If you are a long time Washington baseball fan you probably remember.
“The Senators, who were assembled here in the Major League Draft last December,” wrote Columnist Bob Addie, “were disassembled here this afternoon.” Boston catcher Jim Pagliaroni‘s grand slam homer tied the first game at 12-12 in the 9th inning of the opener. Washington, with the help of a grand slam of their own by centerfielder Willie Tasby scored 5 in the top of the 9th to take a 12-5 lead. Dale Long‘s 3 run homer in a 4-run 5th had given the Nats an early lead. Pete Daley also homered. Rookie Left hander Carl Mathias, the starter, got two outs in the 8th before turning it over to George Sisler with a man on first. Sisler yielded two walks and the Pagliaroni blast. Then he walked another Marty Kutyna gave up a walk and a single and the walk off single to Russ Nixon, scoring ex-Senator, Pete Runnels, giving Boston the win. 13-12.
Pagliaroni was again the nemesis in the second game, homering over the Green Monster in the 13th inning to give Boston a 6-5 win. Washington battled, scoring twice in the 7th on King’s homer. They trailed 5-4. Tasby’s blast tied it in the 8th and knocked out starter Gene Conley.
It was a day of supreme frustration for the Nats. Tasby, Chuck Cottier, and Jim King all homered for Washington in the second game. Pete Burnside started the second game for the Senators. But he was shelled in the 5th. Johnny Klippstein came on in relief and turned it over to Tom Sturdivant in the 7th. Sturdevant pitched hitless ball until the 13th.
The Green Monster, only 315 away from home plate, played a critical role in the outcome of both games. Pagliaro’s homers “would have been easy outs in Washington,” noted Addie. Tasby had 8 hits and 3 homers in the three-game series, batting .400.
The Losing streak would not reach ten games and the club went through another 10-game losing streak in September. Whatever moxie this motley crew brought to the first two surprising and hopeful months of the season was gone. The team lost 100 games. The expansion team finished last; a place Washington would be familiar with for several more seasons.
On August 12, 2018, another Sunday afternoon, the Washington Nationals lost an important game in Chicago on another bottom of the 9th slam by David Bote of the Cubs off the Nat’s Ryan Madson. That game brought back memories of that Sunday 57 years earlier. That blast ruined a dominant performance by Max Scherzer who pitched 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 11l. Masdon gave up an infield single to Jason Heyward with one out and hit Albert Almora with a pitch. He then retired Kyle Schwarber on a foul pop before hitting Jose Contreras to load the bases.
