The World Champion 1880 Washington Nationals, The Players

This nine ranks right after the 1867 club as the strongest to play for Washington prior to 1901. I would rank the 1885 Nationals third just behind them. For many years after 1880 you would read about the exploits of this team. This is another in a series of articles about the 1880 Washington Nationals. …

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Do the Nats have the right uniforms for a championship?

Wearing the right uniform can make all of the difference. Way back in 1915 the Washington Times posted a cartoon that claimed uniforms play a prominent part in winning championships. The 1915 Senators uniforms were not up to snuff as the Washington Senators ended the season 85-68 and were in 4th place 17 games behind …

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John “Jack” Lynch Early Nationals 20 game Winner

This is the first in a series of articles about the great 1880 Washington National’s baseball club which had claim to the title “World Champions.” The Nationals were the champions of the National Association and defeated the National League champion Chicago White Stockings in a post season series by four games to three and one …

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This Day in D.C. Baseball History – Senators’ Clinch AL Pennant

September 21, 1933 The Washington Senators’ behind the pitching of Lefty Stewart beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1 to clinch the American League Pennant. The pennant was the first for the Senators since they won the 1925 American League Pennant. The play of the game came occurred with the Browns at bat in the top …

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Former Senator pitcher John Francis (Jack) Kralick passed away

One of the original Minnesota Twins, pitcher John Francis (Jack) Kralick who was born on June 1, 1935 in Youngstown, Ohio passed away at his home in San Blas, Mexico on September 18 at the age of 77. The Chicago White Sox signed Jack Kralick prior to the 1955 season after Kralick had played baseball …

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Bill Joyce, the Forgotten Manager

Time for Baseball-Reference.com to wake up and give Bill Joyce his due for managing the 1896 Washington Senators. In 1903, Paul W Eaton, Washington correspondent while lamenting the Ban Johnson administration in Washington writes, “A successor to Tom Loftus has not yet been named by President Johnson. He is negotiating with two men. By the …

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This Day in D.C. Baseball History – Soriano becomes the 4th player to join 40/40 Club

September 16, 2006 Alfonso Soriano becomes the fourth player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season when he steals his 40th base in the first inning of a game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Before the 2006 season came to an end Soriano starts his own club as he becomes the …

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Update – Washington’s All Time Baseball Team(s)

The ballots are coming in very slowly. To help you with your ballots I have created custom batting statistic by position pages for each of the time periods listed below. I hope to have the pitching stats by each of the time periods posted over the next two weeks. 1901-1911 (The Pre-Griffith Years) 1912-1927 – …

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Voices in the Stands

2 May 1903 The season is young and the fans in the District think they have the makings of a special team. Senators 4 Highlander’s 3 Cold windy day, some said more fitted for football. Highball Wilson did not look strong, but he mixed slow and fast curves, with an occasional bit of speed, and …

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Jim Kaat’s letter to Strasburg

As I received a lot of hits on this story I thought I would re-post the story. Long time Washington baseball fans will remember the name Jim Kaat. Jim Kaat was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1957. The 20 year-old Kaat made his debut on August 2, 1959. With …

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