The Washington Nationals are the eighth franchise to have called Washington, D.C. home, though its origins are from outside the nation’s capital. The club was founded in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. In 2002, the MLB purchased the Expos, and in 2004, the club moved to Washington and became the Washington Nationals, which was the first relocation in Major League Baseball in 33 years and the most recent one. Since the Nationals landed in Washington, the team has had a lot of success in the past decade, though it is still looking for its first World Series title.
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Nationals History
For its early years in Montreal, the Expos franchise played at Jarry Park Stadium until the 1976 season when it moved into Olympic Stadium, where it played its home games until its relocation in 2004. Once the club moved to Washington, the team first played at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, better known as RFK Stadium, until the completion of Nationals Park in 2008, which has been the team’s home ever since. Nationals Park, which is located in the Navy Yard neighborhood along the banks of the Anacostia River, had played host to the All-Star Game in 2018 when then hometown hero Bryce Harper dazzled fans by winning the Home Run Derby.
The team struggled for most of its time as the Montreal Expos, winning the East Division just one time in 1981. The team’s struggles would continue in the early years of its time in Washington. But the team’s fortunes would turn in 2012, with their two first overall picks, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, leading the team to four more East Division titles, coming in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Despite making it to the postseason several times, the Nationals have not been able to make it to the World Series, is just one of two teams, the other being the Seattle Mariners, to have never won their league pennant and to make a World Series appearance.
Hall of Famers
One of the club’s early heroes was Andre Dawson, the outfielder known as “The Hawk.” Dawson began his MLB career with the Montreal Expos, playing there from 1976 to 1986, setting many franchise records at the time, including career games, hits, home runs, RBIs, total bases and steals. Dawson was named to the All-Star team eight times, the first three coming with the Expos, and was also named NL Rookie of the Year in 1977. He would finish his career batting .279 with 2,774 hits, 438 home runs and 1,591 runs-batted-in.
Another Expo legend is Tim Raines, who was inducted in 2017 into the Baseball Hall of Fame with an Expos hat on his plaque. Raines developed the reputation of being one of the best leadoff hitters and baserunners in the Major Leagues, averaging .294 at the plate over his career while amassing 2,605 hits, 170 home runs, 980 runs batted in and 808 stolen bases. Raines played his first 12 seasons in Montreal and then returned once more for part of the 2001 season, leading the National League in stolen bases four times during his Expos tenure.
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