Washington Nationals Tickets : Numerous Professional Baseball Teams Have Called Washington D.C. Home

Apr 2nd, 2011 Cynthia Hoffman

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball (MLB). The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium. The new park is located in Southeast D.C., near the Anacostia River and with views of the Capitol.

The Nationals name derives from the two former Washington baseball teams which had the same name (used interchangeably with Senators). Their nickname is "the Nats" a shortened version that was also used by the old D.C. teams.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1969. As the Montreal Expos, they were the first major league team in Canada. They played their home games at Jarry Park Stadium and later in the Olympic Stadium.

In 1981, the Expos won a division championship, won their first-ever playoff series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3/2, and advanced to the National League Championship Series, where they would go on to lose that series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3/2, in their only postseason appearance during the strike-shortened 1981 season.

The Expos had their highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the team had the best record in baseball. The team's subsequent shedding of players caused fan interest to drop off. After the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After being purchased by MLB in 2002, the team was moved before the 2005 season to Washington and renamed the Nationals. This was the first complete name change for a relocating team in MLB since 1972, when the Washington Senators left D.C. to become the Texas Rangers.

The Nationals are one of two MLB franchises, and the only one in the National League, that has never played in a World Series (the Seattle Mariners are the other).Numerous professional baseball teams have called Washington D.C. home. The Washington Senators, a founding member of the American League, played in the nation's capital from 1901 to 1960. These Senators were founded and owned by Clark Griffith and played in Griffith Stadium.

With notable stars including Walter Johnson and Joe Cronin, the Senators won the 1924 World Series and pennants in 1925 and 1933, but were more often unsuccessful and moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season where the team was renamed the Minnesota Twins. A second Washington Senators had a winning record only once in their 11 years, though bright spots, such as slugger Frank Howard, earned the love of fans. The second Senators moved to Arlington, Texas for the 1972 season and changed their name to the Texas Rangers, and Washington spent the next 33 years without a baseball team.

Although there was some sentiment to revive the name Senators, political considerations factored into the choice of Nationals, a revival of the first American League franchise's "official" nickname used from 1905 to 1956.Politicians and others in the District of Columbia objected to the name Senators because the District of Columbia does not have voting representation in Congress. In addition, the Rangers still owned the rights to the Senators name.

T he Nationals' flagship radio station is WJFK-FM, "The Fan" at 106.7 FM, which is owned by CBS Radio. Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler are the play-by-play announcers.

Nationals' telecasts are predominantly on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), with a handful of games simulcast on WDCW, "DC50." Bob Carpenter is the TV play-by-play announcer. Rob Dibble was the color analyst until September 1, 2010. F.P. Santangelo was hired in January 2011 to take over color duties.The team has struggled to attract fans, with attendance averaging in the middle of the league in the team's second year in Washington. Local TV ratings have declined to the lowest in the league by a significant margin.

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Cynthia Hoffman is the author of Ticketwood.com . Ticketwood is a leader tickets market search engine that enable Ticket shoppers to easily find, compare and buy Washington Nationals Tickets sports tickets, theatre tickets MLB Tickets plus other events tickets.

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