The Washington Nationals are an American
professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., United States.
Little League Teams are based on the Washington Nationals too.
The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League
Baseball's National League. From 2005 to 2007, the Nationals played
in Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. The team began playing
at a new stadium, Nationals Park, on March 30, 2008. In the inaugural
game, Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off home run in the bottom of
the ninth inning to lift the Nationals over the Atlanta Braves
by a final score of 3-2.
The "Nationals" name originates
from the two former Washington baseball teams who held the same
name (used interchangeably with "Senators"). They are
nicknamed "the Nats", a shortened version of the Nationals
name that was also used by the old D.C. teams.
An expansion franchise, the club was founded
in Montreal, Quebec in 1969. Then the Montreal Expos, the team
was the first major league team in Canada, and played its home
games at Jarry Park Stadium, then later, in Olympic Stadium. The
team saw very little success, their most successful season coming
in the strike-shortened season of 1994. They had the best record
in baseball when the season was cut short, and were regarded by
many to be the unofficial National League and world champions.
This was widely considered to be the death blow for baseball in
Montreal, although the team did stay in Quebec for 10 more seasons.
After the 2001 season, Major League Baseball even considered shutting
the team down (along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa
Bay Devil Rays.) The team finally left before the 2005 season,
moving to Washington to become the Nationals. This was the first
complete name change for a relocating team in Major League Baseball
since 1972, when the Washington Senators left D.C. to become the
Texas Rangers. They are one of four teams to have never played
in a World Series, never having officially won a league championship.
They won a division championship, and advanced to the National
League Championship Series, in their only playoff appearance,
which was under the strange circumstances of the 1981 season.
On Saturday, March 29, 2008, the team officially
moved into their new ballpark, located in Southeast D.C. near
the Anacostia River and with views of the Capitol.