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The Journey of Baseball in Washington

Posted by Ernie K. on 8/31/21 1:04 PM

Even though baseball left Washington and didn't return for 33 years, the love of the game never died among locals.  Ernie Kyger, Van Metre's baseball fan extraordinaire, talks with veteran broadcaster Phil Wood and Pat Malone of the Washington Senators Fan Club.

 

Key takeaways:

  • Many people assume that Major League Baseball in Washington is a relatively new thing. While the Nationals only began playing at RFK Stadium in 2005, the reality is that baseball in D.C. goes back to the era of the Civil War. 

 

  • Washington had several professional teams in the late 1800s as new leagues formed and folded.  Washington became a charter member of the American League in 1901, lasting until the end of the 1960 season when this original team moved and became the Minnesota Twins. 

 

  • A new expansion team was born in 1961—the Washington Senators—and lasted until their final game in D.C. in September 1971.  That team is now based in the Dallas area and is called the Texas Rangers.

 

  • Washington baseball history is full of great players, but not great teams.  D.C. baseball detractors often cried, "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."  This saying was a parody of a famous phrase describing George Washington. 

 

  • The greatest Washington teams did not play in the Major Leagues but rather in the Negro Leagues. Baseball, like public schools, hotels and many other things, were segregated.

 

  • The Washington Senators Fan Club was started in 1984, immediately after the Orioles won the World Series. At that time, there was virtually no discussion at all about baseball in Washington.

 

  • The Grays originated in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, in Homestead, Pennsylvania. But they started scheduling games in Washington and eventually became the Washington Homestead Grays. They won seven straight championships in the Negro League.

Topics: Around the Community

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