Washington Senators (1901–1960)
Washington Senators | |
---|---|
Information | |
League | American League |
Ballpark | Griffith Stadium (1911–1960) |
Established | 1901 |
Folded | 1960 (relocated to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins) |
Nickname(s) | Grifs (1912–1920) Nats (1905–1955) |
American League pennant | |
World Series championships | |
Former name(s) | Washington Nationals (1905–1955) |
Former ballparks | American League Park (1901–1903) Boundary Field (1904–1910) |
Colors | Blue, red, white |
Ownership | Clark Griffith (1920–1955) Calvin Griffith (1955–1960) |
Manager | Clark Griffith (1912–1921) Bucky Harris (1924–1928, 1935–1942, 1950–1954) Walter Johnson (1929–1932) Joe Cronin (1933–1934) |
The Washington Senators baseball team was one of the American League's eight charter franchises. Now known as the Minnesota Twins, the club was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1901 as the Washington Senators.
The team was officially named the "Senators" during 1901–1904, the Nationals during 1905–1955 and the Senators again during 1956–1960, but nonetheless was commonly referred to as the Senators throughout its history (and unofficially as the "Grifs" during Clark Griffith's tenure as manager during 1912–1920).[1][2] The name "Nationals" appeared on the uniforms for only two seasons, and then was replaced with the "W" logo. However, the names "Senators," "Nationals" and shorter "Nats" were used interchangeably by fans and media throughout the team's history; in 2005, the latter two names were revived for the current National League franchise that had previously played in Montreal.
For a time, from 1911 to 1933, the Senators were one of the more successful franchises in Major League Baseball. The team's rosters included Baseball Hall of Fame members Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, Bucky Harris, Heinie Manush and one of the greatest players and pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson. But the Senators are remembered more for their many years of mediocrity and futility, including six last-place finishes in the 1940s and 1950s. Joe Judge, Cecil Travis, Buddy Myer, Roy Sievers and Eddie Yost were other notable Senators players whose careers were spent in obscurity due to the team's lack of success.[3][4]
History
A losing start for a charter franchise
When the
The Senators began their history as a consistently losing team, at times so inept that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Charley Dryden famously joked, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League,"[5] a play on the famous line in Henry Lee III's eulogy for President George Washington as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". The 1904 Senators lost 113 games, and the next season the team's owners, trying for a fresh start, changed the team's name to the "Nationals" (and occasionally nicknamed the "Nats"). However, the "Senators" name remained widely used by fans and journalists — in fact, the two names were used interchangeably[6] — although "Nats" remained the team's nickname.[7] The Senators name was officially restored in 1956.[8]
A new era
The club continued to lose, despite the addition of a talented 19-year-old pitcher named
In
1924: World champions
In 1924, Griffith named 27-year-old second baseman Bucky Harris player-manager. Led by the hitting of Goose Goslin and Sam Rice, and a solid pitching staff headlined by the 36-year-old Johnson, the Senators captured their first American League pennant, two games ahead of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees.
The Senators faced
triumph for the franchise during their 60-year tenure in Washington.Building a winning tradition
The Senators repeated as American League champions in 1925 but lost the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After Johnson's retirement in 1927, the Senators endured a few losing seasons until returning to contention in 1930, this time with Johnson as manager. But after the Senators finished third in 1931 and 1932, behind powerful Philadelphia and New York, Griffith fired Johnson, a victim of high expectations.[16]
For his new manager in 1933, Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him in 1924, and 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin became player-manager. The change worked, as Washington posted a 99–53 record and swept to the pennant seven games ahead of the Yankees. But the Senators lost the World Series to the Giants in five games, and after that, the city would not host another World Series until 2019, when the Washington Nationals, its current National League team, defeated the Houston Astros.
Fading fortunes
The Senators sank all the way to seventh in 1934. Attendance plunged as well, and after the season Griffith traded Cronin to the Red Sox for journeyman shortstop Lyn Lary and $225,000 in cash (even though Cronin was married to Griffith's niece, Mildred). Despite the return of Harris as manager in 1935–42 and 1950–54, Washington remained mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only in the talent-thin war years of 1943 and 1945.
In the fall of
The Senators were also the butt of many nationwide jokes during the 1950s, with the debut and running of a Broadway musical play in 1955 in New York City called "Damn Yankees" (based on an earlier best-selling novel and later movie in 1958), which followed a hapless elderly D.C. fan being given a "Faustian" or "devil's bargain," selling his soul to transform the team by becoming a young powerful new Senators player (played in the movie version by heart-throb leading-man actor Tab Hunter) and lead the lowly team to a pennant versus the Yankees.
In 1954, Senators farm system director Ossie Bluege signed a 17-year-old Harmon Killebrew. Because of his $30,000 signing bonus, an enormous amount for that time, baseball rules required Killebrew to spend the rest of 1954 with the Senators as a "bonus baby." Killebrew bounced between the Senators and the minor leagues for the next few years. He became the Senators' regular third baseman in 1959, leading the League with 42 home runs and earning a starting spot on the American League All-Star team.
Relocation
Clark Griffith died in
Photos
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The Washington Senators led by star Walter Johnson and owner Clark Griffith hoist their championship banner at the 1925 opening day.
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Washington Senators in the 1920s
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Washington Senators Team Picture in the early 1930s
The Washington Senators in popular culture
The longtime competitive struggles of the team were fictionalized in the 1954 book
The (expansion) Washington Senators were mentioned several times in Tom Clancy's book Without Remorse. As they performed even worse than the team they replaced, they were the subject of an updated joke: "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and still last in the American League." When the current Nationals had their own struggles, the joke was updated once again, this time to "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the National League."
See also
References
- ^ Fleming, Frank. "Sports Encyclopedia". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ "Minnesota Twins Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ^ Grosshandler, Stan (February 1981). 13 Most Forgotten Stars In Major League History. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
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ignored (help) - ^ Vass, George (August 1999). 20th Century All-Overlooked Stars. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
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ignored (help) - ^ Dryden, Charles (June 27, 1904). "untitled". Washington Post.
- ^ Kelly, John (6 October 2012). "Picking the National's team name all by design". The Washington Post.
- St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. 1940-06-16. p. 19. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
- ^ "Washington Senators (Nationals) (1901-1960)". www.sportsecyclopedia.com.
- ^ "1911 Washington Senators". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ "1912 Washington Senators". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ "1913 American League Team Statistics and Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ Sarnoff, Gary. "William Richardson – Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ^ "1924 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ^ a b "1924 World Series Game 7 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Ruel, Muddy (October 1964). How Senators' Strategy Won for Johnson. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
{{cite book}}
:|magazine=
ignored (help) - ^ Thomas, Henry W.: "Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train", page 319. Bison Books, 1998
- New York Times. Associated Press. October 27, 1957. Retrieved 2008-05-02.