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The Washington Nationals:
Baseball in Our Nation's Capital!

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RFK Stadium
RFK Stadium Nationals Park
Nationals Park

Top ~ 2005 ~ 2006 ~ 2007 ~ 2008 ~

2005: The Nats' Honeymoon Year in Washington

RFK Stadium RF corner

The Nationals' inaugural season in Our Nation's Capital turned out better than even the brightest optimists could have imagined. The regular big crowds at good old RFK Stadium played a big part in the team's success, at least through mid-season. It was a mutual love affair between players and fans. The 2.7 million total attendance at the Nats' home games exceeded their target by 300,000, and their 33,584 average attendance was more than 3 ½ times the tickets sold for Expos games in Montreal and San Juan last year. (Because of the phenomenon of tax-subsidized "phantom fans," the number of people who actually showed up for games at RFK Stadium was probably about 10-15 percent less than that; let's say 28,000 real live fans.) In terms of "announced" attendance, the smallest crowd was 23,332 on April 26 against the Phillies; in only three other games was attendance below 25,000. In contrast, there were eleven games in which attendance was over 40,000! Meanwhile, the Orioles' 2005 total attendance of 2.6 million was only slightly below last year's total, providing undisputable proof that the effect on the Orioles' attendance from a team in Washington was much less than owner Peter Angelos had claimed it would be. (Indeed, the decline was even less than I expected.)

Washington Nationals, 2005: month-by-month summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)		 Number of
home games		 Total
attendance		 Average
attendance
April 2005 13 11 3 12 371,408 30,951
May 2005 14 14 3 10 333,284 33,328
June 2005 20 6 1 17 562,951 33,115
July 2005 9 18 2 11 412,001 37,455
August 2005 13 15 5 12 439,619 36,635
September* 2005 12 17 5 19 601,059 31,635
2005 TOTAL 81 81 5 81 2,720,322 33,584

SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.
* Asterisks indicate the data include March (for April) or October (for September).

Top ~ 2005 ~ 2006 ~ 2007 ~ 2008 ~

2006: Soriano raises hopes, then reality sinks in

RFK CF upper deck Cathy, Yanira

The acquisition of free agent Alfonso Soriano from the Texas Rangers raised hopes that the Nationals might do even better in 2006, but brutal reality quickly set in. In the opening series at RFK Stadium, the Nationals were swept by the Mets. Home field advantage counted for hardly anything early in the season, as the Nats lost nine of their first ten home games. For most of the first six weeks there were hovering around .333, usually in fourth place in the NL East. They turned things around with a win against the Orioles at home on May 20, beginning a three-week hot stretch that brought them to within four games of .500 -- the closest they ever came this year. Then the Colorado Rockies swept them at RFK Stadium in mid-June, the start of another cold streak lasting through mid-July. Consecutive sweeps at home against the Cubs and Giants later that month were probably the high point of the year, but they could never hold the momentum. They managed a winning record in September, salvaging some dignity, but the loss of the final three games to the Mets -- like the sweep in April -- provided a fitting end to a very disappointing season.



Washington Nationals, 2006: month-by-month summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)		 Number of
home games		 Total
attendance		 Average
attendance
April 2006 8 17 4 8 202,430 25,304
May 2006 14 15 4 15 390,393 26,026
June 2006 11 16 5 12 357,775 29,815
July 2006 14 11 5 15 412,751 27,517
August 2006 9 18 5 13 352,350 27,104
September* 2006 15 14 5 18 436,829 24,268
2006 TOTAL 71 91 5 81 2,152,528 26,574

SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.
* Asterisks indicate the data include March (for April) or October (for September).

Top ~ 2005 ~ 2006 ~ 2007 ~ 2008 ~

2007: Rebuilding the team, building the new stadium

RFK Stadium farewell montage

The Nationals began their third year with decidedly lower expectations, as the new owners made it clear that they were devoting most of their resouces to rebuilding the franchise's decrepit farm system. Yet against all odds, the motley crew of nobodies, has-beens, and wanna-be's finished the 2007 season with a better win-loss record than eight other teams. The biggest surprise was that the pitching rotation performed well above expectations, as Jason Bergman, Matt Chico, and even Jason Simontacchi earned plaudits. Dmitri Young, signed as an (unwanted) free agent to fill in for first baseman Nick Johnson (recovering from a broken leg), was leading in the NL batting race for several weeks, and was the sole National chosen for the 2007 All Star Game. At the end of the season he was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year. It was pretty ugly early in the season, however, as the Nationals lost nine of their first ten games, and then lost the first eight games in May. It appeared that the worst-case scenario was coming to pass, with the Nationals doing even worse than the 2003 Tigers (43-119). But from May 11 on, they played very respectably, for the most part, winning exactly half of their games for the rest of the season (64-64). The high point was in early August, when they had a six-game winning streak. The road trip at the end of that month was brutal, however, as they got swept by the Rockies and then the Dodgers. In late September the Nats played the role of spoiler in several key games with the Mets and Phillies, having the final say in who won the National League East divisional title. It brought them a lot of favorable attention, and for the first time they ended up the season out of the cellar, taking fourth place, three games ahead of the Marlins. All in all, not too shabby.

Three miles away from 46-year old RFK Stadium, meanwhile, construction of the Washington Nationals' new baseball stadium on South Capitol Street neared completion during the fall months.



Washington Nationals, 2007: month-by-month summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)		 Number of
home games		 Total
attendance		 Average
attendance
April 2007 9 17 5 14 299,157 21,368
May 2007 13 15 5 13 291,869 22,451
June 2007 10 16 5 12 295,414 24,618
July 2007 14 12 5 15 373,953 24,930
August 2007 12 17 4 12 338,973 28,248
September 2007 15 12 4 15 362,373 24,158
2007 TOTAL 73 89 4 81 1,961,739 24,219

SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.
* Asterisks indicate the data include March (for April) or October (for September).

Top ~ 2005 ~ 2006 ~ 2007 ~ 2008 ~

2008: "Welcome home" to the new stadium

Nationals Park right field

Construction on Nationals Park was completed just in time for Opening Day on March 31.Johnson had a season-ending wrist surgery in June. The Nats raised fans hopes by winning their first three games, but then let the fourth game slip away, beginning a nine-game losing streak. Infielders Nick Johnson and Cristian Guzman, both plagued by injuries, returned to the lineup, but the team roster was depleted by further injuries in April and May. Thanks to energetic new talent, the team started winning on a consistent basis toward the end of April, but fell into another slump in June.



Washington Nationals, 2008: month-by-month summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)		 Number of
home games		 Total
attendance		 Average
attendance
April 2008 11 17 5 14 418,834 29,917
May 2008 13 16 5 14 397,058 28,361
June 2008 9 17 5 16 493,251 30,828
2008 1st half 33 50 5 44 1,309,143 29,753

SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.
* Asterisks indicate the data include March (for April) or October (for September).
Washington Nationals: annual summary
Month Wins Losses NL East place
(at end)		 Number of
home games		 Total
attendance		 Average
attendance
2005 TOTAL 81 81 5 81 2,720,322 33,584
2006 TOTAL 71 91 5 81 2,152,528 26,574
2007 TOTAL 73 89 4 81 1,961,739 24,219
2008 1st HALF 33 50 5 44 1,309,143 29,753

SOURCE: My unofficial daily tabulations from MLB Gameday stats, Washington Post, and other newspapers.
* Asterisks indicate the data include March (for April) or October (for September).
Washington Nationals: first-string teams
Year Pitcher Catcher First base Second base Shortstop Third base Left field Center field Right field
2005 Livan Hernandez Brian Schneider Nick Johnson Jose Vidro Cristian Guzman Vinny Castilla Marlon Byrd Ryan Church Jose Guillen
2006 Livan Hernandez Brian Schneider Nick Johnson Jose Vidro Felipe Lopez Ryan Zimmerman Alfonso Soriano Ryan Church Jose Guillen
2007 Matt Chico Brian Schneider Dmitri Young Ronnie Belliard Felipe Lopez Ryan Zimmerman Ryan Church Nook Logan Austin Kearns
2008 Tim Redding Paul Lo Duca Nick Johnson Felipe Lopez Cristian Guzman Ryan Zimmerman Willie Harris Lastings Milledge Austin Kearns

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