The
Washington Nationals:
Annual History *

2009: Desperately seeking success

The Nats played most of their April games on the road, going 5-16 for the month. New arrival Adam Dunn provided lots of slugging firepower, and Ryan Zimmerman had a 30-game hitting streak that ended on May 13. The weak spot throughout 2009 was the pitching staff, especially the bullpen. At the All-Star break, the Nats were only 26-61 (.299), and manager Manny Acta was replaced by Jim Riggleman. The team had an eight-game winning streak as well as an eight-game losing streak in August and September. Boosted by rookies Ian Desmond and Justin Maxwell, the Nats swept both the Mets and the Braves to end the season, becoming the first MLB team ever to lose their first seven games and then win the final seven games in a season.

Usual starting positions, 2009

CF: Willie Harris .235 Nyjer Morgan *

LF: Josh Willingham * .260 Adam Dunn *

RF: Elijah Dukes .250 Austin Kearns

SS: Cristian Guzman .284

2B: Anderson Hernandez * .251 Alberto Gonzalez *

3B: Ryan Zimmerman .292

PITCHING ROTATION John Lannan 3.88 Craig Stammen 5.11 Garret Mock * 5.62 Jordan Zimmermann * 4.63 Shairon Martis * 5.25 Mike MacDougal (cl.) 3.60

1B: Adam Dunn * .267 Nick Johnson

Batting average for position players, ERA for pitchers. Manager: Manny Acta / Jim Riggleman

C: Josh Bard * .230 Wil Nieves

* (asterisk): new player;

Nationals' head-to-head matchups, 2009

Opponent	Wins	Losses
ARI	5	1
ATL	8	10
BAL	2	4
BOS	1	2
CHC	2	5
CHW	0	0
CIN	4	3
CLE	0	0
COL	0	6
DET	0	0
HOU	3	3
KC	0	0
LAA	0	0
LAD	2	3
FLA	6	12
MIL	3	5
MIN	0	0
NYM	8	10
NYY	2	1
OAK	0	0
PHI	3	15
PIT	3	5
SD	2	4
SEA	0	0
SF	2	4
STL	1	6
TB	0	3
TEX	0	0
TOR	2	1
Total	59	103

2009 memorable moments

• Apr. 17-19 -- Marlins come back in the 9th inn. and win in 3 games straight.
• May 13 -- R. Zimmerman's 30-game hitting streak ends in SF; Nats win 6-3.
• May 24 -- Adam Dunn hits two HRs, incl. a grand slam; WSH 8, BAL 5.
• June 4 -- Randy Johnson wins his 300th game in D.C.; SF 5, WSH 1.
• June 20 -- Willie Harris HR in 12th inn.; WSH 5, TOR 3. @
• June 25 -- Record attendance at Nationals Park: 41,985; WSH 9, BOS 3.
• July 9 -- Nats win rain-susp. May 5 "home" game in 11th-inn., 11-10. @
• July 11 -- N. Johnson, Willingham, Dunn consecutive HRs; WSH 13, HOU 2. @
• July 27 -- Josh Willingham hits two grand slams; WSH 14, MIL 6. @
• July 28 -- Adam Dunn hits HR out of Miller Park; WSH 8, MIL 3. @
• Aug. 2 -- Nats end 8-game losing streak; WSH 5, PIT 3. (I was there!) @
• Sept. 6 -- Ryan Zimmerman 2-run 9th-inn. HR; WSH 5, FLA 4. (I was there!)
• Sept. 30 -- Justin Maxwell GW 9th-inn. grand slam; WSH 7, NYM 4.
• Oct. 3 -- Justin Maxwell HR in 11th inn.; WSH 6, ATL 4. @
• Oct. 4 -- Alberto Gonzalez RBI single in 15th inn.; WSH 2, ATL 1. @ Nats win their last 7 games!

"@" = away game

Nationals, 2009: month-by-month summary

Month	Wins	Losses	NL East place (at end)	Number of home games	Total attendance	Average attendance
April 2009	5	16	5th	9	178,230	19,803
# May 2009	9	20	5th	15	324,970	21,665
June 2009	9	17	5th	15	368,179	26,299
July 2009	9	18	5th	14	364,128	26,009
Aug. 2009	14	15	5th	13	266,379	20,491
Sept.* 2009	13	17	5th	15	316,394	21,093
2009	59	103	5th	81	1,818,280	22,531
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). # May data include the rain-suspended May 5 home game, which was finished on July 9 in Houston.