WASHINGTON NATIONALS

The Official History of the Montreal Expos & Washington Nationals | Baseball Almanac

Montreal was on a solid winning streak in the late 1960's. The World's Fair, called Expo '67, was a success, the city opened a new subway system and it won the bid for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. To top it off, they also won one of the four expansion franchises awarded by Major League Baseball for 1969.

Even before the Expos played their first game, they ran into the same financial troubles that would hobble them for most of their 35 years. Some of the backers who were to put up money for the team's franchise fee got cold feet as the deadline approached and it was only a late intervention by Seagram's honcho Charles Bronfman that saved the day.

On the field, the Expos had a heck of a first 10 days. They won their inaugural game by outslugging the New York Mets 11-10 at Shea Stadium on April 8, 1969. On April 14, they thrilled fans at Jarry Park by beating the Cardinals 8-7 in the first Major League game played outside the United States. The topper came on April 17 when Bill Stoneman threw a 7-0 no-hitter against the Phillies.

The Expos snapped up veteran talent in the expansion draft, including Maury Wills, Ron Fairly and "Le Grande Orange" — the nickname given Rusty Staub for his red hair and the 78 home runs he hit in three seasons in Montreal. In spite of their electrifying start, the Expos, like most expansion teams, were not very good and it would be some time before they were better. They finished 52-110 that first season and it would be 10 seasons before their first winning record, 95-65, in 1979.

The questionable business decisions and shaky finances suffered by the franchise never affected its farm system. The Expos continually turned out first rate major league talent, and it is not a stretch to imagine they might have enjoyed a long dynastic run had they been able to keep that talent together. The first generation of stars included Larry Parrish, Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines, along with pitchers Steve Rogers, Bill Gullickson and Scott Sanderson.

During the next decade they brought up Tim Wallach, Andres Galarraga, Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker, along with a lanky left-hander named Randy Johnson. Finally, in the 1990's, came Cliff Floyd, Vladimir Guerrero, Jose Vidro and Ugueth Urbina. In addition, Moises Alou, Jeff Reardon and Pedro Martinez came of age while playing for Montreal.

Despite this multitude of talent, the Expos made the postseason only once. After notching its first winning record in 1979 and coming within one game of winning the 1980 National League East Title, the Expos won the second half of the strike-split 1981 season as Cromartie, Dawson and Carter all hit over .300 and Raines stole a league-high 71 bases.

The Expos knocked out the Phillies in the playoffs in a five game divisional series before losing to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series on a Rick Monday home run in the ninth inning of the deciding fifth game.

However, for the Expos, the players strike giveth, and the players strike taketh away. In 1994, manager Felipe Alou had the Expos sitting on top of the baseball world with the best record in the game, 74-40, when the players went on a long strike that wiped out the World Series and the Expos chances of competing in the playoffs.

The franchise never recovered from the strike, either on the field or at the box office. The team bled free agent talent as the business conglomerate that bought out Bronfman refused to invest the money necessary to run baseball operations. Attendance shrunk to less than 10,000 per game.

In 2001, Commissioner Bud Selig announced baseball had decided to contract from 30 to 28 teams and the Expos were one of the teams targeted. However, a new collective bargaining agreement prevented baseball from enforcing the contraction before 2006. The Expos were bought and operated by Major League Baseball with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson installed as manager. The franchise was hamstrung by fiscal restrictions placed upon it to the point where the team could not afford the nominal payments required to call up players from the minor leagues.

With contraction off the table, Selig looked for a new buyer and a new city for the Expos, finally settling on Washington, D.C. The Expos played their last game in Montreal before 31,000 fans, losing to Florida on September 29, 2004.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS HISTORY

From the ashes of the Montreal Expos came the third franchise to represent Washington, D.C. This time the franchise took the name Nationals (the original name of the franchise that became more popularly referred to as the Senators) and it came to play at RFK Stadium, where the Senators last played in 1971.

The Nationals lost their season opener to the Phillies 8-4 on April 4, 2005, won their first game 7-3 two days later, and then won their home opener in Washington on April 14, defeating Arizona 5-3. The team had a surprisingly strong first half and remained in wild card contention through August, eventually settling for an 81-81 finish. They drew 2.7 million fans, less than most first-year franchises, but more than what the team attracted in its final three seasons in Montreal combined.

Real estate mogul Ted Lerner brought stability to the franchise when he became owner in 2006. Promising young talent such as Ryan Zimmerman, Nyjer Morgan and John Lannan were joined by veterans such as Adam Dunn and Jason Marquis as the team sought to jell into a competitive unit as the decade ended.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"In a more general way, having baseball back in the nation's capital seems to be a highly appropriate development well beyond the banks of the Potomac. Just the Washington, D.C. dateline followed by a story that has nothing to do with politics itself would be a positive development. But more than that, we're talking about the national pastime — why not have it in the capital of the nation once again?" - Mike Bauman on MLB.com (Baseball Perspectives, 11/22/2004)

Washington Nationals History

Washington Nationals Official Logo

Washington Nationals Official Logo

Washington Nationals Franchise Facts

Montreal Expos Rosters | 1969 - 2004
1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Washington Nationals Rosters | 2005 - Current
          2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023            
Bold Seasons : Uniform Numbers Worn
Montreal Expos Schedules | 1969 - 2004
1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Washington Nationals Schedules | 2005 - Current
          2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023            
Bold Seasons : Box Scores Online
Montreal Expos 100 Win Seasons
Year Record Manager
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals 100 Win Seasons
Year Record Manager
None n/a n/a
Montreal Expos 100 Loss Seasons
Year Record Manager
1969 52-110 Gene Mauch
1976 55-107 Karl Kuehl
" " Charlie Fox
Washington Nationals 100 Loss Seasons
Year Record Manager
2008 59-102 Manny Acta
2009 59-103 Manny Acta
" " Jim Riggleman
2022 55-107 Dave Martinez
Montreal Expos No-Hitters
Name IP Date
Bill Stoneman 9.0 04-17-1969
Bill Stoneman 9.0 10-02-1972
Charlie Lea 9.0 05-10-1981
Dennis Martinez 9.0 07-28-1991
Washington Nationals No-Hitters
Name IP Date
Jordan Zimmermann 9.0 09-28-2014
Max Scherzer 9.0 06-20-2015
Max Scherzer 9.0 10-03-2015
Bold = Perfect Game
Montreal Expos Cycle Hitters
Name Inn. Date
Tim Foli 9.0 04-21-1976
Chris Speier 9.0 07-20-1978
Tim Raines 9.0 08-16-1987
Rondell White 13.0 06-11-1995
Brad Wilkerson 9.0 06-24-2003
Vladimir Guerrero 9.0 09-14-2003
Washington Nationals Cycle Hitters
Name Inn. Date
Brad Wilkerson 9.0 04-06-2005
Cristian Guzman 9.0 08-28-2008
Trea Turner 9.0 04-25-2017
Trea Turner 9.0 07-23-2019
Bold = Natural Cycle
Montreal Expos Cy Young Winners
Year Name Position
1997 Pedro Martinez RHP
Washington Nationals Cy Young Winners
Year Name Position
2016 Max Scherzer RHP
Montreal Expos MVP Winners
Year Name Position
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals MVP Winners
Year Name Position
2015 Bryce Harper OF
Montreal Expos Rookies of the Year
Year Name Position
1970 Carl Morton P
1977 Andre Dawson OF
Washington Nationals Rookies of the Year
Year Name Position
2012 Bryce Harper OF
Washington Nationals Retired Numbers
# Name Position
8 Gary Carter C
10 Andre Dawson OF
10 Rusty Staub 1B-OF
11 Ryan Zimmerman 3B
30 Tim Raines OF
42 Jackie Robinson 2B
Montreal Expos Batting Champions
Year Name #
1982 Al Oliver .331
1986 Tim Raines .334
Washington Nationals Batting Champions
Year Name #
2021 Trea Turner * .328
* Also Played With Dodgers
Montreal Expos ERA Champions
Year Name #
1982 Steve Rogers 2.40
1991 Dennis Martinez 2.39
1997 Pedro Martinez 1.90
Washington Nationals ERA Champions
Year Name #
None n/a n/a
Montreal Expos Home Run Champions
Year Name #
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals Home Run Champions
Year Name #
2015 Bryce Harper 42
Montreal Expos Strikeout Champions
Year Name #
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals Strikeout Champions
Year Name #
2014 Stephen Strasburg 242
2016 Max Scherzer 284
2017 Max Scherzer 268
2018 Max Scherzer 300
Montreal Expos Wild Cards
Year Record Manager
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals Wild Cards
Year Record Manager
2019 93-69 Dave Martinez
Montreal Expos East Division Titles
Year Record Manager
1981 60-48 Dick Williams
Jim Fanning
1994 74-40 Felipe Alou
Washington Nationals East Division Titles
Year Record Manager
2012 98-64 Davey Johnson
2014 96-66 Matt Williams
Montreal Expos N.L. Pennants
Year Record Manager
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals N.L. Pennants
Year Record Manager
2019 93-69 Dave Martinez
Montreal Expos World Championships
Year Opponent M.V.P.
None n/a n/a
Washington Nationals World Championships
Year Opponent M.V.P.
None n/a n/a
Montreal Expos Team Statistics Tool
Includes Hitting, Pitching & Fielding Stats
 
Washington Nationals Team Statistics Tool
Includes Hitting, Pitching & Fielding Stats
Montreal Expos Forum
Washington Nationals Forum
Washington Nationals News
Washington Nationals / Montreal Expos Attendance
Washington Nationals / Montreal Expos Managers
Team-vs-Team Wins & Losses
Washington Nationals Franchise Facts At-A-Glance
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baseball almanac fast facts

On July 30, 1978, the Washington Nationals (who were the Montreal Expos at the time) set a team record for hits in a game with twenty-eight versus the Atlanta Braves.

The Nationals (who were the Expos at the time) set a team record for runs scored during an inning on May 7, 1997, with thirteen in the sixth inning versus the San Francisco Giants.

Did you know that the Montreal Expos Opening Day team record for attendance was set on April 15, 1977, at a game where 57,592 fans watched them lose to the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2? What will the Washington Nationals Opening Day team record for attendance be? Stay tuned....