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Washington Nationals PDF

51 Pages·2014·8.019 MB·English
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WASHINGTON NATIONALS by Ben Goessling An Imprint of Abdo Publishing www.abdopublishing.com www.abdopublishing.com Published by Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing. Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota 052014 092014 Editor: Matt Tustison Copy Editor: Nicholas Cafarelli Interior Design and Production: Craig Hinton Cover Design: Craig Hinton Photo Credits: Nick Wass/AP Images, cover, title, 44; Lawrence Jackson/AP Images, 4, 43 (middle); Kevork Djansezian/AP Images, 7; Lawrence Jackson/ AP Images, 8; Gene J. Puskar/AP Images, 11; Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images, 12; AP Images, 15, 42 (top); RH/AP Images, 16; Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images, 18, 21; AP Images, 22, 42 (middle); Paul Sakuma/AP Images, 25, 42 (bottom); Craig Fujii/AP Images, 26; Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images, 29; David Zalubowski/AP Images, 30, 43 (top); Paul Chiasson/AP Images, 33; Haraz Ghanbari/AP Images, 34; Paul Connors/ AP Images, 37; Jacquelyn Martin/AP Images, 38, 47; Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images, 41, 43 (bottom) Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933087 Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goessling, Ben, 1983- Washington Nationals / by Ben Goessling. p. cm. — (Inside MLB) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-62403-489-3 1. Washington Nationals (Baseball team)—History—Juvenile Literature. I. Title. GV863.W18G64 2015 796.357’6409753—dc23 2014933087 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Chapter .............B aseball Returns to Washington, 4 2 Chapter .............B aseball Arrives in Montreal, 12 3 Chapter .............A New Stadium, and New Hope, 18 4 Chapter .............Heartbreak and Good-Byes, 26 5 Chapter .............A New City, and New Hope, 34 Timeline, 42 Quick Stats, 44 Quotes and Anecdotes, 45 Glossary, 46 For More Information, 47 Index, 48 About the Author, 48 1 CHAPTER BASEBALL RETURNS TO WASHINGTON I n April 2005, big-league baseball was back in the nation’s capital for the first time in 34 years. After the 1960 season and then again after the 1971 season, major league teams left Washington DC. They went to Minnesota and Texas, respectively, and became the Twins and the Rangers. Washington did not have their first season in Wash- a baseball team from 1972 ington. The team had traded to 2004. In 2005, however, away many of its best players the Montreal Expos moved during its final years in Mon- to Washington and became treal. In fact, Major League the Washington Nationals. Baseball (MLB) had planned Baseball had returned to to remove the Expos in 2001. Washington. MLB owned the team when it The Nationals were not moved to Washington and oper- expected to be very good in ated it on a small budget. When LLiivvaann HHeerrnnaannddeezz hheellppeedd tthhee NNaattiioonnaallss ssttaarrtt qquuiicckkllyy iinn 22000055——tthhee ffrraanncchhiissee’’ss ffiirrsstt yyeeaarr iinn WWaasshhiinnggttoonn.. BBuutt tthhee tteeaamm ssttrruugggglleedd llaattee iinn tthhee sseeaassoonn aanndd ddiidd nnoott mmaakkee tthhee ppllaayyooffffss.. 5 BASEBALL RETURNS TO WASHINGTON the Nationals started the 2005 of the season. Pitcher Livan season, they played with a ros- Hernandez, right fielder Jose ter made up largely of castoffs Guillen, and first baseman and a few rising young players. Nick Johnson were among the The team still gave its new city players who lifted the team. a thrill, though. Washington led the NL East The Nationals had the sec- Division by 2 1/2 games at the ond-best record in the National All-Star break. It looked as if League (NL) after the first half the Nationals had a chance to become the first Washington FFFiiiinnnddiiiinnnggg aaa HHHooommmeee team to make the postseason MMMLLLBBB aaannnnnnooouuunnnccceeeddd aafffttteeerrr ttthhheee 222000000444 since 1933. They also had a sseeaassoonn tthhaatt tthhee MMoonnttrreeaall EExxppooss chance to become the first team wwoouulldd mmoovvee ttoo WWaasshhiinnggttoonn aanndd in franchise history to reach the bbbeeecccooommmeee ttthhheee NNNaaatttiiiooonnnaaalllsss... TTThhheee ttteeeaaammm bbeeggaann ttoo ooppeerraattee iittss ooffffffiicceess iinnn playoffs since 1981. That year, aaa tttrrraaaiiillleeerrr ooouuutttsssiiidddeee RRRFFFKKK SSStttaaadddiiiuuummm iiinnn the Expos came up a game short WWaasshhiinnggttoonn.. HHoowweevveerr,, tthhee mmoovvee nnneeeaaarrrlllyyy fffeeellllll aaapppaaarrrttt wwwhhheeennn ccciiitttyyy cccooouuunnnccciiilll of making the World Series. mmmeeemmmbbbeeerrrsss iiinnn WWWaaassshhhiiinnngggtttooonnn ccchhhaaannngggeeeddd In the second half of the tthhee ppllaann ttoo ppaayy fffoorr aa nneeww ssttaaddiiuumm.. TThhee tteeaamm sshhuutt ddoowwnn iittss ooffffiicceess aanndd season, however, the Nationals aaannnnnnooouuunnnccceeeddd ttthhhaaattt iiittt wwwooouuulllddd cccooonnnsssiiidddeeerrr collapsed. They started the year llooookkiinngg ffoorr aa nneeww cciittyy iinn wwhhiicchh ttoo 50–31 but finished it 31–50. In ppllaayy.. IInn DDeecceemmbbeerr 22000044,, tthhoouugghh,, tthhee ccciiitttyyy cccooouuunnnccciiilll aaapppppprrrooovvveeeddd aaa ppplllaaannn tttooo pppaaayyy the process, they lost the divi- ffoorr tthhee ssttaaddiiuumm.. TThhee NNaattiioonnaallss wweerree sion lead and a chance to win ssseeettt tttooo bbbeeegggiiinnn ttthhheeeiiirrr fffiiirrrsssttt ssseeeaaasssooonnn iiinnn DDDCCC... the wild-card playoff spot. In Washington’s Jose Guillen runs the bases in 2005. Guillen’s strong play was one of the reasons the Nationals finished a surprising 81–81 that year. 6 WASHINGTON NATIONALS 7 BASEBALL RETURNS TO WASHINGTON 8 WASHINGTON NATIONALS

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