Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the East division of the National League (NL) in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadium; since 2008 their home stadium has been Nationals Park on South Capitol Street in Southeast D.C., near the Anacostia River.

As the Major League Baseball team in the U.S. capital, the Nationals are the successors to the Washington Senators, whose nickname was the Nationals (or the Nats for short). There were actually three Washington Senators teams — one from 1891 to 1899 that was in the National League, one from 1901 to 1960 that became the Minnesota Twins, and one from 1961 to 1971 that became the Texas Rangers.

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in 1969 as the Montreal Expos, the first major league team in Canada. They were based in Montreal, Quebec, and played their home games at Jarry Park Stadium and later in Olympic Stadium. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, the Expos won a division championship and made their only post-season appearance as a Montreal franchise, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies, 3–2, in the National League Division Series, but losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3–2, in the National League Championship Series.

The club had its highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the team had the best record in baseball. The team's subsequent shedding of players caused fan interest to drop off, and after the 2001 season, MLB considered revoking the team's franchise, along with either the Minnesota Twins or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After being purchased by MLB in 2002, the team was moved before the 2005 season to Washington, D.C. and renamed the Nationals, the first relocation since the third Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972.

The Nationals are one of two franchises, and the only one in the National League, that has never played in a World Series. (The American League's Seattle Mariners are the other).