The Washington Senators have a special place in baseball history as one of the most unsuccessful teams ever to play the game. The Nats (as headline writers had dubbed them by midcentury) got their start in 1901 thanks to Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson and endured 71 up-and-down seasons in the American League, which was created at the same time as the Washington ballclub. This huge work exhaustively chronicles the capricious history of the Washington Senators from the beginning to the end in 1971, with detailed information on the management and players who kept the organization going in good and bad times. Insights on how the team fit into the American League as well as statistics covering the team's records throughout its existence and the lifetime records of all members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who played with the Washington Senators are also provided.
One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Washington, DC, in 1901 as the Washington Senators. In 1905 the team changed its name to the Washington Nationals. But, fans and newspapers persisted in using the 'Senators' nickname. This title tells the story of this baseball team.
Heading into their ninth season, the expansion Washington Senators had never won more than 76 games in a season. New Senators owner Bob Short hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams to manage the team. Williams sparked the Senators to their only winning record for a Washington team since 1952. This book recounts that 1969 season in-depth.
Despite a long and uneven history, Major League Baseball's Washington franchises have hardly been the stuff of legend. However, in 1969, when new owner Bob Short coaxed batting legend and rookie manager Ted Williams out of retirement, these annual no-names climbed out of the depths and straight into the hearts of Washington baseball fans starving for a winner. Led by The Capital Punisher Frank Howard, whose tape-measure home runs sometimes seemed like optical illusions, the Senators simply won ball games with a determination rarely seen in D.C. environs. A Whole New Ballgame showcases the 1969 Senators' magical season, complete with updated player bios, new photographs, stats, game action, and stories. Foreword by Dick Bosman.
Washington Senators All-time Greats is one of the first books covering the first 101-year history of the senators/nationals before they were reborn with the transfer of the Montreal Expos to Washington in 2005. Hundreds of players appeared in Washington uniforms over the years, and from these, Mr. Willis selected an all-time team. In addition, all-star teams from five eras were chosen. Career highlights and statistics are included in each of the sixty-seven minibiographies. Photographs and anecdotes bring the players to life. The author also presents team records and summaries for each year and era and for the entire 101-year history covered. The last chapter of the book honors the best of senators managers and owners and the best Washington play-by-play announcer and sportswriter. Readers are invited to compare their selections with the authors. The book contains a foreword by senators great Frank Howard and is recommended by former Washington stars and managers Mickey Vernon and Jim Lemon.
"A biography of a baseball player whose path to stardom was cut short by war. Chapters cover his childhood years, high school and his professional career with the Chattanooga Lookouts, and the Washington Senators. Travis's time as a soldier is discussed,followed by chapters on postwar playing decline from 1945 to 1947 and his retirement from baseball"--Provided by publisher.
In "Damn Senators," Mark Judge has written a book that is at once a touching memoir of his grandfather, star first baseman for the old Washington Senators; a history of baseball in its golden age; and an exciting account of the Senators' 1924 World Series victory. As one advance reader says, "This book is not only for the dedicated fan but for anyone interested in human endurance and courage and the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." For decades, the Senators were the doormat of the American league, a disappointment to the presidents and ordinary people who flocked to Griffith Stadium to watch Walter Johnson, arguably the best pitcher of all time, "Goose" Goslin, one of the most feared hitters in baseball and another future Hall of Famer, and other great players labor year after year in vain. But then in 1924 everything unexpectedly came together. Team owner Clark Griffith made shrewd off-season deals for journeyman players who would have their best years. The aging Johnson, whom some sportswriters said was finished, put together a final great season. Bucky Harris, the "Boy Wonder," managed with a shrewdness that confounded those who thought he was too young for the job. And the author's grandfather, Joe Judge, the best fielding first baseman in the league and a lifetime .300 hitter, anchored the team. "Damn Senators" tells the dramatic story of how Washington managed to beat Babe Ruth and the Yankees, perennial champions of the American League, and then triumphed over the heavily favored New York Giants in what sports writers consider one of the most dramatic World Series in baseball history. In recreating this championship season, the author interweaves the story of Judge, son of an Irish immigrant who became a baseball legend not only for his steady play (he would eventually be inducted into RFK Stadium's Hall of Stars) but also because of what came after his retirement. In his later years, Judge was befriended by writer Douglas Wallop who made him the prototype for Joe Hardy, the lead character in his novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant," later fabulously successful as a stage play and movie under the title "Damn Yankees." Recalling "The Boys of Summer" and other classics, "Damn Senators" is filled with unforgettable portraits of baseball legends like the wily Griffith; the noble "Big Train" Johnson; Ty Cobb, the meanest player of the day; Al Schacht, "The Clown Prince of Baseball" whose comedy act played between innings; the Giants "Little Napoleon," John McGraw, and of course, the larger than life Babe Ruth. Mark Judge returns us to a golden past. But with a new baseball franchise rumored to be on its way back to the nation's capitol, he may be taking us back to the future as well."
“First in War, First in Peace . . . and Last in the American League.” Expressions such as this characterized the legend and lore of baseball in the nation's capital, from the pioneering Washington Nationals of 1859 to the Washington Senators, whose ignominious departure in 1971 left Washingtonians bereft of the national pastime for thirty-three years. This reflective book gives the complete history of the game in the D.C. area, including the 1924 World Series championship team and the Homestead Grays, the perennial Negro League pennant winners from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s who consistently outplayed the Senators. New chapters describe the present-day Nationals, who, in 2012, won the National League East led by the arms of Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg and the bats of Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and rookie Bryce Harper. The book is filled with the voices of current and former players, along with presidents, senators, and political commentators who call the team their own.
The Washington Senators have a special place in baseball history as one of the most unsuccessful teams ever to play the game. The Nats (as headline writers had dubbed them by midcentury) got their start in 1901 thanks to Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson and endured 71 up-and-down seasons in the American League, which was created at the same time as the Washington ballclub. This huge work exhaustively chronicles the capricious history of the Washington Senators from the beginning to the end in 1971, with detailed information on the management and players who kept the organization going in good and bad times. Insights on how the team fit into the American League as well as statistics covering the team's records throughout its existence and the lifetime records of all members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who played with the Washington Senators are also provided.
