I posted this back in October, but with the way the Nats are playing, and the interest that the recent 1924 throwback uniforms generated, I figured why not repost. One thing I noticed is that while I thought 2012 would be their first winning season, I wasn’t so bold as to proclaim it loudly. And I certainly didn’t expect them to win the NL. Of course, that was before the 2nd wild card, and Gio, and Bryce being the first 19 year old in forever to actually hit in the bigs. Now something as simple as being better than .500 seems to be shooting a little low…
2012 should be a big year for the Nationals. Many believe that it will be their first winning season in Washington. And if it is, that would be quite a coincidence, as it would be exactly 100 years after Washington baseball’s FIRST first winning season. The Senators finished 91-61 that year, for their first winning season ever, in their 12th season of existence. Coming in 2nd in the AL, it was also the first time they finished higher than 6th place out of 8.
It wasn’t just the first winning season in “modern” baseball in Washington,
which most people put at the turn of the last century. The Washington Statemen/Senators, who played from 1891-1899, never had a winning season. Neither did the original Washington Nationals, who existed from 1886-1889. (For a little background on those teams, click here). The two Washington teams that played in 1884 were under .500 as well. So 1912 really was the first winning season in Washington major league baseball.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the first winning season, and in hopes of the first one for this franchise in this city, it makes sense for the Nats to honor them the best way a baseball team can – by wearing throwbacks. The first picture, on the right hand side of the screen, are the 1912 uniforms, pretty good, although I’ve never been a fan of the “nothing on the front” jerseys.
Posted by Charlie 
