The Nationals are just the latest in a string of failures the city of Washington has seen. It has been 80 years since an MLB club from the District has seen World Series Baseball, and now they will have to wait another season. Despite being the Preseason favorite to make the Fall Classic, Washington has missed the playoffs outright in 2013.

By James O’Hara (Nationals Correspondent via Citizens of Natstown.com – view website here): Follow @nextyeardc

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On Oct. 1, 1971 in the last game played by the Washington Senators at RFK Stadium, fans began tearing apart the stadium and field to claim souvenirs. Much like the current Washington Nationals are tearing apart Washington, D.C.

A lot is made of the Chicago Cubs (not winning a World Series since 1909 – or playing in one since 1945) and Boston Red Sox decades long pursuit of World Series titles and the pressure from it – before knocking the monkey from their back in 2004.

But that cannot compare to the pressure of being in town without baseball for 33 years – and having not played in the World Series at all since the Joe Cronin led 1933 squad lost.

From 1971 – 2004, Thirty-three World Series champions were crowned without a team from Washington, D.C. even entering the fight.

It is almost fitting in a way that the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, as you are talking about 1 of 2 teams in the MLB currently, that have never played (other is Seattle) in a World Series before. The Expos/Nats club have now completed their 45th season in the Majors without showing up in the “Fall Classic”.

The Rangers were once the Washington Senators. and it took them until 1996 to even see the Postseason, and then 2010 before the franchise made its 1st World Series Appearance. Texas would appear in the 2011 World Series as well, this time missing out a trophy by a solitary strike.  From 1961 – 1971, the 2nd Washington Senators only provided one winning season, as they finished 86 – 76 (4th in the AL East) under Manager Ted Williams.

After moving from Montreal to the nation’s capital, the newly christened Washington franchise quickly bowed under the pressure of 33 years of expectations.

In their first six seasons the Nationals, or as they once were on the front of their chest, Natinals, set a new precedent for futility, going a combined 412-559.

Washington, D.C. had given up on two baseball teams already and the Nationals were on track to make it a third.

Increasingly desperate, the Nationals chased fool’s gold in signing aging outfielder Jayson Werth to a seven-year $126 million deal in 2011.

Fans welcomed the blunder with chants of “Werthless” as the Nationals continued in their mire.

Jim Riggleman, the then-manager of the Nationals, was not a dumb man. He saw the sinking ship he had been anchored to and quickly navigated himself back to shore, quitting his job in the middle of the season.

The Nationals then turned to a man who had previously outworn his welcome in New York, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Los Angeles, Davey Johnson, to try to right the ship.

The Nationals still failed to finish .500.

The Nationals again made a series of moves to try to get some wind in their sails, each more preposterous than the last. Edwin Jackson was signed for $11 million and the Nationals shipped off four of their best prospects for command-less Gio Gonzalez.

Again their efforts were a failure. While they managed to make the playoffs they suffered in an embarrassing defeat in the 2012 NLDS to the Cardinals, after carrying a 6 – 1 lead into the 8th inning of Game #5.

With the playoff appearance expectations had reached a fever pitch. “World Series or bust” was the rallying cry.

The Nationals knew they needed to do something incredible or it would be 1971 all over again.

The hopelessness of their cause was evident in their offseason moves. Signing Dan Haren and Rafael Soriano to $13 and $28 million contracts respectively showed the fear that they could never make up for the time lost.

Their fears were realized as the team disappointed massively.

The Nationals know that their fate lies with those previous two D.C. baseball teams, cast off to the scrap heap and forgotten.

The Twins used to be the Washington Senators from 1901 – 1961. It took the franchise until 1924 to win the AL Pennant. Behind Walter Johnson and Manager Bucky Harris, they took home their 1st World Series Trophy. The club lost both of the 1925 and 1933 Trophies, before entering 28 years of futility, posting just 4 winning seasons during that time frame, ultimately moving to Minnesota after 1961. The Twins made it to the World Series in 1965, just four years removed from being in the District.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to our ‘Nationals Correspondent’ James O’Hara  for preparing today’s featured article.  James  is a Pro bono sports writer for Citizens of Natstown.

James is also a Web Editor and sports writer for Follow @nextyeardc 

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