New name and logo unveiled today!

[ July 18, 2005, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

The logo is alright but I'm glad to see they went with the old Senators cap with the script W -- although this time in both blue and red....I'm sure they will be selling like crazy around the DC area in the coming weeks....in addition to the standard white and gray uniforms the Nationals will also have a red "alternate jersey" which supposedly will be worn only on Sundays.

GO NATS!

~Joe

A fight broke out at the press conference. Three sports in four days...how admirable!
The Link

The article at the Washington Post website says:

This hardly qualifies as a fight and shouldn't be remotely compared to either the NBA incident or the Clemson-South Carolina incident.

Thanks for putting a positive spin on that curveball, JIP. This is exciting and I wish them well. For some reason, my Dad always liked the Senators when they were around, even though we lived near Chicago and I don't think he ever saw them play! The last time I was in RFK Stadium was in '73 for a Grateful Dead concert. :cool:

Also glad to see they kept the "W" script cap. Those were classics. Looking forward to seeing the uniform...I'll go see them play when they come to Miami....

With some people calling them the Nats (for short), I can see bad play leading to Natty Light jokes.

I really do not like this team name. Nationals. Geez, what will the next team in the American league be called? The Americans? frown

Actually near the end, Monuments became the team name I would've liked best. ESPN.com's page 2 had a fan entry contest for new logo/uni and one that they showed which I liked the best paid homage to both the Senators and Expos. The cab used to Montreal logo upside down to make it look like a W, and on the uni had an upside down W (which the 2nd incarnation Senators and now the Natty Lights are using) as an M for Monuments.

ESPN's Phil Rogers assesses the likelihood of Nationals success?....he makes some good points but unfortunately also states in reason #5 that "the Bush presidency will be a good thing for the new franchise." :confused:

~Joe

His rationale for #5 is stupid. So Bush and the administration will attend games with their friends like Nolan Ryan and it will get written up by Larry King. Woo-hoo. Is that going to draw fans to the game if the team sucks and whoever ends up owning them is as well-liked as, say, Daniel Snyder?

Anyway, someone needs to keep tabs on when individual game tickets go on sale so we can arrange a gathering for a Phils-Nats game.

I don't know about the next one, but how about one of the first ones ?

I'm not sure which DC baseball thread to post this :confused: , but this is the tentative interleague schedule for the Nationals in 2005:

May 20-22 at Toronto
Jun 07-09 vs. Oakland
Jun 10-12 vs. Seattle
Jun 13-15 at Anaheim
Jun 17-19 at Texas
Jun 24-26 vs. Toronto

Maybe not a done deal.

The DC City Council voted yesterday to include an amendment in this deal that dictates the new
ballpark must be at least 1/2 financed with private funds.

Stay tuned.

Link to response on latest developments from MLB... (hope this works)
MLB DC Link

Reading the articles at the Washington Post website...wow. It seems like this woman who is the chairman of City Council (and why don't they describe her as "chairwoman" anyway?) has been double-dealing and conniving for some time, and she finally found a way to kill the deal. It seems she's being very disingenuous in saying she supports baseball in DC but is trying to protect the taxpayers.

Now it's less than 4 months until Opening Day 2005 -- where the hell are the Expos going to play if they don't somehow settle this by the 31st?

This article at ESPN.com talks about how MLB would make more money by keeping the Expos for 2 more years and then contracting the franchise, rather than selling it.

[ December 15, 2004, 06:53 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Puerto Rico or Montreal will take this lost team home. Let's just make them North America's team and have them tour like the Globetrotters.

No stinkin' way are you coming back into this house. You treat me like dirt all these years with your psychological abuse and false promises, turn your back on me after I brought everything I could to our relationship, steal away in the middle of the night in a drunken stupor and shack up with some two-bit floozy in another city hundreds of miles away, and now that you've found that your so-called "new life" is not all it's cracked up to be, you want to come back to me, groveling with your tail between your legs like the dirty dog that you are? Ha! Forget about it! And just because I'm feeling a little vulnerable right now, what with my severe case of HDS (Hockey Deprivation Syndrome), doesn't mean you can just waltz right back in here and expect me to pretend that nothing ever happened, and that we're supposed to just pick up where we left off. No f-ing way, mister! Now get the hell of my doorstep or I'm calling the umps!

My therapist would be so proud of me right now.

Even though it's looking pretty bleak right now, I still remain optimistic that a deal will somehow still be worked out by Dec. 31st to keep the Nationals in DC....the bruised egos of Selig, Reinsdorf and Dupuy will continue to play a major role but in spite of the power and control that they obviously cherish I also can't imagine that these greedy bastards are going to turn away the 18,000+ full 81-game season ticket packages that have already been sold (not to mention the mini-plans and single game tickets that have yet to even go on sale) in order to have the team play in Montreal or Puerto Rico again in front of 7,000 fans a game.

Given MLB's statement today, though, it's readily apparent that they are NOT going to budge from their original agreement and since it's a virtual impossibility that some "knight in shining armor" is going to come forward with $150-200 million in the next TWO WEEKS (while not owning ANY part of the team) the only chance that remains appears to be convincing Linda Cropp to get off her broom and return to her original position in support of a publicly financed stadium while revoking the amendment that she literally introduced at the 11th hour last night (which she claims was NOT planned in advance and just "came to mind" after over 12 hours of debate ) and have another vote taken when the DC council meets again next Tuesday....I didn't think it was possible for anyone in DC to be hated more than Bush but this vile woman sure has given W a run for his money. :mad:

The only thing that is absolutely certain is that if this team does not play at RFK in 2005 then DC will NEVER get a baseball team again....as Councilman Jack Evans said, "I'm saddened that we can go so far in five years and step back so far in five minutes"....however, he also added, "I am very confident that we are going to be able to work through this and that we will have baseball here".

For all those true fans who have waited 33 years for baseball to return to DC along with keeping that idiot Peter Angelos from laughing and gloating (anymore than he probably already is today ) we can only hope that a deal will somehow still be resurrected in the next 15 days....lord knows, stranger things have happened involving DC politics at the last minute so I'm not giving up hope until the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve and the deal is officially dead -- which I still believe will NOT happen (fingers crossed ).

~Joe

[ December 15, 2004, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

As a Baltimore native, this is so fun to watch.

Washingtonians feel so entitled to everything and are so full of attitude. "We are big and rich and are the capital of the free world and deserve a team and anything else we want". No you don't.

If the Nationals do not materialize (I do think they will), consider it justified payback for Jack Kent Cooke (former Redskins owner) working hard to keep an NFL team out of Baltimore for many years, and for the efforts to lure the Orioles to Washington in the 70s, and for Abe Pollen moving the Bullets south in 1973. Sweet. Suck me hard DC. Especially if President Murderer Shrub supports having that team here.

Isn't that how it should be? Why should taxpayers have to finance a baseball stadium? It just boggles my mind how pro sports teams get away with that.

I was reading a big article in my morning paper out here, on how Portland, Oregon, is watching this with keen interest, and if this should fall through back east, it sounds like there is a proposal plan almost ready to go, to build a big new stadium in Portland.

I am really torn about all of this. Although I am excited at baseball in DC, I join my fellow citizens in being concerned about the huge tax payout we would have to make, with absolutely no guarantee that the team would stay here for a long enough time to make back the money.

Frankly, this thing has been handled badly from the start - MLB's basic extortion of the city to get the team; Anthony Williams failing to get the political support he needed for the deal before he "signed" it; the premature celebrations of our sports reporters and politicians, when they knew damn well the Council had to approve the deal, and support was shakey; the absolutely incomprehensible behavior of Linda Cropp, who has changed positions so often on this there is no way anyone can count on her support at all; and finally the petulant and childish behavior of MLB yesterday, which apparently thinks it can stamp its feet loud enough to get what it wants.

Darling, Peter Angelos has been far more successful at being a pure dick than Jack Kent Cooke ever managed, and without the charisma and excitement Cooke had either. Cooke, at least, was a character and made for good press, Angelos is just a sour puss. I mean, when was the last time one of Angelos' wives drove down a major city street with her "nephew" on the hood, clinging to the windsheild wipers?

Oh, and if you don't like DC, then why is it in your name? Afraid people wouldn't be sure where Baltimore was?

I'm hoping things fall through in D.C. There are too many teams bunched together in the northeast anyway.
But really, I'm hoping that Portland's stadium package lures the Expos/Nats to Oregon. Why? That's one more place the A's don't have to consider moving to in a couple yrs. Our stadium's lease is up in `07 and we might be going through a similar mess here. I think the Raiders f'd things up for us when they duped Oakland's City Council into funding their return to Oakland.

Taxpayers shouldn't have to finance sports teams. I applaud the D.C. Chairwomen who had the "balls" (for lack of a better term) to do what she did. She just made a lot of enemies.

Supporters of the Mayor's stadium plan (such as myszelf) can take action. Go to this site: Drop Cropp -- send an email to our duplicitous chairperson -- and get on board to recall her! "This is about more than baseball. These antics have once again made Washington, DC the laughingstock of the nation."

Bob Irsay is the only villain in that saga. Period.

From Jock Talk today.

I must disagree with at least the first part of that statment. The District of Columbia has had balanced budgets with surpluses for years. While other states (like wonderful neighbors maryland and Virginia) have had to cut spending, reduce services, and increase taxes over the past three years to balance budgets, DC has been able to reduce its income tax rate and still manage a surplus. DC has a AAA bond rating. The district is far from "severe financial straits". The statement simpley reflects the lack of knowledge about the District of Columbia that exists beyond the beltway.

now my rant is over.

>Bob Irsay is the only villain in that saga.
>Period.

true...he was a piece of shit. but jkk did not need to do what he did. a baltimore football team was hardly a threat to the redskins.

>Oh, and if you don't like DC, then why is it in >your name? Afraid people wouldn't be sure where >Baltimore was?

A dumb response. Its in my name because I live here now. And like it. But its fun to watch people like you whine and bitch after what DC did to Baltimore over the years sports wise.

If you don't know where Baltimore is, you are geographically illiterate.

Good News!!....every local DC station is reporting that at 10:45PM a stadium financing deal has been reached between Mayor Williams, Linda Cropp (guess she didn't want to go down in history after all as the person who killed baseball in DC forever) and MLB.

So the Nationals officially exist (whew)!....33 years without a team may seem awfully long for those fans who have been around here since '71 but the range of emotions over these past 6 days has been WAY too excrutiating....best of all the laughter and gloating that Peter Angelos was enjoying up the road in Bal'mer has finally come to an end.

Opening Day is April 4th in Philly and the first game at RFK is April 14th against the D'backs....guess this means that all the Nationals memorabilia for sale on Ebay commemorating a team that "never existed" just dropped a LOT in value. wink

GO NATS!!

~Joe

Good news...assuming someone doesn't somehow screw things up. wink

Considering we're talking about politicians and MLB brass, that may be wishful thinking, Joe.

Damn!

But Congratulations and Good luck to you in D.C.

Council Approves Deal to Finance Baseball Stadium

It's about time. wink Okay, you DCers, let's start planning the exchange visits between RFK and CBP for Phils-Nats!

Never too early to start planning....interesting that the Nats open AND close the season at Citizens Bank Park with games on April 4-7 and Sept 29-Oct 2....DC's only other trip to Philly is August 16-18.

Charlie Manuel's team visits RFK April 25-27, July 8-10 and Sept 2-4....since the Nationals don't play the Orioles in interleague play this year (which will be the last time that happens, no doubt) it looks like our games with the Phils will be the closest thing we have to a true rivalry in 2005....who knows, maybe the final series at CDP will be to determine the NL East Champ. wink

~Joe

[ December 21, 2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Recently it was reported here (and the schedule on the Phils' website still has these dates as well) that they flipped the July 8-10 games to Philadelphia and the Sept 29-Oct 2 series to DC. This was because that weekend in July the Red Sox are in Baltimore and it was decided they didn't want the conflict.

Three words for Cropp: "YOU GO GIRL". Should have held out a little longer for the "fiddy purr-cent" if you ask me. Let those moneybags wave in the wind a while longer.

DC could be the biggest catch out there for baseball. A whole new fandom could be attracted back to the sport. The region has one of the wealthiest black middle classes in the country, and some of it's biggest baseball fans. More than just Washingtonians will now follow the Nat.

Status of $18.5 million renovation of RFK

~Joe

Any guys in DC area want to go to some Nationals games this spring???

candlerman -- I'm definitely up for it!

If you guys do a Saturday or Sunday afternoon game, I would consider coming down.

And don't forget to mark your calender and come up to Philly on Thursday Aug. 18th - Gay Community Night is vs. Washington Nationals.

This goes for me too, particularly the two weekends the Phillies are in town in September (the weekend of Labor Day and the final weekend of the season).

That sounds like a great idea provided I'm not on vacation that week. Still up in the air on when and where we're going but I will definitely keep this in mind.

I'd definately like to go too.

already planning a weekend in mid May...13th and 14th when the Cubs are in town.

Been to all 30, gotta keep up with the changes

I'm always up to taking in a baseball game. Also, Pat125 comes to town quite a bit (and also is a huge baseball fan).

Someone needs to take charge and coordinate this. wink

Meanwhile, after the Reds decided not to bring him back for another season, Barry Larkin has retired and is joining the Nationals front office as a special assistant. He says he hopes to be a manager someday.

The Nationals opened their exhibition season by beating the Mets. Print the playoff tickets! wink

Meanwhile, when they open their season up here against the Phillies, the ceremonial first pitches will be thrown by a couple of players with Washington Senators ties.

The first ball for the opening game on April 4th will be thrown out by former Phil Del Unser, who was the rightfielder in the Senators' final game in RFK Stadium on September 30, 1971. I've got my 2 tickets for this one -- I could make the extra one available if there's some interest... wink

For the Nationals' first-ever night game on April 6th the first ball will be tossed by Mickey Vernon, who was born in this area -- 86 years ago! His career spanned 20 years, most of the time with the earlier Senators franchise that moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. For his career, he batted .286 with 2,495 hits in 2,409 games. He won batting titles while with Washington in 1946 and 1953, and holds the American League career records for most games, putouts, chances, assists and double plays for a first baseman.

I was reading at the Washington Post website that since the NL East and AL East will face each other in interleague play in 2006, the Nationals and Orioles will play each other. Yet to be determined is whether they'll play 2 series, one in each park, or just one. Also, the setup for scheduling interleague play hasn't been decided.

Also, assuming they retain it in its current form, the obvious move is to designate the O's and Nats as "natural" rivals, like the Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, etc. That would leave Baltimore's current "natural" rivals, the Phillies, without a playmate. wink

I read in today's paper that the Blue Jays and Phillies may become 'natural rivals,' as the Jays' former rival the Expos/Nationals will be paired with the Orioles. Having both lost their dancing partners, the Jays and Phillies may be forced together.