The Washington Nationals baseball team belongs to the National League's Eastern Division. The Nationals are an expansion team formed in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. They were the first major league team to ever play in Canada, but the team was not very successful while they played in Canada. They ultimately moved to Washington, D.C. in 2005 and became the Washington Nationals.
For the first three years in Washington, the Nationals played in RFK Stadium. They moved to newly-built Nationals Park this year. The Nationals are one of only four teams that have never played in a World Series. They did win a division championship and advanced to the playoffs, but got no further.
The best year in franchise history was the 1981 season. But the season was marred by a player's strike that split the season into two halves. Many considered the Expos to be champions that year, though unofficially. They also had the best record in baseball in 1994-- when another strike ended the season prematurely.
When the Expos moved to Washington, they followed in the footsteps of a number of previous teams who played in Washington. As they were looking for a new name, many thought they should revive the Senators name, but this met with dissent from those who said Washington, D.C. had no senators and thus shouldn’t use the name. The Texas Rangers still owned the rights to the name Senators as well, so the Expos became the Washington Nationals. The Nationals are owned by Ted Lerner. Their manager is Manny Acta, and the general manager is Jim Bowden.
