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48-667: Affiliated with the Washington Senators of the American League , the Superior Senators were a charter team in the newly resurrected Nebraska State League, which had been dormant for 18 years. The After the 1958 season, the league reduced its membership from eight to six teams as the Senators and Lexington Red Sox were disbanded. The Nebraska State League itself disbanded after the 1959 season. With

96-657: A Major League Baseball team based in Washington, D.C. . It was one of the American League 's eight charter franchises, founded in 1901 . The team relocated to the Twin Cities in 1961 , becoming the Minnesota Twins . The team was officially named the "Senators" during 1901 – 1904 , the Nationals during 1905 – 1955 and the Senators again during 1956 – 1960 , but nonetheless was commonly referred to as

144-639: A ground ball that took another bad hop over Lindstrom's head. It was the only World Series triumph for the franchise during their 60-year tenure in Washington. The Senators repeated as American League champions in 1925 but lost the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates . After Johnson's retirement in 1927 , the Senators endured a few losing seasons until returning to contention in 1930 , this time with Johnson as manager. But after

192-487: A city population of 3,000, the Superior Senators played in, by far, the smallest city in the eight team Nebraska State league. The season ticket sales for the Superior Senators first season of 1956 was 559 and the average attendance at each home game was over 700. Superior had previously hosted another Nebraska State League team, the Superior Brickmakers, who played from 1910 to 1914. The Brickmakers captured

240-770: A half-century until the move of the Boston Braves to Milwaukee in 1952, the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore, becoming the new Baltimore Orioles in 1954, and the Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City in 1955. The American League's claim to major league status was disputed, but had to be recognized after the Boston Red Sox defeated the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series held in late 1903. When Ban Johnson changed his league's name to

288-561: A hapless elderly D.C. fan being given a "Faustian" or "devil's bargain," selling his soul to transform the team by becoming a young powerful new Senators player (played in the movie version by heart-throb leading-man actor Tab Hunter ) and lead the lowly team to a pennant versus the Yankees. In 1954, Senators farm system director Ossie Bluege signed a 17-year-old Harmon Killebrew . Because of his $ 30,000 signing bonus, an enormous amount for that time, baseball rules required Killebrew to spend

336-420: A losing ball club. Over his 21-year Hall of Fame career, Johnson, nicknamed the "Big Train", won 417 games and struck out 3,508 batters, a major-league record that stood for more than 50 years. In 1911 , the Senators' wooden ballpark burned to the ground, and they replaced it with a modern concrete-and-steel structure on the same location. First called National Park, it later was renamed Griffith Stadium , after

384-539: A record of 18 wins and 6 losses. The league was revived in 1892. Columbus won the title with a record of 46 wins and 26 losses. The league shut down on July 11, 1892. The league was revived on May 17, 1893 and had planned a schedule before being shut down on June 20, 1893. In a meeting in Detroit, Michigan , on November 20, 1893, the Western League reorganized again. From this point forward, this version of

432-856: The Cincinnati Reds . After the 1894 season, when Comiskey's contract with the Reds was up, he decided to take his chances at ownership. He bought the Sioux City team and transferred it to Saint Paul, Minnesota . These two men were among the cornerstones of the American League. After the 1899 season, the National League announced it was dropping four of its franchises, reducing its membership from 12 to 8 teams. The franchises that were eliminated were Baltimore , Cleveland , Louisville and Washington . This afforded an opportunity for

480-628: The Devil and becomes slugger Joe Hardy, the "long ball hitter the Senators need that he'd sell his soul for" (as spoken by him in a throwaway line near the beginning of the drama). His hitting prowess enables the Senators to win the American League pennant over the then-dominant Yankees. One of the songs from the musical, "Heart", is frequently played at baseball games. The (expansion) Washington Senators were mentioned several times in Tom Clancy's book Without Remorse . As they performed even worse than

528-629: The Midwestern United States . The 1893 incarnation of the league hired Ban Johnson as president in 1894. In 1900, Johnson renamed it the American League and declared that it was now a major league , intending to compete against the older National League of 1876, which was centered in the American Northeast states. Before its incarnation in November 1893, the Western League existed in various forms. The League

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576-473: The National Baseball Hall of Fame . When the American League declared itself a major league in 1901 , the new league moved the previous minor Western League 's Kansas City Blues franchise to Washington, a city that had been abandoned by the older National League a year earlier. The new Washington club, like the old one, was called the "Senators" (the second of three franchises to hold

624-703: The South Side . However, the new team in Chicago was subject to rules from the NL. The Cubs (then called the Orphans) were allowed to draft two players each year from the AL team. Comiskey was also barred from using the name "Chicago" in all of his dealings, so he cleverly revived the old moniker "White Stockings" from the days of Cap Anson for his team. The AL also transferred the Grand Rapids team to Cleveland for

672-473: The "Birds") of the International League where they had been consistent champions since the 1910s. The additional competition in the same League for Maryland and Virginia area baseball fans added to the complexion around the nation's capital for the rest of the 1950s as the new " Baltimore Orioles " swiftly built their team prospects with astute trades and farm system output during the rest of

720-463: The 1900 season. After the 1900 season, the American League declined to renew its membership in the "National Agreement" and declared itself a "major league". It began raiding NL team rosters and attempting to compete directly against the NL. The franchises in the smaller cities of Buffalo , Indianapolis , Kansas City and Minneapolis were replaced by the larger, more important urban centers of Baltimore , Boston , Philadelphia and Washington for

768-558: The 1901 season. The second and third of those cities already had NL teams. Next, Milwaukee moved to St. Louis in 1902. Baltimore , having fallen into disarray, was replaced by New York City in 1903, for the reason that the new league would not be totally respected and have "major league" status without a team in the nation's largest city. The American League team lineup settled on five franchises in cities that already had NL teams (Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis) and two in cities that had been recently abandoned by

816-576: The 36-year-old Johnson, the Senators captured their first American League pennant, two games ahead of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees. The Senators faced John McGraw 's heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series . Despite Johnson losing both of his starts, the Senators kept pace to tie the Series at three games apiece and force Game 7. The Senators trailed the Giants 3–1 in

864-717: The American League before the 1900 season, another "Western League" was immediately formed to function on the supporting minor-league level. This league operated from 1900 to 1937 and later from 1947 to 1958. Its franchises were located west of the Mississippi River , in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains states. In its post-World War II incarnation, the later Western League included clubs in Denver, Colorado ; Des Moines, Iowa ; Omaha, Nebraska ; and Colorado Springs, Colorado . Each of those cities later served as

912-434: The NL (Cleveland and Washington), but only one in a city remaining from the former Western League lineup of 1899 ( Detroit ). Four of the other 1899 Western League cities now host Major League Baseball today (Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul jointly), while three do not (Buffalo, Grand Rapids, and Indianapolis, but all have minor league teams). This membership list for both leagues lasted in place for nearly

960-505: The Senators are remembered more for their many years of mediocrity and futility, including six last-place finishes in the 1940s and 1950s. Joe Judge , Cecil Travis , Buddy Myer , Roy Sievers and Eddie Yost were other notable Senators players whose careers were spent in obscurity due to the team's lack of success. The Washington Senators had an overall win–loss record of 4,223–4,864–101 (.465) during their 60 years in Washington, D.C.. Six former Washington Senators players were elected to

1008-406: The Senators finished third in 1931 and 1932 , behind powerful Philadelphia and New York, Griffith fired Johnson, a victim of high expectations. For his new manager in 1933 , Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him in 1924, and 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin became player-manager. The change worked, as Washington posted a 99–53 record and swept to the pennant seven games ahead of

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1056-432: The Senators throughout its history (and unofficially as the "Grifs" during Clark Griffith 's tenure as manager during 1912 – 1920 ). The name "Nationals" appeared on the uniforms for only two seasons, and then was replaced with the "W" logo. However, the names "Senators," "Nationals" and shorter "Nats" were used interchangeably by fans and media throughout the team's history; in 2005 , the latter two names were revived for

1104-459: The WL has continued in existence, eventually becoming the modern-day American League . In 1894, Ban Johnson was hired as president of the new league, and remained so until his retirement nearly 35 years later. Johnson, a Cincinnati -based newspaper reporter, had been recommended by his friend Charles Comiskey , a former major league star with the St. Louis Browns in the 1880s, who was then managing

1152-683: The Washington Hall of Stars display at Nationals Park (previously they were listed at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium ). So are Ossie Bluege , George Case , Joe Judge , George Selkirk , Roy Sievers , Cecil Travis , Mickey Vernon and Eddie Yost . The Senators did not retire any numbers during their tenure in Washington D.C., though have had two players who played for the franchise in both Washington and Minnesota retired, that being Harmon Killebrew's #3, who played in Washington for seven seasons and Jim Kaat's #36, who played in Washington for two seasons. The longtime competitive struggles of

1200-613: The Western circuit to expand into those vacated cities. In a meeting in Chicago on October 11, 1899, the Western League renamed itself the American League. It was still a minor league, subject to the National Agreement , and generally subordinate to the older National League of Major League Baseball , founded 1876. The NL gave permission to the new AL to put a team in Chicago that year, and Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to

1248-662: The Yankees. But the Senators lost the World Series to the Giants in five games, and after that, the city would not host another World Series until 2019 , when the Washington Nationals , its current National League team, defeated the Houston Astros . The Senators sank all the way to seventh in 1934 . Attendance plunged as well, and after the season Griffith traded Cronin to the Red Sox for journeyman shortstop Lyn Lary and $ 225,000 in cash (even though Cronin

1296-401: The bottom of the 12th inning, Muddy Ruel hit a high foul ball near home plate . The Giants' catcher, Hank Gowdy , dropped his protective face mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat. On the next pitch , Ruel hit a double and, then proceeded to score the winning run when Earl McNeely hit

1344-555: The city of Washington and leased it back, leading to speculation that the team was planning to move, as the Boston Braves , St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics had done in the early 1950s, and the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers would do later in the decade. After an early flirtation with San Francisco (with a "Triple A" Pacific Coast League team, the San Francisco Seals ), by 1957 Griffith

1392-538: The current National League franchise that had previously played in Montreal . For a time, from 1911 to 1933, the Senators were one of the more successful franchises in Major League Baseball . The team's rosters included Baseball Hall of Fame members Goose Goslin , Sam Rice , Joe Cronin , Bucky Harris , Heinie Manush and one of the greatest players and pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson . But

1440-574: The decade, finally becoming pennant contenders by 1960 . They continued their winning ways as one of the most dominant teams in professional baseball for the next two decades overpowering even the hapless third Senators franchise in 1961–1971. The Senators were also the butt of many nationwide jokes during the 1950s, with the debut and running of a Broadway musical play in 1955 in New York City called " Damn Yankees " (based on an earlier best-selling novel and later movie in 1958), which followed

1488-490: The eighth inning of Game 7, when Bucky Harris hit a routine ground ball to third which hit a pebble and took a bad hop over Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom . Two runners scored on the play, tying the score at three. In the ninth inning with the game tied, 3–3, Harris brought in an aging Johnson to pitch on just one day of rest – he had been the losing pitcher in Game 5. Johnson held the Giants scoreless into extra innings. In

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1536-408: The hearts of his countrymen". The 1904 Senators lost 113 games, and the next season the team's owners, trying for a fresh start, changed the team's name to the "Nationals" (and occasionally nicknamed the "Nats"). However, the "Senators" name remained widely used by fans and journalists — in fact, the two names were used interchangeably — although "Nats" remained the team's nickname. The Senators name

1584-435: The league championship in 1911. Hall of Fame pitcher Dazzy Vance played for Superior in 1913. The Senators hosted home minor league games at Brodstone Field . The ballpark had a dirt infield in the era. Built in 1948, with a seating capacity of 1,500, the field is still in use today and is located at 648 East 7th Street, Superior, Nebraska. Washington Senators (1901%E2%80%9360) The Washington Senators were

1632-481: The man who was named Washington manager in 1912 and whose name became almost synonymous with the ball club: Clark Griffith . A star pitcher with the National League's Chicago Colts in the 1890s, Griffith jumped to the AL in 1901 and became a successful manager with the Chicago White Sox and New York Highlanders . Walter Johnson blossomed in 1911 with 25 victories, although the Senators still finished

1680-586: The name). Jim Manning moved with the Kansas City club to manage the first Senators team. The Senators began their history as a consistently losing team, at times so inept that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Charley Dryden famously joked, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," a play on the famous line in Henry Lee III 's eulogy for President George Washington as "First in war, first in peace, and first in

1728-755: The new Minnesota Twins ; the expansion Senators would become the Texas Rangers in 1972 , and baseball would not return to the city until 2005 , when the former Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals . Stan Coveleski Joe Cronin Ed Delahanty Rick Ferrell Lefty Gomez Goose Goslin * Clark Griffith * Bucky Harris * Whitey Herzog Walter Johnson * Heinie Manush * Sam Rice * Al Simmons George Sisler Tris Speaker Early Wynn Cronin, Goslin, Griffith, Harris, Johnson, Killebrew and Wynn are listed on

1776-494: The pennant on September 20, 1886 with a record of 54 wins and 26 losses. In 1887, the league was dominated by Topeka 's Golden Giants , a high-priced collection of major leaguers, including Bug Holliday , Jim Conway , Perry Werden and Jimmy Macullar , which won the title by 15½ games on October 2, 1887. The league returned in February 1888, but dissolved after a partial season on June 21, 1888. Denver had finished first with

1824-581: The perennially cellar-dwelling St. Louis Browns from controversial but enterprising owner Bill Veeck and moving them 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington to the Chesapeake Bay port city. In the spring of 1954 , the Browns moved to a newly renovated and modernized Memorial Stadium on the site of their former northeastern city collegiate football bowl, and replacing the earlier minor league level "Triple A" "Orioles" (also sometimes nicknamed

1872-562: The rest of 1954 with the Senators as a "bonus baby." Killebrew bounced between the Senators and the minor leagues for the next few years. He became the Senators' regular third baseman in 1959 , leading the League with 42 home runs and earning a starting spot on the American League All-Star team. Clark Griffith died in 1955 , and his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency. He sold Griffith Stadium to

1920-428: The season in seventh place. In 1912 , the Senators improved dramatically, as their pitching staff led the league in team earned run average and in strikeouts . Johnson won 33 games while teammate Bob Groom added another 24 wins to help the Senators finish the season in second place behind the Boston Red Sox . The Senators continued to perform respectably in 1913 with Johnson posting a career-high 35 victories, as

1968-406: The team once again finished in second place, this time to the Philadelphia Athletics . Starting in 1916 , the Senators settled back into mediocrity. Griffith, frustrated with the owners' penny-pinching, bought a controlling interest in the team in 1920 and stepped down as field manager a year later to focus on his duties as team president. The minority interest was owned by William Richardson, who

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2016-516: The team they replaced, they were the subject of an updated joke: "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and still last in the American League." When the current Nationals had their own struggles, the joke was updated once again, this time to "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the National League." Western League (original) The Western League was the name of several minor league baseball leagues that operated between 1885 and 1900. These leagues were focused mainly in

2064-668: The team were fictionalized in the 1954 book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant , which became the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees and the 1958 film starring then "heart-throb" leading-man actor Tab Hunter . The plot centers on Joe Boyd, a middle-aged real estate salesman and long-suffering fan of the Washington Senators baseball club. In this musical comedy-drama of the Faust legend , Boyd sells his soul to

2112-412: Was content to remain in the background. The shares passed to his twin brother George on his death in 1942, and then to George's son William Richardson II in 1948. William Richardson II sold his shares to an unrelated party in 1949. In 1924 , Griffith named 27-year-old second baseman Bucky Harris player-manager. Led by the hitting of Goose Goslin and Sam Rice , and a solid pitching staff headlined by

2160-663: Was courting Minneapolis–St. Paul in the Upper Midwest state of Minnesota , a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer before agreeing to relocate. The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960 , in the face of the Continental League 's proposed Minnesota franchise, a deal was reached. The Senators moved and were replaced with an expansion Washington Senators team for 1961 . The old Washington Senators became

2208-563: Was formed as a minor league on February 11, 1885. The original clubs were located in Indianapolis ‚ Kansas City ‚ Cleveland ‚ Milwaukee ‚ Toledo and Omaha / Keokuk, Iowa . The season began on April 18, 1885 with the Indianapolis Hoosiers winning the first title with a record of 27–4–1. The league then folded on June 15, 1885. The league was reformed on January 18, 1886, to play an 80-game schedule. Denver won

2256-490: Was married to Griffith's niece, Mildred). Despite the return of Harris as manager in 1935–42 and 1950–54, Washington remained mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only in the talent-thin war years of 1943 and 1945 . In the fall of 1953 , the second major baseball franchise shift of the mid-20th century took place (after the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1952), with long suffering Baltimore civic and business interests purchasing

2304-462: Was officially restored in 1956 . The club continued to lose, despite the addition of a talented 19-year-old pitcher named Walter Johnson in 1907 . Raised in rural Kansas , Johnson was a tall, lanky man with long arms who, using a leisurely windup and unusual sidearm delivery, threw the ball faster than anyone had ever seen. Johnson's breakout year was 1910 , when he struck out 313 batters, posted an earned-run average of 1.36 and won 25 games for

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