04/18/24
November 22, 2004
Ladies and gentlemen: meet your 2005 Washington Senators Nationals.
posted by Prince Valium to baseball at 01:28 PM - 22 comments
If I'm not mistaken, it looks like the Nats will wear the old Senators caps with the scripted "W". That's a solace, but I would have liked to see them keep the name. I hope that they will at least retire Walter Johnson's and Harmon Killebrew's jerseys alongside those of Gary Carter and Tim Raines and any other Expos that have been honored over the years.
posted by Prince Valium at 01:47 PM on November 22, 2004
I also was hoping for Grays. But if they do wear the old stylized "W" caps that will be alright.
posted by Cabel at 01:58 PM on November 22, 2004
The National League Nationals? I, for one, think this is a crappy name.
posted by Joey Michaels at 02:03 PM on November 22, 2004
They killed the Expo's for THIS?
posted by Drood at 02:05 PM on November 22, 2004
This is their logo? 
Seems kinda generic, no? Oh well, I'll be attending games. Prolly just the Cub games though.
posted by NoMich at 02:19 PM on November 22, 2004
PrinceValium: if you read through the WaPo article you linked, you would have seen they discussed both the hat logo and franchise name.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:25 PM on November 22, 2004
Grays was a long shot at best, because I'm sure they didn't want to alienate a lot of the old Senators fans from the, ah, pre-civil-rights era. Them folks gots luxury box money, some of 'em. So Nats is fine with me, though yeah, that's a generic logo if ever I seen one. Like the cover of a subpar video game or something. And yeah, wouldn't it be great if they folded the history of the two teams together? There's no reason why they couldn't. I mean, it wasn't like they ever competed at the same time. And it'd be nice to see Harmon Killebrew and Steve Rogers and Andre Dawson (fuck Gary Carter. Oh, fine, whatever) all together on the Walter Johnson Wall of Fame.
posted by chicobangs at 02:29 PM on November 22, 2004
billsaysthis - huh?
posted by Prince Valium at 02:31 PM on November 22, 2004
NoMich, that was my reaction too. It's like they found an All Star game logo that never got used. "Hey, this was in My Documents on the computer of that designer we fired. Let's just go with it."
posted by yerfatma at 02:51 PM on November 22, 2004
I'm not a NL fan, nor an Expos fan, but I'd really like to see this team take off. It's nice to see a team coming back to a town where it has some history, rather than another bland expansion franchise. (Plus I like the Expos a bit because they got Nick "The Schnauzer" Johnson)
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:55 PM on November 22, 2004
It's like they found an All Star game logo that never got used. That's *exactly* what I meant by generic looking. Thanks for putting into...you know...those things found in books...made up of letters...what I was trying to convey.
posted by NoMich at 03:04 PM on November 22, 2004
I actually like them choosing the Nationals as their name--it evokes DC's baseball history since Nationals was the official name of the Senators for a stretch of their history (google tells me 1901–1956 seasons).
posted by trox at 03:41 PM on November 22, 2004
wow, what a lousy logo. the expos logo had some curious zest. this logo was wheelbarrow loads of blah.
posted by gspm at 04:02 PM on November 22, 2004
Alternatively, it could be the logo from one of those great NES baseball games that didn't have licensing rights.
posted by yerfatma at 04:16 PM on November 22, 2004
This is the thing I'll never understand about American sports - that teams can relocate from one city (or even country in this case) to another and no one seems to object. Won't somebody think of the fans? [/simpsons]
posted by squealy at 04:48 PM on November 22, 2004
The logo on the hat is a big "W". A smarmy part of me says "Could you suck up to the administration any more?"
posted by grum@work at 08:39 PM on November 22, 2004
Won't somebody think of the fans? I'm sure they could give them both season tickets or something. Should be no big deal.
posted by pivo at 11:28 PM on November 22, 2004
"Could you suck up to the administration any more?" It's a script W - I think that makes it a bit too homosexual for the current administration.
posted by Prince Valium at 12:01 AM on November 23, 2004
but I would have liked to see them keep the name [the Senators]. At the risk of repeating myself, many of us who actually live and work in DC didn't want the name "Senators" because people who live in DC don't have Senators, or any other voting member of Congress. To name the team The Senators would have been even more of a slap in the face for people who have laws made for them by people who don't even live here. *deep breath* I prefered Grays, but I like the Nationals. I am thinking of trying for season tickets, but don't want the full package. Each ticket comes with a $600 deposit though. Any DC area SpoFites want to discuss sharing a season ticket package? Get in touch with me please.
posted by scully at 09:43 AM on November 23, 2004
Actually terrapin, I thought it would have exactly the opposite effect - putting DC disenfranchisement into the public spotlight when sportscasters and newsmedia comment on how "ironic" it is that the DC team is called the Senators when DC doesn't have any senators.
posted by Prince Valium at 10:15 AM on November 23, 2004
I haven't seen the media mentioned it to date, PrinceValium. And too many people I have met think 1) DC residents have elected officials and/or 2) that they don't pay Federal taxes. Neither is true of course. And honestly (not to get too political in this forum), with the huge number of Democrats in DC (3-to-1, last I saw), it is unlikely the majority party will allow anything to happen that would give DC residents a voice. Plus, I don't think a majority of Americans get irony ;)
posted by scully at 10:35 AM on November 23, 2004
I can't get into the MLB shop, but here's the announcement with logos. Not bad. I was hoping for Grays, but the shortened nickname Nats is pretty good.