Washington fielded an AA team in 1884. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this team:
"The Washington Nationals of 1884 were a short-lived baseball team in the American Association. They won 12 games and lost 51. Their home games were played at Athletic Park in Washington, D.C. They are also known as the Washington Statesmen.
The Nationals were managed for all but one game by former player Holly Hollingshead. John Bickerton managed their final game on August 2, 1884, a loss to the New York Metropolitans.[1][2] Their top hitter was shortstop Frank Fennelly, who went 75-for-257, a batting average of .292. By far their best pitcher was Bob Barr, who was 9-23 with an ERA of 3.46.
This team should not be confused with the other 1884 Washington Nationals franchise, a different team which played in the Union Association during its only year of operation.
In 1891 the AA had another team in Washington, that moved to the National League in 1892."
I have the following two items related to this team that I think are really neat:
(1) A 1984 schedule showing the dates of all of Washington's games. The original owner of this piece has written "disbanded this date" next to the August 2 date!!
(2) A scored scorecard for this August 2nd game against the Metropolitans - the Mets scored 3 runs in the 9th to win by a score of 6 - 5. The original owner of this scorecard wrote "Washington Club disbanded after this game" in the right margin!!
Val
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