One of our own throwing out first pitch at Nats game tonight!

[kcohen]

Originally Posted by tbob

Congrats Hank! Very cool

I hate to dog you Nationals fans but the Senators teams from the early 1900s to 1960 are the direct descendants of the Minnesota Twins, not the Washington Nationals.

Bob -

You are of course correct. I remember very well as a kid when Calvin Griffith moved the team to the Twin Cities area. He had been flirting with Los Angeles before that. I wonder what turns history would have taken had he been able to close the deal with LA.

Anyway, they can heist our team but not our heritage and history. The legacy of Walter Johnson et al belongs no more in Minnesota than does Rusty Staub's belong in DC or George Sisler's in Baltimore.

As for Calvin Griffith, to paraphrase what someone once said about Walter O'Malley for having moved the Dodgers - If I had Hitler, Stalin, and Griffith in a room and I had a gun with only two bullets, I'd shoot Griffith twice.

[Hankphenom]

The whole "franchise" thing has just got to go. The history stays with the city. When a team starts in a new location, it starts fresh. When a team starts in a location that has a MLB history, that's its history. As far as I know, Walter Johnson was never in Minnesota--so I'm sure he'd be quite surprised that they claim him. Washington MLB history started in 1886, stopped in 1889, started in 1891, stopped in 1899, started in 1901, stopped in 1971, started in 2005...you get the idea. I don't care where these teams came from, and I don't care where they went. When they were here, they were our team, that's all. Simple as that.

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Washington MLB history started in 1886, stopped in 1889, started in 1891, stopped in 1899, started in 1901, stopped in 1971, started in 2005...you get the idea.

Here's a couple of 1887 Buchners. The Washington team then, was called the "Nationals" and was in the National League.
The Senators team name came a few years later in 1901 in the American League for their inaugural season.