A history of MLB's Washington Senators

It’s been more than 50 years since a team called the Washington Senators played a Major League game.

Three separate AL/NL franchises have played under that name, dating back as far as the 19th century. One of those clubs is long gone, while the other two are still playing -- albeit in different cities and under different names. (That’s right: None of the three franchises once called the Senators is related to the current Nationals.)

Here is a history of the three Washington Senators franchises over the years -- both as the Senators and after relocation.

1891-1899
The first iteration of the Senators started out in the American Association as the Washington Statesmen. But that name and league were short lived: The AA folded after that season, and the team moved to the National League and changed its name to the Senators.

The early Senators, who played their home games at Boundary Field in Washington D.C., saw little success. The team never fared better than in 1897, when it posted a 61-71 record (.462 winning percentage); it went 410-697 (.370) in eight seasons as the Senators. Maybe it’s no surprise that the franchise was eliminated when the NL contracted four of its 12 teams after the 1899 season.

1901-1960
Few franchises are known for moving east over time, but the Senators are one of those few. When the American League became a major league in 1901, the AL’s Kansas City Blues franchise was moved to Washington to become the Senators. And at first, it didn’t go well.

These Senators initially proved as hapless as their predecessors, going a paltry 38-113-6 (.275) in 1904 and posting a losing record in each of their first 11 seasons. (The franchise was officially known as the Washington Nationals from 1905 to 1956 but was still commonly referred to as the Senators.) Sportswriter Charles Dryden memorably dubbed the team “first in war, first in peace and last in the American League.” But thanks to Hall of Famer Walter Johnson -- one of the best pitchers of all time -- things began to turn around.

Washington topped .500 with 91 wins in 1912, although they didn’t capture their first AL pennant until 1924. That meant an automatic World Series berth, and after a seven-game bout with the New York Giants that featured a 12th-inning walk-off in Game 7, the team had its first -- and only -- title. The Senators lost to the Pirates in the 1925 Fall Classic and won only one more pennant, in 1933.

In 1960, team president Calvin Griffith -- nephew of Hall of Fame Senators manager Clark Griffith -- moved the team to Minnesota, where the franchise became the Twins.

1961-1971
With the franchise leaving for the Twin Cities, MLB instituted a new club in D.C., also known as the Senators. They and the Angels, the other new franchise formed in 1961, filled their rosters via an expansion draft. These Senators, like the others, struggled: They lost 100 games in each of their first four seasons and had just one winning season (1969) in their 11-year history.

After the 1970 season, owner Bob Short declared he would not renew the Senators’ lease at RFK Stadium in D.C. unless someone bought the team from him. Arlington, Texas, mayor Tom Vandergriff convinced Short to move the team to the Lone Star State, where the franchise became the Rangers.

As Twins (1961-present)
It didn’t take the Twins long to achieve greater heights than their forebears ever did. Minnesota reached its first World Series in 1965, its fifth season, losing a seven-game classic to Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers. While it took more than 20 years for the Twins to return to the Fall Classic, they won in seven games in both 1987 against the Cardinals and 1991 against the Braves. Since then, it’s been more frustration than elation for Minnesota. The Twins lost 18 straight postseason games from the 2002 ALCS through the 2020 AL Wild Card Series, finally snapping the record streak in 2023.

As Rangers (1972-present)
The Rangers came oh-so-close to their first World Series title in 2011, getting within a strike of finishing off the Cardinals in an epic Game 6. The 2023 club, which swept the Rays in the AL Wild Card Series and swept the Orioles in the ALDS, reached the ALCS for just the third time in Rangers history. The other two times -- 2010 and 2011 -- they won the ALCS but lost in the World Series, falling in five games to the Giants the first time around. The Rangers have won eight division titles and exactly 4,000 regular-season games since their inception in 1972, but they own a .489 win percentage overall.

MLB returns to D.C.

The Senators might be gone, but Major League Baseball did return to Washington D.C. eventually. After splitting their final season in 2004 between Canada and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Montreal Expos relocated to D.C. to become the Nationals. A franchise that had only made the NLCS once as the Expos saw more success as the Nats: Washington won four NL East titles between 2012 and 2017. In 2019, the Nationals qualified for the postseason as a Wild Card team and won their first World Series, taking down the Astros in a seven-game thriller.