2005 Washington Nationals season

The Washington Nationals' 2005 season was the first for the team formerly known as the Montreal Expos since moving to Washington, D. C. and 37th overall for the franchise. The team signed four key free agents during the off-season: Vinny Castilla, José Guillén, Cristian Guzmán and Esteban Loaiza. Although they recorded an 81-81 record, the Nationals nevertheless finished last for a second consecutive year although they were only nine games behind the NL East champion Atlanta Braves.

2005 Washington Nationals
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record81–81 (.500)
Divisional place5th
Other information
Owner(s)Major League Baseball
General manager(s)Jim Bowden
Manager(s)Frank Robinson
Local televisionMASN
WDCA (UPN 20)
WTTG (Fox 5)
(Mel Proctor, Ron Darling, Kenny Albert)
Local radioWFED
WWZZ
(Charlie Slowes, Dave Shea)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason

On November 9, 2004, the Nationals traded Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for José Guillén.[1] On November 24, 2004, the Nationals traded minor-leaguer Antonio Sucre to the Pittsburgh Pirates for J. J. Davis.[2] On January 19, 2005, they signed Esteban Loaiza as a free agent.[3] On February 7, 2005, they signed Melvin Nieves, also as a free agent.[4] On February 13, 2005, the Nationals traded minor-leaguer Jerry Owens to the Chicago White Sox for Alex Escobar.[5] On February 15, 2005, they traded Alejandro Machado to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later; the Red Sox sent minor-leaguer Carlos Torres to the Nationals on March 28, 2005, to complete the trade.[6] Meanwhile, on March 22, 2005, the Nationals traded minor-leaguer A. J. Wideman to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tyrell Godwin[7] and on March 24, 2005, they traded Seth Greisinger to the Atlanta Braves as part of a conditional deal.[8]

Spring training

The Nationals held their 2005 spring training in Viera, Florida, with home games played at Space Coast Stadium.

Advertising and marketing

The Nationals' marketing slogan for the season was "Let Yourself Go." Nationals Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Cope explained that the slogan told "people to come to the game, to let themselves come out here [to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium]. But then once you're here, have fun, let loose. We don't want it to feel like stuffy old D.C. -- and it doesn't."[9]

Mascot

Screech, the Washington Nationals' bald eagle mascot, as he appeared from 2005 through 2008. A much slimmer version of Screech debuted just before the beginning of the 2009 season.

Screech, the mascot of the Washington Nationals, made his debut near the beginning of the 2005 season. A bald eagle who wears the home cap and jersey of the team, he was "hatched" on April 17, 2005, at the "Kids Opening Day" promotion at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium during the third home game in Nationals history, a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. A nine-year-old fourth-grade student in Washington, Glenda Gutierrez, designed the mascot and won a contest sponsored by the team, explaining that Screech was "strong and eats almost everything." The first, chubby version of Screech appeared during the team's first four seasons in Washington; just before the start of the 2009 season, the Nationals replaced him with a thin version who debuted in March 2009, explaining that Screech had "grown up" and become a "teenager."[10]

Broadcast media difficulties

The Nationals' broadcasting deal for 2005 was put together at the last minute and led to difficulties for fans attempting to follow the team on radio or television. Its two flagship radio stations – FM-104.1 WWZZ in Waldorf, Maryland, and AM-1050 WFED in Silver Spring, Maryland – had weak signals and were not audible in many of Washington′s suburbs. On television, the Nationals′ network, the new Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), was carried on DirecTv, RCN Cable, and Verizon′s fiberoptic service and WTTG Channel 5 and WDCA Channel 20 broadcast 79 games, but the Washington area′s dominant cable television provider, Comcast, refused to carry MASN during the season because of an ongoing legal battle with MASN over broadcast rights to Baltimore Orioles games. The limitation of radio and television coverage forced may Nationals fans to rely on print media and in-person attendance at games to follow the team during 2005.[11]

Regular season

The Nationals had a terrific first half, as they had a 51-32 record by July 5 and were leading the Atlanta Braves by 4.5 games. However, the team struggled in its final 79 games, going 30-49 and scoring only 299 runs (3.78 per game). They were also shut out 7 times during that span. Nevertheless, the teams was able to finish the season at .500; this was only the fourth time in 10 years that the franchise had finished at or above .500.

President George W. Bush throws out a ceremonial first pitch in 2005.

Highlights

  • On April 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson (after being the last player to ever wear a Montreal Expo jersey for the Expos[note 1]) had the honor of being the first batter for the Washington Nationals and he promptly responded with the first hit in the new team's history. Nevertheless, Kenny Lofton hit a three-run homer and Jon Lieber pitched 523 effective innings, leading the home team Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-4 victory over the new Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. (Lieber was credited with the win for the Phillies and would also score a win for Philadelphia in the last game of the 2005 Nationals season.) Outfielder Terrmel Sledge hit the Nats' first home run in the April 4 contest.
  • Scorecard: April 4, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Washington 010 002 100 4131
Philadelphia 021 040 10x 8141
W: Lieber (1-0)   L: Hernandez (0-1)   
HRs: Terrmel Sledge, Kenny Lofton Attendance: 44,080.[12]

Length of game: 3:19. Umpires: HP: Darling, 1B: Poncino, 2B: Wegner, 3B: Nauert

National League East

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9072 0.556 53–28 37–44
Philadelphia Phillies 8874 0.543 2 46–35 42–39
Florida Marlins 8379 0.512 7 45–36 38–43
New York Mets 8379 0.512 7 48–33 35–46
Washington Nationals 8181 0.500 9 41–40 40–41

Record vs. opponents

2005 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona3–35–22–411–72–43–313–52–41–63–43–410–97–112–52–48–10
Atlanta3–36–17–32–410–85–13–33–313–69–104–31–54–23–310–97–8
Chicago2–51–66–94–35–49–74–27–92–42–411–54–35–210–61–56–9
Cincinnati4–23–79–63–32–44–123–46–103–33–49–74–23–55–115–17-8
Colorado 7–114–23–43–33–31–511–81–53–42–43–77–117–114–42–46–9
Florida4–28–104–54–23–34–35–23–48–109–103–42–44–23–49–910–5
Houston3–31–57–912–45–13-44–210–55–56–09–74–33–45–115–27–8
Los Angeles 5–133–32–44–38–112–52–45–13–33–35–211–79–102–52–45–13
Milwaukee4–23–39–710–65–14–35–101–53–34–59–73–44–35–114–48–7
New York6–16–134–23–34–310–85–53–33–311–73–34–23–32–511–85–10
Philadelphia4-310–94–24–34–210–90–63–35–47–114–36–05–14–211–87–8
Pittsburgh4–33–45–117–97–34–37–92–57–93–33–43–42–44–121–55–7
San Diego9–105–13–42–411–74–23–47–114–32–40–64–312–64–35–17–11
San Francisco11–72–42–55–311–72–44–310–93–43–31–54–26–122–43–36–12
St. Louis5–23–36–1011–54–44-311–55–211–55–22–412–43–44–24–210–5
Washington4–29–105–11–54–29-92–54–24–48–118–115–11–53–32–412–6

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Brad WilkersonCenter fielder
Cristian GuzmánShortstop
José VidroSecond baseman
José GuillénRight fielder
Nick JohnsonFirst baseman
Vinny CastillaThird baseman
Termel SledgeLeft fielder
Brian SchneiderCatcher
Liván HernándezStarting pitcher

Notable transactions

Draft

The 2005 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 7 and 8. With their first pick the fourth pick overall the Nationals selected third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who would advance through the minor leagues quickly and join the Nationals in September. Other notable players the Nationals selected were outfielder Justin Maxwell (fourth round, 114th overall), pitcher Marco Estrada (sixth round, 174th overall), pitcher John Lannan (11th round, 324th overall), pitcher Craig Stammen (12th round, 354th overall), pitcher Ryan Buchter (33rd round, 984th overall), first baseman Tyler Moore (41st round, 1,222nd overall), and pitcher Scott Barnes (43rd round, 1,280th overall).[19] Moore and Barnes did not sign with the team.

Roster

2005 Washington Nationals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Attendance

The Nationals drew 2,731,993 fans at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 2005, placing them eighth in attendance for the season among the 16 National League teams.[20]

Game log

Game Log

[22]

Player stats

Batting

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Complete offensive statistics are available here.

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
CBrian Schneider11636938992011044.2681
1BNick Johnson131453661313531574.2894
2BJosé Vidro873093885212732.2750
SSCristian Guzmán14245639100196431.2197
3BVinny Castilla142494531253611266.2534
LFMarlon Byrd742162057152226.2645
CFBrad Wilkerson148565761404271157.2488
RFJosé Guillén148551811563222476.2831
MIJamey Carroll113303447681022.2513
OFRyan Church1022684177153942.2873
CFPreston Wilson6825334661411043.2613
CGary Bennett68199114470121.2210
IFCarlos Baerga93158184070219.2530
2BJunior Spivey287715177027.2212
UTTony Blanco56627113017.1771
3BRyan Zimmerman205862310006.3970
UTWil Cordero2951262002.1180
MIDeivi Cruz20512131001.2550
OFBrandon Watson2540871115.1750
OFTermel Sledge2037790118.2432
UTJeffrey Hammonds1332371001.2190
OFJ. J. Davis1426060002.2311
OFMatthew Cepicky1125163003.2400
IFRick Short1115462024.4000
CFEndy Chávez79221001.2220
IFBrendan Harris49131013.3330
RFKenny Kelly174311000.2501
CKeith Osik64000000.0000
PHTyrell Godwin33000000.0000
2BHenry Mateo11000000.0000
PLiván Hernández35827202127.2440
PEsteban Loaiza34743122004.1620
PJohn Patterson3159263000.1020
PTony Armas, Jr.1932140001.1250
PRyan Drese1214010000.0710
PTomo Ohka1116140000.2500
PHéctor Carrasco648100000.0000
PZach Day128010000.1250
PJon Rauch157110001.1430
PGary Majewski796000000.0000
PSun-woo Kim124000000.0000
PJohn Halama105010000.2000
PJason Bergmann153210000.3330
PLuis Ayala683010000.3330
PJoey Eischen583010000.3330
PClaudio Vargas42010000.5000
PMatt White11000000.0000
PMike Stanton301100000.0000
PJoe Horgan800000000
PChad Cordero7400000000
PAntonio Osuna3400000000
PT. J. Tucker1300000000
PTravis Hughes1400000000
PC. J. Nitkowski700000000
PDarrell Rasner500000000
Totals1625426639136731132117615.25245

Pitching

Note: Pos = Position; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Complete pitching statistics are available here.

Pos Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
SPLiván Hernández15103.9835350246.111610984147
SPEsteban Loaiza12103.7734340217.0939155173
SPJohn Patterson973.1331310198.161564559
SPTony Armas, Jr.774.9719190101.157565459
SPRyan Drese364.981111059.238332226
CLChad Cordero241.827404774.124151761
RPHéctor Carrasco542.04645288.123203875
RPGary Majewski442.93790186.032283750
RPLuis Ayala872.66680171.023211440
RPJoey Eischen213.22570036.114131930
Tomo Ohka433.33109054.023202717
Zach Day126.75125036.029272516
Jon Rauch243.60151030.012121123
Sun-woo Kim126.14122029.12020817
Mike Stanton213.58300027.21311914
John Halama034.64103021.11111811
Jason Bergmann202.75151019.2661121
Travis Hughes115.54140013.08888
Claudio Vargas039.2444012.2151375
T. J. Tucker106.39130012.29925
Darrell Rasner013.685107.13324
Joe Horgan0021.008006.0151445
Matt White019.001104.04433
C. J. Nitkowski008.107003.13322
Antonio Osuna0042.434002.1111170
Totals81813.87162162511458.0673627539997

Batting

Stat Player Total
Avg.Nick Johnson.289
HRPreston Wilson
José Guillén
25 (10 with Nationals)
24
RBIPreston Wilson
José Guillén
90 (43 with Nationals)
76
RJosé Guillén81
HJosé Guillén156
SBBrad Wilkerson8

Pitching

Stat Player Total
WLiván Hernández15
LLiván Hernández
Esteban Loaiza
10
ERAJohn Patterson3.13
SOJohn Patterson185
SVChad Cordero47
IPLiván Hernández246.1

Awards and honors

Batting

Stat Player Total NL Rank MLB Rank
OBPNick Johnson.40868 (tie)
2BBrad Wilkerson427 (tie)11 (tie)
3BBrad Wilkerson77 (tie)12 (tie)

Pitching

Stat Player Total NL Rank MLB Rank
SVChad Cordero4711
HLDGary Majewski
Luis Ayala
23
5
6 (tie)
10 (tie)
12 (tie)
WLiván Hernández159 (tie)16 (tie)

All-Stars

Annual awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA New Orleans Zephyrs Pacific Coast League Tim Foli
AA Harrisburg Senators Eastern League Keith Bodie
A Potomac Nationals Carolina League Bob Henley
A Savannah Sand Gnats South Atlantic League Randy Knorr
A-Short Season Vermont Expos New York–Penn League José Alguacil and Bobby Williams
Rookie GCL Nationals Gulf Coast League Wendell Kim

[23][24]

Notes

  1. On July 6, 2019, the Nationals wore 1969 Montreal Expo throwback uniforms for a game against the Kansas City Royals.
  2. The two games on August 31 were played as a single-admission doubleheader with attendance counted only for the two games combined.

References

  1. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  2. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Pittsburgh Pirates
  3. Esteban Loaiza Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nieveme01.shtml
  5. Trades between Washington Nationals & Chicago White Sox
  6. Trades between Washington Nationals & Boston Red Sox
  7. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Toronto Blue Jays
  8. Trades between Washington Nationals & Atlanta Braves
  9. Svrluga, Barry, "For Nats, What Counts Is Turnstiles," washingtonpost.com, May 2, 2005.
  10. Steinberg, Dan, "About Screech's Unveiling", washingtonpost.com, March 2, 2009.
  11. Anonymous, "Second season of uncertainty," washingtontimes.com, February 18, 2006
  12. Box Score of Game played on Monday, April 4, 2005 at Citizens Bank Park
  13. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/byrdma01.shtml
  14. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Milwaukee Brewers
  15. Mike Stanton Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  16. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Colorado Rockies
  17. Kenny Kelly Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  18. baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & San Francisco Giants
  19. baseball-reference.com 2005 Washington Nationals Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  20. baseball-reference.com 2005 Washington Nationals
  21. Box Score of Game played on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at Citizens Bank Park
  22. 2005 Washington Nationals Schedule by Baseball Almanac
  23. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  24. https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=willia001bob
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.