2008 Washington Nationals season

The Washington Nationals' 2008 season was the fourth season for the franchise in the District of Columbia, and the 40th since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, in 1969. It also marked the first season the Nationals played at Nationals Park. The team finished in last place in the National League East with a record of 59–102, the worst record in Major League Baseball. This prompted an updated version of a running joke that originated with the American League's Senators: "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the National League."

2008 Washington Nationals
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Lerner Enterprises
General manager(s)Jim Bowden
Manager(s)Manny Acta
Local televisionMASN
WDCA (My 20)
Local radioWWWT
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Offseason

On November 30, 2007, the Nationals traded Ryan Church and Brian Schneider to the New York Mets for Lastings Milledge.[1] On December 3, 2007, they traded minor-leaguer Glenn Gibson to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Elijah Dukes,[2] and on the following day they traded Jonathan Albaladejo to the New York Yankees for Tyler Clippard.[3]

Advertising and marketing

The Nationals′ marketing slogan for 2008 was "Welcome Home." The slogan welcomed Nationals fans to their new "home" at Nationals Park, where the Nationals began play in 2008 after three seasons at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.[4]

Spring training

The Nationals held their 2008 spring training in Viera, Florida, with home games played at Space Coast Stadium.

Regular season

March

President George W. Bush throws the ceremonial first pitch before a sold out crowd at the Washington Nationals' season opener on March 30, 2008

The Nationals opened the 2008 MLB season by hosting the Atlanta Braves in a nationally televised night game on March 30, 2008. It was the first professional regular-season game to be played at the Nationals' new facility Nationals Park. President George W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch to Nationals' manager Manny Acta, and Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-out, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to mark an exciting beginning to the 2008 season. The Nationals also blew out the Phillies 11-6.

April

The Nationals clinched the series against the Phillies, winning 1-0. However, the Nationals struggled after a promising 3-0 start, losing 16 of their next 19 games to start off 6-16. They improved for the rest of the month, earning splits at Atlanta and at home against the Mets, and winning series against the Braves and the Pirates. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass at Nationals Park in front of 47,000 people on April 17 while the Nationals were on a road trip.

May

The Nats started May winning 3 of the first 4 games of the month, earning them a 14-18 record, but lost 2 of 3 at Houston and were swept by the Florida Marlins at home. Then they took 3 of 4 against the struggling Mets at Shea Stadium, but in the first Beltway Series of 2008 they were nipped by the Orioles at Baltimore and lost two of three against the high-powered Phillies' offense. They split a series two games apiece against the Brewers and lost a series to the Padres. The Nats then beat up on the Diamondbacks in the first game of a series.

September

The team finished 59-102, the worst record in Major League Baseball. Six of the team's coaches were dismissed the day before the final game (a loss to the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies); only manager Manny Acta and pitching coach Randy St. Clair were retained.

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Philadelphia Phillies 9270 0.568 48–33 44–37
New York Mets 8973 0.549 3 48–33 41–40
Florida Marlins 8477 0.522 45–36 39–41
Atlanta Braves 7290 0.444 20 43–38 29–52
Washington Nationals 59102 0.366 32½ 34–46 25–56

Record vs. opponents

2008 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona3–52–42–415–32–74–28–102–53–33–44–310–811–73–44–26–9
Atlanta5–30–63–34–310–83–34–23–611–74–142–55–12–52–56–128–7
Chicago4–26–08–75–14–38–95–29–74–23–414–45–24–39–63–36–9
Cincinnati4–23–37–81–56–23–121–710–83–43–56–94–35–15–104–39–6
Colorado3–153–41–55–15–33–38–104–33–60–55–29–911–73–44–37–8
Florida7–28–103–42–63–54–23–45–18–1010–83–24–23–32–514–35–10
Houston2–43–39–812–33–32–44–37–85–23–48–83–37–17–84–27–11
Los Angeles10–82–42–57–110–84–33–44–23–44–45–211–79–92–43–35–10
Milwaukee5–26–37–98–103–41–58–72–42–41–514–14–36–010–56–27–8
New York3–37–112–44–36–310–82–54–34–211–74–32–55–14–312–69–6
Philadelphia4–314–44–35–35–08–104–34–45–17–114–24–23–35–412–64–11
Pittsburgh3–45–24–149–62–52–38–82–51–143–42–43–44–210–73–46–9
San Diego8–101–52–53–49–92–43–37–113–45–22–44–35–131–65–13–15
San Francisco7–115–23–41–57–113–31–79–90–61–53–32–413–54–37–06–12
St. Louis4–35–26–910–54–35–28–74–25–103–44–57–106–13–45–17–8
Washington2–412–63–33–43–43–142–43–32–66–126–124–31–50–71–58–10

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Cristian GuzmánShortstop
Lastings MilledgeCenter fielder
Ryan ZimmermanThird baseman
Nick JohnsonFirst baseman
Austin KearnsRight fielder
Paul Lo DucaCatcher
Elijah DukesLeft fielder
Ronnie BelliardSecond baseman
Odalis PérezStarting pitcher

Notable transactions

Draft

The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on June 5 and 6. With their first pick the ninth pick overall the Nationals selected pitcher Aaron Crow. Other notable players the Nationals selected were shortstop Danny Espinosa (third round, 87th overall), catcher Adrián Nieto (fifth round, 151st overall), pitcher Tommy Milone (10th round, 301st overall), pitcher Louis Coleman (14th round, 421st overall), first baseman Tyler Moore (16th round, 481st overall), shortstop Steve Lombardozzi, Jr. (19th round, 571st overall), pitcher Cory Mazzoni (26th round, 781st overall), pitcher Chris Heston (29th round, 871st overall), catcher Rob Brantly (46th round, 1,378th overall), and outfielder Alex Dickerson (48th round, 1,432nd overall).[6] Crow, Coleman, Mazzoni, Heston, Brantly, and Dickerson all opted not to sign with the team. Moore finally did sign with the Nationals; it was the third time they had drafted him, but he had opted not to sign with them the first two times (in 2005 and 2006).

Roster

2008 Washington Nationals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Attendance

The Nationals drew 2,320,400 fans at Nationals Park in 2008, placing them 13th in attendance for the season among the 16 National League teams. Boosted by the opening of Nationals Park at the beginning of the season, it was their second-best attendance total in their short history in Washington, exceeded only by the 2,731,993 they drew in 2005, their first season in Washington.[7][8]

Game log

2008 Game Log

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

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
LFWillie Harris14036728921441343.25113
CFLastings Milledge138523651402421461.26824
SSChristian Guzman13857977183355955.3166
3BRyan Zimmerman106428511212411451.2831
1BAaron Boone1042322356131628.2410
2BFelipe López1003253476200225.2344
IFRonnie Belliard9629637852201146.2873
CJesus Flores903012377181859.2560
RFAustin Kearns863134068100732.2172
RFElijah Dukes8127648731621344.26413
OFRyan Langerhans73111172652312.2342
PSaúl Rivera721000000.0000
CWil Nieves68176154691120.2610
CIKory Casto661631535100216.2151
PJoel Hanrahan652000000.0000
LFWily Mo Pena64195104060210.2050
PLuis Ayala601000000.0000
PJesús Colomé5800000000
PCharlie Manning5600000000
1BDmitri Young50150154260410.2800
UTPete Orr497510192107.2531
UTPaul Lo Duca46139133270012.2301
PJon Rauch441000000.0000
2BEmilio Bonifacio41157263955012.2486
PSteven Shell394000000.0000
1BNick Johnson38109152480520.2200
OFRob Mackowiak3853771014.1320
PTim Redding3447281003.1700
POdalis Perez3053482002.1510
PJohn Lannan2945010000.0220
PJason Bergmann2940000000.0000
2BAnderson Hernandez2881112740017.3330
PGarrett Mock264000000.0000
OFRoger Bernadina267610161102.2114
CJohnny Estrada2353090004.1700
IFAlberto González17499176019.3470
PCollin Balester1515130001.2000
PMike Hinckley1400000000
PRay King1200000000
PMarco Estrada1101000000
PMatt Chico1013220000.1540
CLuke Montz1021230013.1430
PBrian Sanches1000000000
PShawn Hill97000000.0000
PLevale Speigner700000000
PChad Cordero600000000
PShairon Martis57000000.0000
PMichael O'Connor52000000.0000
PChris Schroder400000000
PTyler Clippard110100001.0000
Totals1615491641137626926117608.25181

Pitching

Table is sortable.

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

Pos Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
SPTim Redding10114.9533330182.011010065120
SPJohn Lannan9153.9131310182.0897972117
SPOdalis Perez7124.3430300159.2877755119
RPJoel Hanrahan633.95690984.140374293
RPSaúl Rivera563.96760084.041373565
CLJon Rauch422.984801748.11816744
SPCollin Balester375.511515080.053492850
SPJason Bergmann2115.0930220139.294794796
Steven Shell222.16390250.014122041
Brian Sanches207.36120011.1109510
RPJesús Colomé224.31610071.038343955
Tyler Clippard114.3522010.15578
Charlie Manning135.14570042.025243137
Garrett Mock134.17263041.020192346
Shairon Martis135.6654020.214131223
Mike O'Connor1113.005109.01313114
Shawn Hill155.831212063.147412339
RPLuis Ayala185.77620057.241372236
Marco Estrada007.82110012.21311510
Ray King005.6812006.14441
Levale Speigner0111.257008.0101061
Chris Schroder005.44005.03363
Matt Chico066.19118048.034341731
Chad Cordero002.086004.11135
Mike Hinckley000.00140013.21039
Totals591024.66161161281434.08257425881063

Team leaders

Qualifying players only.

Batting

Stat Player Total
Avg.Christian Guzman.316
HRLastings Milledge
Ryan Zimmerman
14
14
RBILastings Milledge61
RChristian Guzman77
HChristian Guzman183
SBLastings Milledge24

Pitching

Stat Player Total
WTim Redding10
LJohn Lannan15
ERAJohn Lannan3.91
SOTim Redding120
SVJon Rauch17
IPJohn Lannan
Tim Redding
182.0
182.0

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Washington's Top 20 Prospects

1. Chris Marrero, 1B/OF
2. Ross Detwiler, LHP
3. Collin Balester, RHP
4. Michael Burgess, OF
5. Jack McGeary, LHP
6. Josh Smoker, LHP
7. Jordan Zimmermann, RHP
8. Justin Maxwell, OF
9. Colton Willems, RHP
10. John Lannan, LHP
11. Jake Smolinski, OF
12. Tyler Clippard, RHP
13. Adam Carr, RHP
14. Ian Desmond, SS
15. Garrett Mock, RHP
16. Stephen King, SS
17. Esmailyn Gonzalez, SS
18. Shairon Martis, RHP
19. Brad Peacock, RHP
20. Kory Casto, OF/3B

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Columbus Clippers International League Tim Foli
AA Harrisburg Senators Eastern League John Stearns
A Potomac Nationals Carolina League Randy Knorr
A Hagerstown Suns South Atlantic League Darnell Coles
A-Short Season Vermont Lake Monsters New York–Penn League Ramón Avilés
Rookie GCL Nationals Gulf Coast League Bob Henley

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Potomac

References

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