Founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1969, the Montreal Expos was an expansion franchise that became the first major league team in Canada. Their success rate then made the Major League Baseball think if the team should be shut down, along with either the Minnesota Twins or Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They left for Washington and became the Nationals in 2005. The name Nationals was the same name used by other previous baseball teams in Washington. The name Nationals is used interchangeably with "Senators". The team was nicknamed "The Nats".

Until it was sold to the Lerner family, the legal name of the team, despite being popularly known as Washington Nationals, was Baseball Expos, LP.

This move was met opposition from the Orioles. The Baltimore Orioles have been the only Major League Baseball franchise in the area of Baltimore to Washington. Peter Angelos considers these areas as a single market. Possible financial problems were the reasons for this opposition. As a deal, the Major League Baseball decided to give the Orioles security by letting them handle both the television and radio broadcasts. The Orioles formed another network, the MASN and it was not immediately available in cable. The deal calmed the Orioles; however, this made the Nationals as the only member of the Major League Baseball who doesn't have their own broadcast rights.

Important Moments and Achievements

The Nationals have once won the East Division championship, in 1981 when they were still the Montreal Expos. The Nationals managed to win one CY Young award, two Rookies of the Year awards, two Batting Championships, and three Earned Run Average championships.

Pitchers in the current roster:

-Collin Balester

-Jason Bergmann

-Matt Chico

-Tyler Clippard

-Jesus Colome

-Ross Detwiler

-Marco Estrada

-Joel Hanrahan

-Shawn Hill

-5Mike Hinckley

-John Lannan

-Shairon Martis

-Garrett Mock

-Michael O'Connor

-Odalis Perez

-Tim Redding

-Saul Rivera

-Steven Shell

-Ryan Wagner

Washington Nationals recent news:

Washington Nationals fired five coaches, Manny Acta's staff, after the last season. In the last season, the Nationals finished last which brought the Nats to 'overhaul' Acta's staff.

The Nationals have first stated their interest in hiring Willie Randolph as a bench coach of Manny Acta or third-base coach. Personal issues were brought up regarding this, but Acta's friends have stated that the latter will not be affected by tension.

The Nationals are in need of starting pitcher. It is still yet to be known if the team can acquire a free agent or if they have an interest in trade-ins.

Will the Washington Nationals show a new 'Nats' to their fans? The fans are anxious to know the plans and how these changes will affect the team's performance in the next season. Will this coming season be the season for the Nationals?