List of Washington Nationals seasons
This is a list of seasons completed by the Washington Nationals, originally known as the Montreal Expos, professional baseball franchise; they have played in the National League from their inception in 1969. They are an American professional baseball team that has been based in Washington, D.C. since 2005. The Nationals are a member of both the Major League Baseball's (MLB) National League Eastern Division. Since the 2008 season, the Nationals have played in Nationals Park; from 2005 through 2007, the team played in Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
The Nationals are the successors to the Montreal Expos, who played in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from their inception as an expansion team in 1969 through 2004, with the majority of that time (1977–2004) spent in Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
The following takes into account both teams, as all Montreal records were carried with the franchise when it moved to Washington.
Table Key
Season-by-season results
| World Series champions † |
National League champions * |
Division champions ^ |
Wild card berth (1994–present) ¤ |
| Season | Level | League | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | Post-season | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Expos | ||||||||||
| 1969 | MLB | NL | East | 6th | 52 | 110 | .321 | 48 | ||
| 1970 | MLB | NL | East | 6th | 73 | 89 | .451 | 16 | Carl Morton (ROY)[1] | |
| 1971 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 71 | 90 | .441 | 25½ | ||
| 1972[a] | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 70 | 86 | .449 | 26½ | ||
| 1973 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 79 | 83 | .488 | 3½ | ||
| 1974 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 79 | 82 | .491 | 8½ | ||
| 1975 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 75 | 87 | .463 | 17½ | ||
| 1976 | MLB | NL | East | 6th | 55 | 107 | .340 | 46 | ||
| 1977 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 75 | 87 | .463 | 26 | Andre Dawson (ROY)[1] | |
| 1978 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | ||
| 1979 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2 | ||
| 1980 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1 | ||
| 1981[b] | MLB | NL | East ^ | 3rd | 30 | 25 | .545 | 4 | Won NLDS (Phillies) 3–2 Lost NLCS (Dodgers) 3–2[2] |
|
| 1st | 30 | 23 | .566 | — | ||||||
| 1982 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6 | ||
| 1983 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | ||
| 1984 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18 | ||
| 1985 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 84 | 77 | .522 | 16½ | Jeff Reardon (RMA)e | |
| 1986 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 78 | 83 | .484 | 29½ | ||
| 1987 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 91 | 71 | .562 | 4 | Buck Rodgers (MOY)[3] | |
| 1988 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 81 | 81 | .500 | 20 | ||
| 1989 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 81 | 81 | .500 | 12 | ||
| 1990 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 85 | 77 | .525 | 10 | ||
| 1991 | MLB | NL | East | 6th | 71 | 90 | .441 | 26½ | ||
| 1992 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 87 | 75 | .537 | 9 | ||
| 1993 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 94 | 68 | .580 | 3 | ||
| 1994 | MLB | NL | East | 1st[c] | 74 | 40 | .649 | — | Season cancelled | Felipe Alou (MOY)[3] |
| 1995 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 66 | 78 | .458 | 24 | ||
| 1996 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 88 | 74 | .543 | 8 | ||
| 1997 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 78 | 84 | .481 | 23 | Pedro Martínez (CYA, PCA) d [4] | |
| 1998 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 65 | 97 | .401 | 41 | ||
| 1999 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 68 | 94 | .420 | 35 | ||
| 2000 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 67 | 95 | .414 | 28 | ||
| 2001 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 68 | 94 | .420 | 20 | ||
| 2002 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 83 | 79 | .512 | 19 | ||
| 2003 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 83 | 79 | .512 | 18 | ||
| 2004 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 67 | 95 | .414 | 29 | ||
| Washington Nationals | ||||||||||
| 2005 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 81 | 81 | .500 | 9 | Chad Cordero (RMA)e | |
| 2006 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 71 | 91 | .438 | 26 | ||
| 2007 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 73 | 89 | .451 | 16 | Dmitri Young (CPOY)[5] | |
| 2008 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 59 | 102 | .366 | 32½ | ||
| 2009 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 59 | 103 | .364 | 34 | ||
| 2010 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 69 | 93 | .426 | 28 | ||
| 2011 | MLB | NL | East | 3rd | 80 | 81 | .497 | 21½ | ||
| 2012 | MLB | NL | East ^ | 1st | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | Lost NLDS (Cardinals) 3–2 | Davey Johnson (MOY)[3] Bryce Harper (ROY)[1] |
| 2013 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | ||
| 2014 | MLB | NL | East ^ | 1st | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | Lost NLDS (Giants) 3–1 | Matt Williams (MOY)[6] |
| 2015 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 83 | 79 | .512 | 7 | Bryce Harper (MVP) | |
| 2016 | MLB | NL | East ^ | 1st | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | Lost NLDS (Dodgers) 3–2 | Max Scherzer (CYA)[7] |
| 2017 | MLB | NL | East ^ | 1st | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | Lost NLDS (Cubs) 3–2 | Max Scherzer (CYA) [8] |
| 2018 | MLB | NL | East | 2nd | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | ||
| 2019 | MLB † | NL * | East | 2nd ¤ | 93 | 69 | .574 | 4 | Won NLWC (Brewers) Won NLDS (Dodgers) 3–2 Won NLCS (Cardinals) 4–0 Won World Series (Astros) 4–3 † |
Stephen Strasburg (WS MVP) |
| 2020 | MLB | NL | East | 4th | 26 | 34 | .433 | 9 | ||
| 2021 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 65 | 97 | .401 | 23½ | ||
| 2022 | MLB | NL | East | 5th | 55 | 107 | .340 | 46 | ||
All-time records
| Totals | Wins | Losses | Win% | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2755 | 2943 | .484 | All-time Montreal Expos regular season record (1969–2004) | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | .500 | All-time Montreal Expos postseason record (1969–2004) | |||||||
| 2760 | 2948 | .484 | All-time combined Montreal Expos regular and postseason record (1969–2004) | |||||||
| 1368 | 1444 | .486 | All-time Washington Nationals regular season record (2005–2022) | |||||||
| 19 | 17 | .528 | All-time Washington Nationals postseason record (2005–2022) | |||||||
| 1387 | 1461 | .487 | All-time combined Washington Nationals regular and postseason record (2005–2022) | |||||||
| 4127 | 4387 | .485 | All-time combined franchise regular season record (1969–2022) | |||||||
| 24 | 22 | .522 | All-time combined franchise postseason record (1969–2022) | |||||||
| 4151 | 4407 | .485 | All-time combined franchise regular and postseason record (1969–2022) | |||||||
Record by decade
The following table describes the Expos′ (1969–2004) and Nationals′ (2005–2021) combined regular-season won–lost record by decade.
| Decade | Wins | Losses | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 52 | 110 | .321 |
| 1970s | 748 | 862 | .465 |
| 1980s | 811 | 752 | .519 |
| 1990s | 776 | 777 | .500 |
| 2000s | 711 | 908 | .439 |
| 2010s | 879 | 740 | .543 |
| 2020s | 146 | 238 | .380 |
| All-time | 4123 | 4387 | .484 |
These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Washington Nationals History & Encyclopedia, and are current as of October 5, 2022.[9]
Post-season record by year
The Nationals have made the postseason six times in their history, with their first being in 1981 (as the Expos) and the most recent being in 2019.
| Year | Finish | Round | Opponent | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | NL East Champions (second half) | NLDS | Philadelphia Phillies | Won | 3 | 2 |
| NLCS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Lost | 2 | 3 | ||
| 2012 | NL East Champions | NLDS | St. Louis Cardinals | Lost | 2 | 3 |
| 2014 | NL East Champions | NLDS | San Francisco Giants | Lost | 1 | 3 |
| 2016 | NL East Champions | NLDS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Lost | 2 | 3 |
| 2017 | NL East Champions | NLDS | Chicago Cubs | Lost | 2 | 3 |
| 2019 | World Series Champions | Wild Card Game | Milwaukee Brewers | Won | 1 | 0 |
| NLDS | Los Angeles Dodgers | Won | 3 | 2 | ||
| NLCS | St. Louis Cardinals | Won | 4 | 0 | ||
| World Series | Houston Astros | Won | 4 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Totals | 5–5 | 24 | 22 | ||
Footnotes
- a The 1972 Major League Baseball strike forced the cancellation of the first seven games (thirteen game-days) of the season.[10]
- b The 1981 Major League Baseball strike caused the season to split into two halves. This caused Major League Baseball to hold the Divisional Series so that the first- and second-half champions could play each other to determine playoff spots for the NLCS and World Series.[11] As such, the Expos finished one-half game ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals in the second half of the 1981 season.
- c The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike ended the season on August 11, as well as cancelling the entire postseason. While Montreal was leading by six games ahead of the second-place Atlanta Braves at the beginning of the strike, no team was officially awarded any division titles.[12]
- d PCA-PI stands for Players' Choice Award for Outstanding Pitcher in the National League.
- e RMA stands for the National League Rolaids Relief Man Award.
References
- ^ a b c "Rookie of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "1981 Montreal Expos". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ a b c "Manager of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ Bill Ladson (2007-10-26). "Young honored by Players Association". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ espn.go.com "Matt Williams named NL's top skipper"
- ^ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
- ^ "Washington Nationals History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ Morgan, Joe (August 21, 2002). "Strike is no longer necessary". ESPN. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ "Year in Review – 1981". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ Zirin, David (August 18, 2004). "The MLB Strike – 25 Years in the Making". Buzzle editorials. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved 2008-05-02.