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2005 Washington Nationals season

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2005 Washington Nationals
File:Nationals 133x100.png
DivisionEastern Division
BallparkRobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
CityWashington, D.C.
OwnersMajor League Baseball
ManagersFrank Robinson
TelevisionMASN
WDCA (UPN 20)
WTTG (Fox 5)
(Mel Proctor, Ron Darling, Kenny Albert)
RadioWFED
WWZZ
(Charlie Slowes, Dave Shea)
← 2004 Seasons 2006 →

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.

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) 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 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 4 13 1
Philadelphia 0 2 1 0 4 0 1 0 x 8 14 1
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

Season standings

National League East

NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 90 72 .556 53‍–‍28 37‍–‍44
Philadelphia Phillies 88 74 .543 2 46‍–‍35 42‍–‍39
Florida Marlins 83 79 .512 7 45‍–‍36 38‍–‍43
New York Mets 83 79 .512 7 48‍–‍33 35‍–‍46
Washington Nationals 81 81 .500 9 41‍–‍40 40‍–‍41

Record vs. opponents


Source: [1]
Team AZ ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona 3–3 5–2 2–4 11–7 2–4 3–3 13–5 2–4 1–6 3–4 3–4 10–9 7–11 2–5 2–4 8–10
Atlanta 3–3 6–1 7–3 2–4 10–8 5–1 3–3 3–3 13–6 9–10 4–3 1–5 4–2 3–3 10–9 7–8
Chicago 2–5 1–6 6–9 4–3 5–4 9–7 4–2 7–9 2–4 2–4 11–5 4–3 5–2 10–6 1–5 6–9
Cincinnati 4–2 3–7 9–6 3–3 2–4 4–12 3–4 6–10 3–3 3–4 9–7 4–2 3–5 5–11 5–1 7-8
Colorado 7–11 4–2 3–4 3–3 3–3 1–5 11–8 1–5 3–4 2–4 3–7 7–11 7–11 4–4 2–4 6–9
Florida 4–2 8–10 4–5 4–2 3–3 4–3 5–2 3–4 8–10 9–10 3–4 2–4 4–2 3–4 9–9 10–5
Houston 3–3 1–5 7–9 12–4 5–1 3-4 4–2 10–5 5–5 6–0 9–7 4–3 3–4 5–11 5–2 7–8
Los Angeles 5–13 3–3 2–4 4–3 8–11 2–5 2–4 5–1 3–3 3–3 5–2 11–7 9–10 2–5 2–4 5–13
Milwaukee 4–2 3–3 9–7 10–6 5–1 4–3 5–10 1–5 3–3 4–5 9–7 3–4 4–3 5–11 4–4 8–7
New York 6–1 6–13 4–2 3–3 4–3 10–8 5–5 3–3 3–3 11–7 3–3 4–2 3–3 2–5 11–8 5–10
Philadelphia 4-3 10–9 4–2 4–3 4–2 10–9 0–6 3–3 5–4 7–11 4–3 6–0 5–1 4–2 11–8 7–8
Pittsburgh 4–3 3–4 5–11 7–9 7–3 4–3 7–9 2–5 7–9 3–3 3–4 3–4 2–4 4–12 1–5 5–7
San Diego 9–10 5–1 3–4 2–4 11–7 4–2 3–4 7–11 4–3 2–4 0–6 4–3 12–6 4–3 5–1 7–11
San Francisco 11–7 2–4 2–5 5–3 11–7 2–4 4–3 10–9 3–4 3–3 1–5 4–2 6–12 2–4 3–3 6–12
St. Louis 5–2 3–3 6–10 11–5 4–4 4-3 11–5 5–2 11–5 5–2 2–4 12–4 3–4 4–2 4–2 10–5
Washington 4–2 9–10 5–1 1–5 4–2 9-9 2–5 4–2 4–4 8–11 8–11 5–1 1–5 3–3 2–4 12–6


Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
Name Position
Brad Wilkerson Center fielder
Cristian Guzmán Shortstop
José Vidro Second baseman
José Guillén Right fielder
Nick Johnson First baseman
Vinny Castilla Third baseman
Termel Sledge Left fielder
Brian Schneider Catcher
Liván Hernández Starting 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
C Brian Schneider 116 369 38 99 20 1 10 44 .268 1
1B Nick Johnson 131 453 66 131 35 3 15 74 .289 4
2B José Vidro 87 309 38 85 21 2 7 32 .275 0
SS Cristian Guzmán 142 456 39 100 19 6 4 31 .219 7
3B Vinny Castilla 142 494 53 125 36 1 12 66 .253 4
LF Marlon Byrd 74 216 20 57 15 2 2 26 .264 5
CF Brad Wilkerson 148 565 76 140 42 7 11 57 .248 8
RF José Guillén 148 551 81 156 32 2 24 76 .283 1
MI Jamey Carroll 113 303 44 76 8 1 0 22 .251 3
OF Ryan Church 102 268 41 77 15 3 9 42 .287 3
CF Preston Wilson 68 253 34 66 14 1 10 43 .261 3
C Gary Bennett 68 199 11 44 7 0 1 21 .221 0
IF Carlos Baerga 93 158 18 40 7 0 2 19 .253 0
2B Junior Spivey 28 77 15 17 7 0 2 7 .221 2
UT Tony Blanco 56 62 7 11 3 0 1 7 .177 1
3B Ryan Zimmerman 20 58 6 23 10 0 0 6 .397 0
UT Wil Cordero 29 51 2 6 2 0 0 2 .118 0
MI Deivi Cruz 20 51 2 13 1 0 0 1 .255 0
OF Brandon Watson 25 40 8 7 1 1 1 5 .175 0
OF Termel Sledge 20 37 7 9 0 1 1 8 .243 2
UT Jeffrey Hammonds 13 32 3 7 1 0 0 1 .219 0
OF J. J. Davis 14 26 0 6 0 0 0 2 .231 1
OF Matthew Cepicky 11 25 1 6 3 0 0 3 .240 0
IF Rick Short 11 15 4 6 2 0 2 4 .400 0
CF Endy Chávez 7 9 2 2 1 0 0 1 .222 0
IF Brendan Harris 4 9 1 3 1 0 1 3 .333 0
RF Kenny Kelly 17 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 .250 1
C Keith Osik 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
PH Tyrell Godwin 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
2B Henry Mateo 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Liván Hernández 35 82 7 20 2 1 2 7 .244 0
P Esteban Loaiza 34 74 3 12 2 0 0 4 .162 0
P John Patterson 31 59 2 6 3 0 0 0 .102 0
P Tony Armas, Jr. 19 32 1 4 0 0 0 1 .125 0
P Ryan Drese 12 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 .071 0
P Tomo Ohka 11 16 1 4 0 0 0 0 .250 0
P Héctor Carrasco 64 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Zach Day 12 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 .125 0
P Jon Rauch 15 7 1 1 0 0 0 1 .143 0
P Gary Majewski 79 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Sun-woo Kim 12 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P John Halama 10 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 .200 0
P Jason Bergmann 15 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 .333 0
P Luis Ayala 68 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 0
P Joey Eischen 58 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 0
P Claudio Vargas 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 0
P Matt White 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Mike Stanton 30 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Joe Horgan 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P Chad Cordero 74 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P Antonio Osuna 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P T. J. Tucker 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P Travis Hughes 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P C. J. Nitkowski 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P Darrell Rasner 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 162 5426 639 1367 311 32 117 615 .252 45

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
SP Liván Hernández 15 10 3.98 35 35 0 246.1 116 109 84 147
SP Esteban Loaiza 12 10 3.77 34 34 0 217.0 93 91 55 173
SP John Patterson 9 7 3.13 31 31 0 198.1 61 56 45 59
SP Tony Armas, Jr. 7 7 4.97 19 19 0 101.1 57 56 54 59
SP Ryan Drese 3 6 4.98 11 11 0 59.2 38 33 22 26
CL Chad Cordero 2 4 1.82 74 0 47 74.1 24 15 17 61
RP Héctor Carrasco 5 4 2.04 64 5 2 88.1 23 20 38 75
RP Gary Majewski 4 4 2.93 79 0 1 86.0 32 28 37 50
RP Luis Ayala 8 7 2.66 68 0 1 71.0 23 21 14 40
RP Joey Eischen 2 1 3.22 57 0 0 36.1 14 13 19 30
Tomo Ohka 4 3 3.33 10 9 0 54.0 23 20 27 17
Zach Day 1 2 6.75 12 5 0 36.0 29 27 25 16
Jon Rauch 2 4 3.60 15 1 0 30.0 12 12 11 23
Sun-woo Kim 1 2 6.14 12 2 0 29.1 20 20 8 17
Mike Stanton 2 1 3.58 30 0 0 27.2 13 11 9 14
John Halama 0 3 4.64 10 3 0 21.1 11 11 8 11
Jason Bergmann 2 0 2.75 15 1 0 19.2 6 6 11 21
Travis Hughes 1 1 5.54 14 0 0 13.0 8 8 8 8
Claudio Vargas 0 3 9.24 4 4 0 12.2 15 13 7 5
T. J. Tucker 1 0 6.39 13 0 0 12.2 9 9 2 5
Darrell Rasner 0 1 3.68 5 1 0 7.1 3 3 2 4
Joe Horgan 0 0 21.00 8 0 0 6.0 15 14 4 5
Matt White 0 1 9.00 1 1 0 4.0 4 4 3 3
C. J. Nitkowski 0 0 8.10 7 0 0 3.1 3 3 2 2
Antonio Osuna 0 0 42.43 4 0 0 2.1 11 11 7 0
Totals 81 81 3.87 162 162 51 1458.0 673 627 539 997

Team leaders

Batting

Stat Player Total
Avg. Nick Johnson .289
HR Preston Wilson
José Guillén
25 (10 with Nationals)
24
RBI Preston Wilson
José Guillén
90 (43 with Nationals)
76
R José Guillén 81
H José Guillén 156
SB Brad Wilkerson 8

Pitching

Stat Player Total
W Liván Hernández 15
L Liván Hernández
Esteban Loaiza
10
ERA John Patterson 3.13
SO John Patterson 185
SV Chad Cordero 47
IP Liván Hernández 246.1

Awards and honors

Nationals among league leaders

Batting

Stat Player Total NL Rank MLB Rank
OBP Nick Johnson .408 6 8 (tie)
2B Brad Wilkerson 42 7 (tie) 11 (tie)
3B Brad Wilkerson 7 7 (tie) 12 (tie)

Pitching

Stat Player Total NL Rank MLB Rank
SV Chad Cordero 47 1 1
HLD Gary Majewski
Luis Ayala
23
5
6 (tie)
10 (tie)
12 (tie)
W Liván Hernández 15 9 (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]

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. ^ a b http://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. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/byrdma01.shtml
  14. ^ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Milwaukee Brewers
  15. ^ a b Mike Stanton Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  16. ^ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Colorado Rockies
  17. ^ Kenny Kelly Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  18. ^ a b 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. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=willia001bob