I don’t always necessarily agree with Chris Needham, who runs the Capitol Punishment blog and can be, well, “acerbic” at times with issues about the Nationals franchise.
But on this issue I kinda agree. The Nats are honoring Andre Dawson tonight as a cherished former member of the franchise. Which I think is fine.
But our history as a city hosting baseball goes beyond the Expos. We claim Frank Howard and remember his great homers in RFK (despite the fact that they moved to Texas). We remember Walter Johnson as probably the greatest player in our history (despite that version of the team now playing in Minnesota).
What do you guys think? I thought about it from a football perspective and used a couple of recent relocations:
– Do Baltimore fans claim old Baltimore Colts as part their history, or the Cleveland Browns? Maybe not the greatest example since Cleveland immediately got their team back via an expansion gift to the city.
– Do St. Louis fans remember the old St. Louis Cardinals and claim them?
I dunno. I’ve read complaints from former Expos fans that the Washington ownership has almost systematically tried to forget that this team came from Montreal. And I guess for good reason; the franchise was so undersupported and badly run that they were closer to contracting it than giving it to DC.
But for me, DC baseball means the team playing here at the time. We all know why the first two iterations of the Washington Senators moved away (primarily that the city just couldn’t support a team). But this team is here to stay.
boss