The Washington Nationals is a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Washington, D.C.. They are in the Eastern Division of the National League. The Expos were the first major league team outside the United States.

Founded: 1969 (as the Montreal Expos, a National League expansion franchise).
First Season: 2005 (first season as Washington Nationals)
Home Ballparks: Jarry Park, Montréal (capacity 28,456) 1969–1976; Stade Olympique (Olympic Stadium), Montréal (capacity 43,739 for baseball) 1977–2004; RFK Stadium, Washington (capacity TBD pending renovations) beginning with the 2005 season.
Uniform Colors: Red, White and Blue, with Gold trim in their primary logo design.
Logo Design (proposed): A shield featuring "Washington" in a ribbon device over "Nationals" in a hard-block font, both superimposed over a baseball flanked by 9 stars, representing the 9 defensive players of a baseball team.
Official Mascot: Not determined, but rumors have circulated that it will be a bug called "Nat." While in Montreal the Mascot was known as "Youppi"
Theme Song: None at the moment.
Division Titles Won: 1981, 1994 (both as Montreal Expos).
National League Championships: None.
World Series Championships: None.

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The Expos joined the National League in 1969, along with the San Diego Padres. Their home stadium was Jarry Park, in Montreal. The Expos suffered through 10 straight losing seasons under their first manager, Gene Mauch (1969-1975) and three other managers. In 1979 they posted their first winning record with a 95-65 record, under manager Dick Williams. They would post five consecutive winning seasons, including their only division championship, in the split season of 1981. They defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 in the divisional series, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in the National League Championship Series. Montreal was led through these years by a core group of young players, including catcher Gary Carter, outfielders Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, third baseman Larry Parrish and pitchers Steve Rogers and Bill Gullickson.

The Expos had several mediocre years in the mid 1980s under manager Buck Rodgers, but rebuilt and under manager Felipe Alou, who took the position midway through the 1992 season, finished second in the National League East in both 1992 and 1993. 1994 proved to be heart-breaking for the Expos. With a very talented group of players, including outfielders Larry Walker, Moises Alou and Marquis Grissom, second baseman Delino DeShields and pitchers Ken Hill, John Wetteland and a young Pedro Martinez, the Expos had the best record in major league baseball, 74-40 when the strike forced the end of the season.

The Expos lost most of their star players through free agency and trades, and have posted losing records since 1994, except for a second place finish in 1996. Montreal is often cited as an example of a small-market team, unable to compete with teams in bigger markets such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Jeffrey Loria, the last owner prior to the team's purchase by Major League Baseball, made some personnel moves, however the future of the franchise in Montreal does not look very strong. Attendance in the 2001 season was usually fewer than 10,000 people. On November 7, 2001, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig announced that major league baseball would undergo a contraction of two teams, after a 28-2 vote by the owners. Montreal was one of the dissenting franchises.

On February 14, 2002, after a 30-0 vote, Major League Baseball formed a Delaware partnership (Expos Baseball, LP) to buy the Expos for US $120,000,000 with the intent of eliminating the franchise along with the Minnesota Twins. Following legal maneuvers that prevented the Twins from being shuttered, followed by a collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players association which prohibited "contraction" through 2006, the team survived. Major League Baseball named Frank Robinson manager and Omar Minaya as vice-president and general manager.

In 2003, the team played 22 of its home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, despite having the highest percentage attendance increase in 2002 to go with a second place finish in the National League East. Despite being a considerably smaller facility (it seats approximately 19,000) than Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Bithorn regularly outdrew the attendance in Montreal. Thanks in large part to the San Juan games, the Expos were able to draw over a million fans at home in 2003 for the first time since 1998.

The players' union initially rejected continuing that arrangement for the 2004 season, but later relented. It is widely expected that in 2005 or shortly after, the team will move to another city. San Juan, Monterrey, Mexico, Portland, Oregon, Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Norfolk, Virginia have all been proposed as new homes for the team. Selig later added Las Vegas to the list of potential Expos homes. (Conventional wisdom holds that Washington DC is the most likely choice.) There is currently a lawsuit underway by the former team owners against Major League Baseball and the former majority owner, Jeffrey Loria.

The Nationals are in need of a reserve who can be a strong clubhouse presence and help develop young players, but interim G.M. Jim Bowden said he is going to evaluate the players that he has on the roster during spring training before making a trade or signing a player via free agency. The Nationals were hoping that SS Barry Larkin would be that reserve, but he is leaning toward retirement.

:: BASEBALL HALL OF FAMERS ::
Gary Carter		Tony Perez

:: CURRENT STARS ::
Tony Armas, Jr. Tony Batista		Orlando Cabrera Livan Hernandez		Jose Vidro

:: NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN ::
Felipe Alou (Manager) Moises Alou Andre Dawson Andres Galarraga Vladimir Guerrero Ron Hunt Randy Johnson		Mack Jones Dennis Martinez Pedro Martinez Larry Parrish Tim Raines Steve Rogers		Ugueth Urbina Javier Vazquez Larry Walker Tim Wallach

:: RETIRED NUMBERS ::

10 Andre Dawson and Rusty Staub 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball)

:: Fact ::

On April 14, 1969, Mack Jones hit a three-run home run and two-run triple that highlighted an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Expos' first home victory as a franchise at Jarry Park. Jones' blast was also the first MLB home run hit outside the United States.

External links
Official Washington Nationals website
Expos New Name: Nationals (TSN)