Washington Nationals

DMZ · November 24, 2004 at 1:24 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Well, they’ve got their web page up on MLB.com and merchandise available. That “W” looks really… foo-foo? Frilly? Non-traditional? What’s the word I’m looking for here…

Update: the word I’m looking for is “1969” as the ones being shown off now are, as someone pointed out, the same as the 69-71 Senators hats.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to even more people being confused about Washington D.C. versus Washington state now, though I, for one, would love to have another major league team in town. Run by the USSM crew.

Comments

34 Responses to “Washington Nationals”

  1. David J Corcoran on November 24th, 2004 1:34 pm

    When I was a wee runt I always thought the Washington Bullets were in Washington. When we would be in Seattle, I would ask my dad if we could see the Bullets game, and he said “no sun, they are in DC!” I didn’t seem to get it though, until I was about 9, that they were on the other end of the country.

  2. David J Corcoran on November 24th, 2004 1:34 pm

    When I was a wee runt I always thought the Washington Bullets were in Washington. When we would be in Seattle, I would ask my dad if we could see the Bullets game, and he said “no sun, they are in DC!” I didn’t seem to get it though, until I was about 9, that they were on the other end of the country.

  3. Tiboreau on November 24th, 2004 1:59 pm

    That “W” looks really… foo-foo? Frilly? Non-traditional? What’s the word I’m looking for here…

    Traditional? It’s the same logo as the old Washington Senators caps.

  4. robinred on November 24th, 2004 2:08 pm

    I think it’s likely that is not the real logo; Williams just used the old Senators cap at the press conference and they put it up there on the site for convenience (and to sell a few caps).

  5. DMZ on November 24th, 2004 2:17 pm

    If they’re selling it, that’s almost certainly the logo. There’s supposedly an alternate logo with “DC” on it, I haven’t seen that.

    And w/r/t the traditional thing — wow, I’m stunned.

  6. Evan on November 24th, 2004 2:23 pm

    Very frou-frou.

    If you squint, the W does look like a DC.

  7. tvwxman on November 24th, 2004 2:24 pm

    At least the team colors are not some combination of purple and/or teal and/or black.

  8. robinred on November 24th, 2004 2:26 pm

    Yeah, I looked again and surfed around, and I think that is it. I thought the caps were just a temporary “homage” to the old Senators to sell a few of THOSE and then they would have a whole separate press conference unveiling the new uniforms. The script “W” seems very different in style from the look of the logo itself, with the all caps look.

    I also noticed that the website is promoting “Vinny Castilla, Jose Guillen and Cristain Guzman.”

  9. Troy on November 24th, 2004 2:28 pm

    I actually like the old-school “dubya” for what its worth. BTW, good to see my boy robinred over here in these Mariner parts. Nationals is a pretty lame name, but almost by default they’re going to have the best new look of just about any team in a couple decades.

  10. Troy on November 24th, 2004 2:30 pm

    The best part of the site is the poll on the bottom-left “how many games do you plan to attend this season? There are five possible responses, staggerred from “1-5” to “more than 20.” Apparently the thought that some people won’t attend any games never crossed their minds. Or more likely, they new how bad it would look if the most frequent response was a goose egg.

  11. Troy on November 24th, 2004 2:31 pm

    One day I will learn to proofread before posting. I always “new” I should anyway.

  12. DMZ on November 24th, 2004 2:34 pm

    They should have one that reads “fewer with every Bowden move”. I think many DC fans would check it.

  13. Tiboreau on November 24th, 2004 2:34 pm

    I think it’s likely that is not the real logo; Williams just used the old Senators cap at the press conference

    Well, I wasn’t around in the ’60s so I can’t guarantee anything, but all the pictures I’ve seen of the ballplayers from those Washington Senators teams wore both of the caps displayed on the website. Whether the MLB plans on the Washington Nationals wearing those caps . . . well, the more I look, the more I am convinced. 😉

    But it’s the MLB, so who knows. . . .

  14. PositivePaul on November 24th, 2004 2:41 pm

    Who can forget former M’s coach, Frank Howard, in his 1971 Topps Super Washington Senators uniformed baseball card: http://www.vintagecardtraders.org/virtual/71topps_super/71topps_super-17.jpg

    Or “The Duke” himself, er, I mean, the Splendid Splinter: http://members.cox.net/crandall11/dc/senators/Williams.Ted.1.jpg

    Can hardly wait to see “Turn Back the Clock” night. I suppose it won’t be much of a change, then.

    From my “This Day in Baseball” tear-off calendar:

    November 24, 1960:
    Having relocated to the “Twin Cities” of Minneapolis/St. Paul, the former Washington Senators settle on the Minnesota Twins as their official team name.

  15. Mark in DC on November 24th, 2004 2:54 pm

    We in DC are all so happy to just have a team that Bowden could go out and assemble the worst team possible and we’d still take 295 to RFK.

  16. Evan on November 24th, 2004 3:01 pm

    As a long-time Expos fan, I’m bitter enough to want the team to crash and burn and die a hideous death.

    So I love Bowden.

  17. Blaine McIntyre on November 24th, 2004 3:02 pm

    Isn’t that the same “W” used on the old Wonder Woman comic book logo? Geez, it’s almost embarrassing to ask that question.

  18. Evan on November 24th, 2004 3:25 pm

    Never be embarrassed by Wonder Woman.

    I have the complete first season of Wonder Woman on DVD (the Linda Carter series). I had no idea it was set in 1942. Wonder Woman fighting Nazis is surreal.

  19. McFly on November 24th, 2004 4:08 pm

    I always feel like I have to justify WHICH Washington I am from, by adding State. In college, I tried to make a point to add the word ‘state’ for all the rest, but somehow, Vermont State never caught on.

  20. Bill Fugazi on November 24th, 2004 4:19 pm

    #13, I hear ya– Bavasi went out and assembled the worst team possible, and 3m+ took I-90 & I-5 to Safeco.

    I like the logo, but (start sarcasm) it’d be way cooler if it was teal and purple, with some kind of fish, and if the team name didn’t end with an “s.” I was hoping for the Washington “Democracy” or Washington “Pride.” (end sarcasm).

    WRT the Washington the State versus the Columbian District; the great thing about “State” being an acceptible suffix is the brand-recognition it brings to the Cougs!

  21. JPWood on November 24th, 2004 4:20 pm

    Nationals is better than Metropolitans, mais le W me fait chier des grenailles.

  22. David J Corcoran on November 24th, 2004 4:29 pm

    If it were my choice, they’d still be called the Expos. Oh, and one other little thing. They’d still be in Montreal with Youppi.

  23. clarence credence on November 24th, 2004 4:30 pm

    The “W” looks a bit like a warped “@”. That said, it’s still more stylish that most new sports logos, which tend to look more like a logo for a chain restaurant in a mall than anything I’d like to wear on a baseball cap. To that end, I’m glad the powers-that-be are looking backward for inspiration rather than forward.

  24. Evan on November 24th, 2004 4:34 pm

    They should sell the Youppi suit on eBay.

  25. eponymous coward on November 24th, 2004 4:47 pm

    And oddly enough, the Expos page still is up.

    http://montreal.expos.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=mon

  26. David J Corcoran on November 24th, 2004 4:50 pm

    You never know. The EXPOS could still be at the Big O in’05. ANything is possible.

  27. tvwxman on November 24th, 2004 4:54 pm

    #17: I hear you. Going to college on the east coast, I found it was just easier to say I was from Seattle, even though Whidbey Island was a long way away from the city, not to mention my real hometown of Coupeville, population: 1500, one traffic light and a tire.

  28. Evan on November 24th, 2004 5:37 pm

    #25 – You’re right, EP. I just posted to their message board. The Expos fans are still there, musing about how quickly the team will die in DC, assuming the move actually happens (they’re justifiably sceptical).

  29. Ryan on November 24th, 2004 5:56 pm

    You know how to block IPs right?

  30. DMZ on November 24th, 2004 6:04 pm

    Yes

  31. Adam M on November 24th, 2004 7:07 pm

    Not a big fan of Grays, and since Nationals is also a former DC team name. Senators was apparently dead in the water, and people have been racking their brains trying to find a better name (“Generals” would have been perfect, except for one obvious drawback).

    For the guy who asked about the alternate DC logo, you can actually see it at the bottom of the main Senators page: it’s an interlocked DC in block letters (sorta like the Padres old logo) with a gold star on either side.

    The NATIONALS logo really reminds me of something else: the Columbus Blue Jackets? It’s very generic, but hopefully they can tweak it ove the next few years and get something better.

    And for all the despairing Expos fans: take heart from the example of the NJ Nets. Everybody assumed the move to Brooklyn was a done deal, now it may be undone by a struggling team and lots of angry local opposition. Which appears to be mounting in DC.

  32. Mark in DC on November 24th, 2004 7:15 pm

    The team’s not going back to Montreal. MLB has already sold tickets, working on radio affiliates, hiring groundsmen etc. They bought the team for 150m and will sell it to some unsuspecting fool for twice that. Plus theres a private investor willing to build the stadium to no cost to us taxpayers.

    If they send it back to Montreal they would see huge losses. But Youppi would remain!

  33. Adam M on November 24th, 2004 7:25 pm

    Can’t I give some hope to a dying fan?

    I’ll assume you’re not a doctor!

  34. DMZ on November 24th, 2004 8:07 pm

    Plus theres a private investor willing to build the stadium to no cost to us taxpayers.

    Even if this were the case, MLB when given a choice will always take the publicly-funded stadium over the privately-built one.