Washington Senators

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The Washington Senators refer to two different historical Washington, DC teams in the American League.

There were two American League teams called the Washington Senators in the 20th century. The first, often called "Senators I" in the record books, was an original AL team dating from 1901. This franchise won one World Series in 60 years (1924), and their most famous player was Walter Johnson. Although the club's official nickname for most of this period was the Nationals, press and fans called them the Senators. They moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the modern Minnesota Twins.

The second Washington Senators, often called "Senators II," were immediately reborn as a 1961 expansion team, in a politically-motivated bid by the AL to keep major league baseball in DC. This new club survived as an unsuccessful team (both on the field and at the box office) until 1972, when they moved to Arlington, Texas and became the modern Texas Rangers.

When the Washington Nationals opened for business in 2005, they put an "Established 1905" wordmark on their logo in an attempt to build an instant history based on the adoption of the "Nationals" as the first Washington club's initial nickname (from 1901-04, Senators I had no official nickname).