By Barry Svrluga Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 5, 2004; 1:29 PM
The Montreal Expos are expected to become the Washington Nationals if they move to the District, according to two published reports this morning, but the name could be a temporary one. A baseball source said whoever buys the team from Major League Baseball will be allowed to ask to change the name in time for the scheduled opening of a new stadium in 2008.
Meanwhile, the team expects to announce its plan to sell tickets on Monday. Fans should have a number to call to order tickets by midweek, Expos President Tony Tavares said. "We have to get that done," he said.
The Washington Times and USA Today reported that baseball is likely to choose the Nationals, the name of Washington's franchise in the 1870s and '80s, over the Grays and Senators. A source told The Post today that the Nationals is the favorite of at least one top baseball official, but no decision has been made.
The choice would not be unexpected. The Grays were a Negro League team that played games here but was actually based in Pittsburgh, and Mayor Anthony Williams was against using the Senators, the name of Washington's franchise in its two previous incarnations, because the District does not have representatives in the Senate.
Current team officials must begin marketing the team in the Washington area now, and the unveiling of a new name and logo -- which should happen in the next two weeks -- are essential parts of that plan. The uniform colors are likely to be red, white and blue, a baseball source said.
"We hope to have an announcement somewhere around the 15th," Tavares said. "That's a guess. And I'm not saying we'll have uniforms in hand, but we should have renderings of what we'd like to do."
I like that name about as much as the Wizards. What up with "Nationals"? Did they have contests etc to name the club, or come up with that beauty on their own?
God bless our troops and Joe Gibbs.
We'll miss you, Joe.
It was the team name from like the 20's through the 50's or something along those lines. In the story above probably. The Texas Rangers still own the rights to the Senators name so they picked another one instead of buying it. Although I don't claim to be an afficianto or an expert of the Negro leagues, I thought Grays would have been a better choice.
RIP 21
"Nah, I trust the laws of nature to stay constant. I don't pray that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I don't need to pray that someone will beat the Cowboys in the playoffs." - Irn-Bru
I like it. I just hope there's never a realignment where they get moved to the A.L.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.
Boooo!
I was hoping for the Grey's.
I was a huge Expos fan. Was sad to see them go. They have THE best farm system, just didn't have any money to keep all the stars once they had developed.
It is also kind of hard when they were selling tickets for $8 CAD..
TheMagicThree wrote:I like it. I just hope there's never a realignment where they get moved to the A.L.
Then they could be the Americans.
Yeah, but it doesn't sound as cool as the Nationals.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.
Nationals isn't bad. I really wish they would be the Senators, but I would rather be the Nationals than let the owner come up with one on his own. We'd probably end up as the Sea Dogs...
whats the mascot gonna be, a giant map of the US? 