Washington Nationals Tickets

At the bottom of the 6th St. ramp go left at traffic light onto Sixth Street north. Stay on 6th Street for one half mile miles to Independence Avenue and turn right. Follow Independence for 1.1 miles to 19th Street. Turn Left onto 19th Street and travel one block to East Capitol Street. Turn right on East Capitol to the stadium. From points north, take D.C. 295 (Anacostia Freeway) south to the Capitol Street exit and turn west across the river to RFK Stadium.

The Nationals finally ended their vagabond life as the Montreal/San Juan Expos, and Washington, D.C., fans greeted the team with open arms. The players responded by jumping out to a fast start and actually led the division at the All-Star break before the offense faded. Washington finished last in the NL in batting average and runs, and free agents Vinny Castilla and Cristian Guzman were major busts, with Guzman having one of the worst offensive seasons ever for a full-time player, batting .219. The best offensive player was first baseman Nick Johnson, who hit .289 with a .408 on-base percentage.
The pitching staff gives the Nats something to build around, though. Workhorse starter Livan Hernandez and young closer Chad Cordero made the Ail-Star team at midseason, and Hernandez finished the year with 15 wins and led the NL in innings (246) for the third straight season. Cordero fronted a strong bullpen with 47 saves and a 1.82 ERA, and overall the pitching staff finished fourth in the NL with a 3.87 ERA.
The franchise remained in limbo during the winter, however, as the team's stadium deal was stuck in a political quagmire, and that in turn was holding up the transfer of the team from MLB management to new ownership. General manager Jim Bowden did find a big bat in a trade for Alfonso Soriano, but Washington will need more help than that to contend for the playoffs again.