In honor of the Washington team’s first appearance in the World Series since 1933, here’s a book about another time it did so.
This is Faust retold, with middle-aged Joe Boyd becoming a young superstar baseball player in a deal with a mysterious Mr. Applegate in order to salvage the Washington Senators’ horrible season (the book was published in 1954). All seems to be going well for a while, but then…
Well, read the book, or look for the musical Damn Yankees at your favorite video source.
Technically, this isn’t the same team that went to the World Series in 1933. The original Washington Senators franchise was part of the National League until 1899, then got cut. A new Senators team started in the American League in 1901. They changed their name to the Nationals from 1905-1955, then back to the Senators until 1960 when they moved and became the Minnesota Twins.
The new Senators became one of the two expansion teams in 1961 (along with the Los Angeles Angels). They played in Washington until 1971 when they moved and became the Texas Rangers.
The current Washington Nationals are actually the old NL Montreal Expos, who moved to Washington in 2005. So, technically, this is the club’s first World Series appearance, since the Expos never made it. Their only playoff appearance was in the strike-shortened 1981 season, losing to the Dodgers in the LCS on “Blue Monday” when Rick Monday blasted a game-winning HR to beat the Expos in Game 5. (But you probably already knew that last bit.)
I saw the “new” Senators play aa RFK a few times when we lived in the DC suburbs in the 1960s. I even saw the Angels play in their first season before they rented space in Dodger Stadium for a couple of years and played in the LA version of Wrigley Field.
I always thought Montreal got shafted.