The first Washington Senators franchise began play in the 1891 American Association as the Statesmen, and then continued as the Senators until 1899 as a member of the National League.
Two teams in the American League have been called the Washington Senators, and both have been largely unsuccessful on the field.
First in Peace, first in War, last in the American League
The first AL Senators began play as one of the original American League teams in 1901. They were moderately competitive from 1912, when Clark Griffith became manager, until 1933. Led by Hall of Fame hurler Walter Johnson, they won the World Series in 1924, and the club won the American League two other times ('25 and '33). For the next several decades, however, they routinely finished toward the bottom of the standings. The Senators moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season and became the Minnesota Twins. Although commonly known as the Senators, the team was officially the Nationals 1905-1956.
The current Texas Rangers began their life as the Washington Senators in the Expansion of 1961. This team replaced the original Senators who moved and became the Minnesota Twins. General Pete Quesada was the team's first owner. He owned the team for only two years before selling to James Johnston, James Lemon and George Bunker. In 1965, Johnston and Lemon would buyout Bunker. In 1968, the Senators got their third ownership group as Bob Short purchased the club. In 1969, the club named Hall of Famer Ted Williams manager. The team spent one season at the old Griffith Stadium before moving to D.C. Stadium, which was later renamed R.F.K. Stadium.
On the field, the club struggled to their highest finish of the decade. It was still only a 4th-place finish in 1969 and was helped by the realignment that season which made 6th place the new last. One of their few highlights was pitcher Dick Bosman leading the league in ERA during that 1969 campaign. Another star for the club was outfielder Frank Howard who became the team's first and only real power threat, hitting at least 44 home runs every season from 1968 to 1970. Other noteworthy Senators during the decade were Claude Osteen, Darold Knowles, Camilo Pascual, Dick Donovan, Pete Richert, Moose Skowron and Don Zimmer.
The team started the seventies struggling in Washington and ended it competing in Texas. After two more seasons of subpar baseball in the nations capital, Short recevied permission to move the club to Arlington, Texas for the 1972 season.
In 2005, major league baseball returned to Washington, DC, when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals of the National League.