2005 Washington Nationals season

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2005 Washington Nationals
Major league affiliations
National League (Since 1969) Eastern Division (Since 1969)
Location
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (Since 2005) Washington, D.C. (Since 2005)
2005 Information
Owner(s)	Major League Baseball
Manager(s)	Frank Robinson
Local television	MASN WDCA (UPN 20) WTTG (Fox 5)
Local radio	WFED WWZZ

The Washington Nationals' 2005 season was the first for the team formerly known as the Montreal Expos since moving to Washington, D. C.. The team signed four key free agents during the off-season: Vinny Castilla, José Guillén Cristian Guzmán and Esteban Loaiza.

Contents 1 Regular Season 1.1 Highlights 1.2 Season standings 1.3 Game log 2 Player stats 2.1 Team leaders 2.1.1 Batting 2.1.2 Pitching 2.2 Nationals among league leaders 2.2.1 Batting 2.2.2 Pitching 3 References

[edit] Regular Season

[edit] Highlights

• On April 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson (after being the last player to ever wear a Montreal Expo jersey) had the honor of being the first batter for the Washington Nationals and he promptly responded with the first hit in the new team's history. Nevertheless, Kenny Lofton hit a three-run homer and Jon Lieber pitched 5 2/3 effective innings, leading the home team Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-4 victory over the new Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. (Lieber was credited with the win for the Phillies and would also score a win for Philadelphia in the last game of the 2005 Nationals season.) Outfielder Terrmel Sledge hit the Nats' first home run in the April 4 contest.
• On April 6, 2005, the Washington Nationals recorded their first-ever regular season win by beating the Phillies, 7-3. The win came in their second game of the season and was highlighted by Wilkerson's hit for the cycle.
• On April 14, 2005, the Washington Nationals won their first regular season home game at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C, by a score of 5-3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. President George W. Bush kept up a tradition of sitting U.S. Presidents by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in Washington, exactly 95 years after William Howard Taft started the tradition at Griffith Stadium. There were 45,596 fans in attendance, including former Senators players and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Liván Hernández threw eight shutout innings, and Vinny Castilla was denied the chance to hit for the cycle when Diamondback reliever Lance Cormier hit him with a pitch in the bottom of the eighth; Castilla needed only a single to complete the cycle. Chad Cordero recorded the save for Washington.
• On August 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson became the first Washington Nationals player to ever hit a grand slam, against then Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher, Duaner Sanchez. The Nationals won the game 7-0, on a four-hit complete game shutout by John Patterson.
• During his August-September callup, Ryan Zimmerman recorded 23 hits in 58 at bats. He thus became the first member of the Washington Nationals to complete the season with a batting average of at least .300 in at least 50 at bats.
• The Nationals led all National League teams in interleague play in 2005, recording 12 wins.

[edit] Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
Atlanta Braves	90	72	.556	--
Philadelphia Phillies	88	74	.543	2
Florida Marlins	83	79	.512	7
New York Mets	83	79	.512	7
Washington Nationals	81	81	.500	9

[edit] Game log

Game Log
April # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
May # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
June # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
July # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105
August # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134
September # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161
October # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 162

[edit] Player stats

[edit] Team leaders

[edit] Batting

Stat	Player	Total
Avg.	Nick Johnson	.289
HR	Preston Wilson José Guillén	25 (10 with Nationals) 24
RBI	Preston Wilson José Guillén	90 (43 with Nationals) 76
R	José Guillén	81
H	José Guillén	156
SB	Brad Wilkerson	8

[edit] Pitching

Stat	Player	Total
W	Liván Hernández	15
L	Liván Hernández Esteban Loaiza	10
ERA	John Patterson	3.13
SO	John Patterson	185
SV	Chad Cordero	47
IP	Liván Hernández	246.1

[edit] Nationals among league leaders

[edit] Batting

Stat	Player	Total	NL Rank	MLB Rank
OBP	Nick Johnson	.408	6	8 (tie)
2B	Brad Wilkerson	42	7 (tie)	11 (tie)
3B	Brad Wilkerson	7	7 (tie)	12 (tie)

[edit] Pitching

Stat	Player	Total	NL Rank	MLB Rank
SV	Chad Cordero	47	1	1
HLD	Gary Majewski Luis Ayala	23	5 6 (tie)	10 (tie) 12 (tie)
W	Liván Hernández	15	9 (tie)	16 (tie)

[edit] References

v • d • e 2005 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore • Boston • New York • Tampa Bay • Toronto AL Central Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Kansas City • Minnesota AL West Los Angeles • Oakland • Seattle • Texas NL East Atlanta • Florida • New York • Philadelphia • Washington NL Central Chicago • Cincinnati • Houston • Milwaukee • Pittsburgh • St. Louis NL West Arizona • Colorado • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco 2005 All-Star Game • 2005 World Series

v • d • e Washington Nationals Formerly the Montreal Expos • Based in Washington, D.C. The Franchise Records • Players • Managers and Owners • Broadcasters • All articles Ballparks RFK Stadium • Nationals Park Culture Presidents Race • Screech (mascot) Rivalries Beltway Series Important Figures Ryan Zimmerman • Manny Acta Retired Numbers 42 Seasons (4) 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008