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Sources: Expos to Be Renamed Nationals
AP ^ | 11/19/04 | JOSEPH WHITE

Posted on 11/19/2004 8:52:27 PM PST by nypokerface

WASHINGTON - The Montreal Expos are about to get their new name: the Washington Nationals. A city official and a baseball official, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that the team will reveal its new name, cap and red-white-and-blue color scheme during a news conference Monday.

The search for a new name began Sept. 29, when Major League Baseball announced it planned to relocate the team for the 2005 season. Initially, the plan was to wait until the team was sold to select the name, but the sale process is expected to take months — and the team needs to start marketing itself in its new home city immediately.

The top contenders were Nationals, Senators and Grays, with Senators the sentimental favorite. The original American League Senators played in the nation's capital from 1901-60 before moving to Minnesota to become the Twins. The expansion Senators called Washington home from 1961-71 before moving to Texas to become the Rangers. Senators was also the preference of commissioner Bud Selig, even though the Rangers still hold the rights to the name.

But Mayor Anthony Williams objected, saying the name isn't appropriate, given the District of Columbia's lack of representation in the U.S. Senate.

"We don't have senators here," the mayor said in September. "Give us two senators, and I'll be happy to call them the Senators."

Williams preferred the Grays, a tribute to the Homestead Grays, a Negro League team that played many of its games in Washington in the 1930s and 1940s. Historians, however, noted that the Grays' real home was Pittsburgh.

The compromise was Nationals. The Nationals, or Nats, was considered the original official nickname of the 1901-60 team. But fans instead adopted Senators, which was the name of two National League teams in Washington in the late 1800s.

Baseball owners still must approve the move. They delayed a vote when they met Thursday but said one will take place by Dec. 6. The relocation is also contingent on the D.C. government enacting legislation by Dec. 31 to finance a new ballpark.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 11/19/2004 8:52:27 PM PST by nypokerface
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To: nypokerface

So now they'll be the Canadian Nationals?


2 posted on 11/19/2004 8:54:06 PM PST by Paleo Conservative (Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Arlen Specter's got to go!)
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To: Paleo Conservative

Grays or Gays?

"The DuPont Circle Gays." Has a nice ring to it.


3 posted on 11/19/2004 8:58:40 PM PST by ReadyNow (When you see the eye, expect a lie!)
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To: nypokerface
Washington Nationals sounds like an airport.

Washington Nats sounds like a bunch of bugs -- oh, that's gnats. Never mind.

4 posted on 11/19/2004 8:59:40 PM PST by FoxInSocks
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To: Paleo Conservative

The Nationals? Now that is about the lamest name I have ever heard for a team in a sport filled with odd team names? Given Dem dominance of DC, they should name them the Internationalists. Since the Mayor is right, D.C. doesn't have anyone in the Senate, maybe we should name the team for something D. C. is bountiful in? My suggestions are one of these names: thugs, murderers, crackheads, liberals, car thieves, panderers, and Democrats (which are all synonymous).


5 posted on 11/19/2004 8:59:45 PM PST by flying Elvis
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To: nypokerface
Williams says "Senators" is not historically accurate since DC has no senators

But

He says "Grays" are ok, even though the team was based out of Pitt, NOT DC. Historically inaccurate.

Looks like he is more concerned with pushing his racial agenda than historical accuracy. Nats is a silly name anyway.

6 posted on 11/19/2004 9:08:36 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: flying Elvis

How about the Washington Sprees? It stands for BOTH shooting sprees, which they have plenty of on the near northeast side, and the spending sprees they have up on the hill, right?


7 posted on 11/19/2004 9:08:38 PM PST by FreeKeys ("A politician is just like a pickpocket; it's almost impossible to get him to reform."-- Will Rogers)
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To: FreeKeys

I like that, it appeals to both levels of Washington society. The Criminals is also an apt name which would describe those on the hill as well as those in hood.


8 posted on 11/19/2004 9:16:22 PM PST by flying Elvis
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To: FreeKeys

Well, there was the Washington Bullets...


9 posted on 11/19/2004 9:16:34 PM PST by ambrose
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To: FoxInSocks
Washington Nats

THAT's what they'll be called. It'll be the team everyone wants to beat. Of course, it would have been perfect if they'd called themselves, The Washington Generals.

10 posted on 11/19/2004 9:17:45 PM PST by sevry
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To: nypokerface

Shouldn't it be the "Washington-Reagan Nationals"?


11 posted on 11/19/2004 9:19:39 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: FreedomCalls

They won't be there long enough to enjoy the name. My bet is that they start talking of leaving by 2012, and actually pack up by 2014. They can't sustain profit to market a major league team. Its a lose-lose situation. Baseball should have just dumped the Expos period.


12 posted on 11/19/2004 9:21:42 PM PST by pepsionice
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To: flying Elvis
Baseball is played with a stick and there are lots of diplomats in DC, so maybe they can be called the Washington Dipsticks.

I don't care for the name Nationals...it could lead to a nickname like Natsies.

Anyway, American Samoans are U.S. nationals...residents of DC are citizens.

13 posted on 11/19/2004 9:36:35 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: stainlessbanner
Looks like he is more concerned with pushing his racial agenda than historical accuracy. Nats is a silly name anyway.

Bingo!! The name should be the Senators. Mayor Williams is currently absorbed in his self-importance. I'm not sure why he has a say in this at all.

14 posted on 11/19/2004 9:38:45 PM PST by CurlyBill (Voter Fraud is one of the primary campaign strategies of the Democrats!)
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To: nypokerface

LETS GO NATS!


15 posted on 11/19/2004 9:40:42 PM PST by Clemenza (Gabba Gabba Hey!)
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To: ReadyNow

Wouldn't that be the "Fruit Loops"?


16 posted on 11/19/2004 9:44:29 PM PST by Boiler Plate
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To: flying Elvis

"We have the best congress money can buy."
"There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
-- all by Mark Twain (found at http://freedomkeys.com/politicians.htm )


17 posted on 11/19/2004 10:09:23 PM PST by FreeKeys ("To say Congress is spending like drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors." -- Ronald Reagan)
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To: Clemenza

"Let's go NUTS!" or
"Let go, GNATS!"
"Watch your 'GO GNADS!'

Oh, well, anyway, the "Washington Wizards" has to be by far the most inappropriate and ridiculous name any team has ever changed to. The closest thing Washington ever saw to a wizard was Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White. So "Washington Whizzers" maybe, but NOT "Wizards!" Sheesh!


18 posted on 11/19/2004 10:18:03 PM PST by FreeKeys ("The motto of the nation's capital should be 'Land of the spree and home of the depraved'."-R. Gaber)
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To: nypokerface

Washington Parasites, would work pretty good.


19 posted on 11/19/2004 10:47:10 PM PST by Waco
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To: FoxInSocks

D.C. Rocks
Washington Crackheads
D.C. Speedsters
Washington Ecstacy
D.C. Loveboats
In honor of the esteemed Mayor Marion Barry

Great promos:
Every man that steals base gets to freebase.

Shirts with crackpipe logo on front and italicized "The B**ch Set Me Up" on the back with team colors. Great for the children.

Heartattack Paranoia Wednesday

Pimp N' Ho Twi-night Double Headers

Gangland Hall of Fame Game


20 posted on 11/20/2004 2:06:01 AM PST by sully777 (Our descendants will be enslaved by political expediency and expenditure)
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