2009 Washington Nationals season

2009 Washington Nationals
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Washington, D.C. (since 2005)
Other information
Owner(s) Lerner Enterprises
General manager(s) Jim Bowden, Mike Rizzo
Manager(s) Manny Acta, Jim Riggleman
Local television MASN
WDCW (CW 50)
Bob Carpenter, Ray Knight, Rob Dibble
Local radio WWWT
Charlie Slowes, Dave Jageler
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The Washington Nationals' 2009 season was the fifth season for the American baseball franchise of Major League Baseball in the District of Columbia, and the 41st since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It involved the Nationals attempting to win the National League East Division after a disappointing 59–102 season the year before.

On July 12, manager Manny Acta was fired and replaced with bench coach Jim Riggleman, though only as an interim manager. Under Acta, the Nationals compiled an MLB worst 26–61 record in 2009 through the All-Star break and a 158–252 record in Acta's three seasons with the Nationals. Riggleman would be named full-time manager in November 2009.

The Nationals finished the year with a 59–103 record, worse than the year before by one loss. For the second straight season, they finished with the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Nationals' third baseman Ryan Zimmerman won a Gold Glove Award as the best defensive third baseman in the National League and a Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive third baseman in the league.

Offseason

On November 3, 2008, the Nationals traded minor-leaguer Ryan Buchter to the Chicago Cubs for minor-leaguer Matt Avery.[1] On November 10, 2008, they traded Emilio Bonifacio and minor-leaguers Jake Smolinski and P. J. Dean to the Florida Marlins for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham.[2]

Changed uniforms

For the 2009 season, the Nationals altered their uniforms. The interlocking "DC" was removed from the star-spangled circle and moved to the left sleeve of both the home and away uniforms. It also has removed from the alternate red jersey and replaced with the "curly W" from the team's cap. A new navy alternate jersey with the interlocked "DC" on the left chest in a "stars and stripes" flag pattern, which has also been emulated on the alternate navy cap, which was worn several times in 2009. Finally, in a tribute to the former baseball teams in the District of Columbia, a script writing of the city name replaced the block lettering, emulating the Senators' script of the 1950s and 1960s – though as those teams used "Senators" on both their home and away uniforms, this marks the first time the "curly W" has actually appeared as part of the word "Washington" on an MLB jersey.

The uniforms gained notoriety when on April 17 in a game against the Florida Marlins, the jerseys of Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn read "Natinals" on the front of the jersey instead of "Nationals" for the first three innings of the game.[3] The Nationals did not catch the error as they only checked the back of the shirts, not the front, but were able to assign to Dunn and Zimmerman the correct jerseys later in the game.[4] The company who manufactured the jerseys, Majestic Athletic, apologized for the error.

Advertising and marketing

The Nationals′ marketing and advertising theme for the 2009 season was "Natstown," capturing the idea that all Nationals fans at the ballpark, in the community, and in their everyday lives were participating in a single community centered around the team. The marketing campaign urged fans to "Get Your Red On," a reference to wearing the team's colors to show one′s team spirit.[5]

Mascot

In March 2009, thee Nationals introduced a new version of Screech, their bald eagle mascot who wears the home cap and jersey of the team. The original Screech who "hatched" at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 2005 during the third home game in Nationals history and had appeared at the team's home games during its first four seasons in Washington, was chubby, but the new Screech was slim. The Nationals explained that they had redesigned Screech because he had "grown up" and become a "teenager."[6]

Spring training

The Nationals held their 2009 spring training in Viera, Florida, with home games played at Space Coast Stadium.

Regular season

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Philadelphia Phillies 93 69 0.574 — 45–36 48–33
Florida Marlins 87 75 0.537 6 43–38 44–37
Atlanta Braves 86 76 0.531 7 40–41 46–35
New York Mets 70 92 0.432 23 41–40 29–52
Washington Nationals 59 103 0.364 34 33–48 26–55

Record vs. opponents

2009 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona – 3–4 4-2 1–5 7-11 5–3 5–4 7-11 2–5 5–2 1–5 6–1 11-7 5-13 2–4 1–5 5–10
Atlanta 4–3 – 4–2 3–6 4–4 8-10 3-3 4–3 3–3 13–5 10-8 3–4 3–3 3–4 4–2 10-8 7–8
Chicago 2-4 2–4 – 10-5 2–4 4–3 11–6 3–5 10-7 3-3 1–5 10-4 4–5 4-2 6-10 5–2 6–9
Cincinnati 5-1 6-3 5-10 – 0-7 3-3 12-4 1-5 8-7 2-4 2-5 13-5 1-6 3-3 8-8 3-4 6-9
Colorado 11-7 4-4 4-2 7-0 – 2-4 2-5 4-14 6-0 3-4 2-4 6-3 10-8 8-10 6-1 6-0 11-4
Florida 3-5 10-8 3-4 3-3 4-2 – 4–3 3-3 3-4 11-7 9-9 2-4 4-2 3-4 3-3 12-6 10-8
Houston 4–5 3-3 6-11 4-12 5-2 3-4 – 4–3 5-10 1-5 6-2 10-5 6-1 2-4 6-9 3-3 6-9
Los Angeles 11-7 3-4 5-3 5-1 14-4 3-3 3-4 – 3–3 5-1 4-3 4-3 10-8 11-7 2-5 3-2 9-9
Milwaukee 5-2 3-3 7-10 7-8 0-6 4-3 10-5 3-3 – 3-3 4-3 9-5 2-4 4-5 9-9 5-3 5-10
New York 2-5 5-13 3-3 4-2 4-3 7-11 5-1 1-5 3-3 – 6-12 4-3 2-5 5-3 4-5 10-8 5–10
Philadelphia 5-1 8-10 5-1 5-2 4-2 9-9 2-6 3-4 3-4 12-6 – 4-2 5-2 3-4 4-1 15-3 6-12
Pittsburgh 1-6 4-3 4-10 5-13 3-6 4-2 5-10 3-4 5-9 3-4 2-4 – 3-4 2-4 5-10 5-3 8–7
San Diego 7-11 3-3 5-4 6-1 8-10 2-4 1-6 8-10 4-2 5-2 2-5 4-3 – 10-8 1-6 4-2 5–10
San Francisco 13-5 4–3 2–4 3–3 10-8 4–3 4–2 7-11 5-4 3–5 4–3 4–2 8-10 – 4–3 4–2 9–6
St. Louis 4-2 2-4 10-6 8-8 1-6 3-3 9-6 5-2 9-9 5-4 1-4 10-5 6-1 3-4 – 6–1 9–6
Washington 5-1 8-10 2-5 4-3 0-6 6-12 3-3 2-3 3-5 8-10 3-15 3-5 2-4 2-4 1-6 – 7–11

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
Name Position
Lastings Milledge Center fielder
Cristian Guzmán Shortstop
Ryan Zimmerman Third baseman
Adam Dunn Left fielder
Nick Johnson First baseman
Austin Kearns Right fielder
Ronnie Belliard Second baseman
Jesús Flores Catcher
John Lannan Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

Draft

The 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place from June 9 to June 11. With their first pick – the first pick overall – the Nationals selected pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Other notable players the Nationals selected were pitcher Drew Storen (10th overall, a first-round supplemental pick they received for failing to sign Aaron Crow in 2008), second baseman Jeff Kobernus (second round, 50th overall), shortstop Michael A. Taylor (sixth round, 172nd overall), pitcher Taylor Jordan (ninth round, 262nd overall), pitcher Nate Karns (12th round, 352nd overall), and pitcher Marcus Stroman (18th round, 532nd overall).[14] Stroman opted not to sign with the team.

Roster

2009 Washington Nationals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

   Carl Crawford
Manager

Coaches

Attendance

Finishing with the worst record in Major League Baseball for the second consecutive year, the Nationals drew only 1,817,226 fans at Nationals Park in 2009, placing them 13th in attendance among the 16 National League teams for the second year in a row. It was the lowest attendance total in their short history in Washington.[15]

Game log

Legend
 Nationals win
 Nationals loss
 Postponement
BoldNationals team member
2009 Game Log

Player stats

Batting

Table is sortable.

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
C Josh Bard 59 185 15 45 13 0 2 22 .243 0
P Joe Beimel 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
2B Ronnie Belliard 71 147 18 34 5 1 3 14 .231 2
P Jason Bergmann 29 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
OF Roger Bernadina 3 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 .250 0
P Daniel Cabrera 9 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
MI Alex Cintrón 21 26 1 2 0 0 0 0 .077 0
P Jesús Colomé 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Ross Detwiler 8 13 1 1 0 0 0 1 .077 0
RF Elijah Dukes 67 230 22 57 15 1 7 42 .248 2
UT Adam Dunn 113 392 58 110 23 0 30 85 .281 0
C Jesús Flores 26 90 13 28 3 2 4 15 .311 0
MI Alberto González 66 187 19 50 12 2 1 23 .267 1
SS Cristian Guzmán 95 398 59 127 20 6 5 40 .319 3
P Joel Hanrahan 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
CF Willie Harris 91 196 30 45 13 3 4 19 .230 9
2B Anderson Hernández 77 231 25 58 9 2 1 23 .251 5
P Mike Hinckley 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
1B Nick Johnson 98 353 47 104 16 2 6 44 .295 2
RF Austin Kearns 80 174 20 34 6 2 3 17 .195 1
P Logan Kensing 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P John Lannan 22 42 1 7 1 0 0 0 .167 0
P Wil Ledezma 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Mike MacDougal 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Shairon Martis 13 24 4 5 1 0 0 2 .208 0
CF Justin Maxwell 13 24 1 3 1 0 0 1 .125 3
CF Lastings Milledge 7 24 1 4 0 0 0 1 .167 1
P Garrett Mock 18 9 1 1 0 0 0 0 .111 0
C Wil Nieves 47 147 13 36 6 0 0 16 .245 0
P Scott Olsen 11 15 1 2 0 0 0 1 .133 0
OF Corey Patterson 5 15 0 2 0 0 0 0 .133 0
P Saúl Rivera 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Steven Shell 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Craig Stammen 14 25 1 5 2 0 0 3 .200 0
P Julián Tavárez 38 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
P Ron Villone 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
P Kip Wells 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
LF Josh Willingham 90 280 53 85 24 0 18 46 .304 3
P Jordan Zimmermann 15 27 1 4 0 0 0 2 .148 0
3B Ryan Zimmerman 110 439 85 134 26 1 24 76 .305 1
Totals 162 5493 710 1416 271 38 156 685 .258 73

Pitching

Table is sortable.

Note: Pos = Position; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Pos Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
RP Joe Beimel 0 3 3.81 28 0 1 26.0 11 11 9 14
RP Jason Bergmann 0 1 6.91 14 0 0 14.1 12 11 7 8
Daniel Cabrera 0 5 5.85 9 8 0 40.0 39 26 35 16
Jesús Colomé 0 0 8.00 9 0 0 9.0 8 8 3 8
Ross Detwiler 0 3 5.23 6 6 0 32.2 20 19 14 23
Joel Hanrahan 0 3 6.35 29 0 5 28.1 20 20 12 32
Mike Hinckley 0 0 4.66 14 0 0 9.2 5 5 11 3
Logan Kensing 0 1 18.00 6 0 0 5.0 10 10 4 2
SP John Lannan 3 5 3.51 13 13 0 77.0 36 30 31 38
Wilfredo Ledezma 0 0 9.53 5 0 0 5.2 7 6 4 8
SP Shairon Martis 5 1 4.76 13 13 0 75.2 42 40 34 29
CL Mike MacDougal 0 0 1.29 8 0 0 7.0 4 1 4 6
SP Garrett Mock 0 2 6.92 13 0 0 13.0 10 10 8 6
Scott Olsen 1 4 7.24 8 8 0 41.0 36 33 18 29
Saúl Rivera 0 3 8.49 10 0 0 11.2 11 11 5 8
Steven Shell 0 0 5.40 4 0 0 5.0 3 3 2 5
SP Craig Stammen 0 2 5.86 5 5 0 27.2 20 18 9 13
RP Julián Tavárez 2 4 4.26 29 0 1 25.1 16 12 16 24
Ron Villone 3 4 1.83 23 0 0 19.2 5 4 10 10
Kip Wells 0 2 6.26 19 0 2 23.0 16 16 15 16
SP Jordan Zimmermann 2 3 5.37 10 10 0 57.0 34 34 16 60
Totals 59 103 5.00 162 162 33 1424.1 874 791 629 911

Team leaders

Qualifying players only.

Batting

Stat Player Total
Avg. Ryan Zimmerman .292
HR Adam Dunn 38
RBI Ryan Zimmerman 106
R Ryan Zimmerman 110
H Ryan Zimmerman 178
SB Nyjer Morgan 24

Pitching

Stat Player Total
W John Lannan 9
L John Lannan 13
ERA John Lannan 3.88
SO Jordan Zimmermann 92
SV Mike MacDougal 20
IP John Lannan 206.1

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Annual awards

Minor League System

The future for the Nationals seems to show promise with their Gulf Coast League affiliate qualifying for the playoffs. The significance of this to the 2009 Major League team is that it demonstrates that the team is attempting to improve on its performance and has the prospects to do so.

Class Team League Manager Record Finish
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Tim Foli 76–68 .528 2nd North Division
AA Harrisburg Senators Eastern League John Stearns 70–72 .493 5th Southern Division
High A Potomac Nationals Carolina League Trent Jewett 79–58 .577 2nd Northern Division
Low A Hagerstown Suns South Atlantic League Matthew LeCroy 56–78 .418 8th Northern Division
Short Season A Vermont Lake Monsters New York–Penn League Jeff Garber 34–41 .453 3rd Stedler Division
Rookie Gulf Coast League Nationals Gulf Coast League Bob Henley 36–19 .655 2nd East Division, Won Wild Card, Lost GCL Finals 2–0 to Gulf Coast League Marlins
Rookie DSL Nationals Dominican Summer League Juan Benhardt 29–42 .408 10th Boca Chica Division

References

  1. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Chicago Cubs
  2. 1 2 3 baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Miami Marlins
  3. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4087695
  4. ↑ "Meet your new MLB team: The Washington Natinals". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ Anonymous, "Washington Nationals invite Nationals fans to visit NatsTown and get your red on," Washington Nationals press release, February 5, 2009, 11:47 AM EST.
  6. ↑ Steinberg, Dan, "About Screech's Unveiling", washingtonpost.com, March 2, 2009
  7. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & San Diego Padres
  8. 1 2 baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Seattle Mariners
  9. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Pittsburgh Pirates
  10. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Colorado Rockies
  11. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & Chicago White Sox
  12. ↑ baseball-reference.com Trades between Washington Nationals & New York Mets
  13. ↑ Trades between Washington Nationals & Los Angeles Dodgers
  14. ↑ baseball-reference.com 2009 Washington Nationals Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  15. ↑ baseball-reference.com 2009 Washington Nationals

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