Washington Nationals Logo

MLB Officials to Unveil Nationals Logo (WaPo)

Major League Baseball and District officials have scheduled a news conference for noon today at Union Station to unveil the logos for the soon-to-be-named Washington Nationals. The primary logo will feature "Washington" in a ribbon that rests atop a rectangle that contains the word "Nationals." Below is a baseball ringed with stars.

There are several versions of the logo, according to a preview of the team marks that were viewed by The Post. All the marks -- variations of the logos that will appear on the team's uniforms, caps and other merchandise -- will be done in the team colors of red, white and blue. Some do not include the baseball, and simply have "Washington Nationals." The team logo on the cap will be a curving "W," on a blue background and on a red background, presumably for home and away games.

Home team logos, which likely will grace the front of the team uniform, include "Nationals" in blue with red trim, and "Nationals" in plain red. Some blue lettering will have gold trim. The away logos will include "Washington" in plain red and "Washington" in blue with red trim. Some logos will feature "DC" on red and on blue backgrounds, respectively. Other variations include gold trim surrounding a blue "Nationals" or blue "Washington," and some logos will be simply black and white.

What puzzles me is that they have yet to sell the team and yet they've already moved it to a new city, renamed it, designed a logo, hired a general manager, made a significant trade, and signed two free agents. That strikes me as an odd sequence.

Update: It's offical.



D.C.'s team to be the Nationals (MLB.com)

City and team officials announced at a Monday press conference at Union Station that Washington, D.C.'s baseball team will be named the Nationals. The name change comes almost two months after Major League Baseball announced that the team was relocating from Montreal to Washington, D.C. The team will play its home games at RFK Stadium during the 2005 season.

With team president Tony Tavares and interim general manager Jim Bowden in attendance, the Nationals also revealed a new logo and uniform color scheme, which is red, blue and gold. "This is a thrilling and important step in returning the national pastime to the nation's capital," Tavares said. "The team name and colors not only represent our new home, but symbolize the joining together of Washington's baseball past and its future."

The Nationals were competing against such names as the Senators and Grays. Senators was the name of the previous two Major League Baseball franchises in Washington and Grays was a Negro League team based in Pittsburgh.

Actually, the first incarnation of the Washington Senators were known as the "Nationals" for many years:

The Nationals was the official original name of the Senators franchise that played in Washington from 1901-60, although the team was known by both names for several decades. Owner Calvin Griffith officially changed the name to Senators in 1957.

via ESPN

Update: See also -
The Washington Nationals (Nov. 6)
Washington Nationals Get Guillen from Angels (Nov. 19)

Cox, Showalter Get Manager of Year Awards

Cox, Showalter Get Manager of Year Awards (AP)

Bobby Cox and Buck Showalter were given little chance of success after payroll purges pushed out key players. Proving the predictions wrong, their teams won, anyway, and so did the managers. Cox was voted NL Manager of the Year on Wednesday for leading the Atlanta Braves to an unexpected 13th straight division title, and Showalter won the AL honor for turning the last-place Rangers into a contender after Texas traded MVP Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees.

"Some of the fans probably thought we weren't going to make it this year, but we did," Cox said following his third manager of the year award. "I think I'm as thrilled this year as I ever have been with one single team."

Coming off four straight last-place finishes in the AL West, Texas cut its payroll in half and wasn't predicted to do well. But the Rangers rebounded and remained in contention until the final week of the season. "I would have picked us the same place everybody did, too," said Showalter, who won for the second time.

Cox received 22 first-place votes and 10 seconds for 140 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Tony La Russa of St. Louis, who has won four manager of the year awards, was second with 62 points after leading the Cardinals to a major league-best 105-57 record. Jim Tracy of Los Angeles was third with 52. "I thought Tony deserved it, to be honest," Cox said. "I would be more than happy to split that trophy and have both our names on it." Atlanta, struck by injuries to key players, was 33-39 after a loss at Baltimore on June 25, then went 63-27. "We were treading water for a good part of the season until we got everybody back and finally took off," Cox said.

Cox won the AL award with Toronto in 1985 and the NL award with the Braves in 1991, the first year of Atlanta's record run.

After the departures of pitcher Greg Maddux and sluggers Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla, the Braves were predicted by most to finish third or lower in the NL East. But the Braves wound up 10 games ahead of second-place Philadelphia.

Well deserved in both cases. Cox is almost certainly the best regular season manager in baseball and gets too little credit for the Braves' amazing run of success. While it's arguable that he didn't win as many World Series titles as he should have given the immense talent the team had in the mid-1990s, he won division titles in several seasons where, on paper, the Braves were less talented than other contenders.

For more, see Bobby Cox Wins 2000th Game and Braves Win 13th Straight Division Title.

from OTB