Editing Texas Rangers (baseball) (section)

===Washington Senators (1961–1971)===
{{main|Washington Senators (1961–1971)}}
When the original [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|Washington Senators]] announced their move to [[Minnesota]]<!-- in 1960--> to become the [[Minnesota Twins|Twins]] in [[1961 Minnesota Twins season|1961]], Major League Baseball decided to expand a year earlier than planned to stave off the twin threats of competition from the proposed [[Continental League]] and loss of its [[Federal Baseball Club v. National League|exemption]] from the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]]. As part of the expansion, the American League added two expansion teams for the {{mlby|1961}} season–the [[1961 Los Angeles Angels season|Los Angeles Angels]] and a new Washington Senators team.<!-- However, the new Senators were (and still are) considered an expansion team since the Twins retained the old Senators' records and history.--> The new Senators and Angels began to fill their rosters with American League players in an [[1960 MLB Expansion Draft|expansion draft]]. The team played their [[1961 Washington Senators season|inaugural season]] at old [[Griffith Stadium]], then moved to the new [[District of Columbia Stadium]] in [[1962 Washington Senators season|1962]] under a ten-year lease.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

[[File:Richard Nixon throwing out opening pitch at Senators game, 1969.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Richard Nixon]] throwing the [[Opening Day]] [[ceremonial first pitch]] at [[RFK Stadium]] on April [[1969 Washington Senators season|1969]], with [[Ted Williams]] (left) and [[Bob Short]] (right, partially obscured by [[Ralph Houk]])]]
For most of their existence, the new Senators epitomized futility, losing an average of 90 games a season. The team's struggles led to a twist on a joke about the old Senators: "Washington: [[Henry Lee III#Post-war career|first in war, first in peace]] and ''still'' last in the American League." [[Frank Howard (baseball)|Frank Howard]], an [[outfielder]]/[[first baseman]] from 1965 to 1972 known for his towering home runs, was the team's most accomplished player, winning two home run titles.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The concurrent rise of the nearby [[Baltimore Orioles]] to regular championship contenders (winning their first World Series in {{wsy|1966}}) certainly did not help the Senators draw crowds. Further expansion and re-alignment in 1969 did not do much to help the Senators either, since (unlike the [[National League (baseball)|National League]]) the AL owners elected to align their new divisions strictly based on geography. This arrangement placed both expansion teams (the [[Seattle Pilots]] and the [[Kansas City Royals]]) in the [[AL West]], while pitting last place Washington against the AL's five best teams in the [[AL East]]. Despite this, the Senators managed a winning season in [[1969 Washington Senators season|1969]] (their only winning record in the nation's capital) when [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Famer]] [[Ted Williams]] managed the club to an 86–76 finish, good enough for fourth in the AL East.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1969 Washington Senators Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSA/1969.shtml |access-date=June 1, 2022 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> 

Ownership changed hands several times during the franchise's stay in Washington and was often plagued by poor decision-making and planning. Following their brief success in 1969, owner [[Bob Short]] was forced to make many questionable trades to lower the debt he had incurred to pay for the team in late 1968; the purchase price was reported at $9.4&nbsp;million.<ref name=shbuynats>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=abVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7359%2C1813874 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=R.E. Short buys Nats: $9 million |date=December 4, 1968 |page=16 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185709/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=abVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7359%2C1813874 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=sibcssh>{{cite magazine |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/08/09/bad-case-of-the-short-shorts |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Fimrite |first=Ron |author-link=Ron Fimrite |title=Bad case of the Short shorts |date=August 9, 1971 |page=20 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185709/https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/08/09/bad-case-of-the-short-shorts |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the [[1970 Washington Senators season|1970]] campaign, Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12&nbsp;million (by comparison, the [[New York Yankees]] were sold in [[1973 New York Yankees season|1973]] for $8.8&nbsp;million), he would not renew the stadium lease and would move the team elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

At first, it looked like a move to [[Buffalo, New York]], was in the works as at the time, a proposed multi-use stadium was in the cards in either downtown Buffalo where the current [[KeyBank Center]] is, or in suburban [[Lancaster, New York|Lancaster]] to share with the [[Buffalo Bills]]; however, the project went over budget and the Senators started to look elsewhere while the Bills opened up [[Rich Stadium]] instead.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/unknown-stories/unknown-stories-of-wny-a-parade-of-plans-a-look-back-at-buffalo-bills-stadium-proposals-of-the-past/71-023bcf01-8e93-4c51-9e7c-4bf1a2972a71 |location=(Buffalo, New York) |agency=WGRZ |title=Unknown Stories of WNY: A parade of plans, a look back at Bills stadium proposals of the past |date=January 11, 2022 }}</ref> Short was especially receptive to an offer brought up by [[Arlington, Texas]], mayor [[Tom Vandergriff]], who had been trying to obtain a major league sports team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade. Years earlier, [[Charles O. Finley]], the owner of the [[Kansas City Athletics]], sought to relocate his baseball team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed and ultimately declined by the other AL team owners (the A's ultimately moved to [[Oakland Athletics|Oakland, California in 1968]]). Arlington's [[hole card]] was [[Turnpike Stadium]], a 10,000-seat park built in 1965 to house the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]] [[Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs]] of the [[Texas League]]. However, it had been built to MLB specifications, and only minor excavations would be necessary to expand the park to accommodate major league crowds.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Vandergriff's offer of a multimillion-dollar down payment prompted Short to make the move to Arlington. On September 21, [[1971 Washington Senators season|1971]], American League owners voted 10–2 to allow the move of the franchise to Arlington for the [[1972 Texas Rangers season|1972 season]].<ref name=lwmtdfw>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gB9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qe0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5070%2C2397226 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Owners let Washington move to Dallas–Fort Worth |date=September 22, 1971 |page=16 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185710/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gB9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qe0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5070%2C2397226 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Minot|first=George Jr.|title=Short Takes Senators to Texas|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 22, 1971}}</ref> Senators fans were livid, and enmity came to a head at the club's last game in Washington on Thursday, September&nbsp;30. Thousands simply walked in without paying after the security guards left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000, while fans unfurled a "SHORT STINKS" banner. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Senators leading 7–5, several hundred youths stormed the field, raiding it for souvenirs. One man grabbed [[first base]] and ran off with it. With no security in sight and only three bases, [[umpire (baseball)|umpire]] crew chief [[Jim Honochick]] forfeited the game to the [[1971 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]].<ref name=ffinoff>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B_RNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=14oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7276%2C3891864 |work=Free-Lance Star |location=(Fredericksburg, Virginia) |agency=Associated Press |last=Lowitt |first=Bruce |title=Fans 'finish off' the Senators |date=October 1, 1971 |page=6 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185810/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B_RNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=14oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7276%2C3891864 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ywllsen>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2qlOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tQkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3672%2C118410 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |location=(North Carolina) |agency=UPI |title=Yankees wallop Senators, 9 to 0 |date=October 1, 1971 |page=2C |access-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185757/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2qlOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tQkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3672%2C118410 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sensforfeit">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/history/rfk/articles/baseball.htm|last1=McPherson|first1=Myra|last2=Huth|first2=Tom|title=Rowdy Fans Hand Senators Final Loss|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 1, 1971|access-date=September 15, 2017|archive-date=January 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102185802/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/history/rfk/articles/baseball.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last2=Shannon|first2=Bill|last1=Kalinsky|first1=George|title=The Ballparks|location=New York|publisher=Hawthorn Books, Inc|year=1975|author-link=George Kalinsky}}</ref>

The nation's capital went without Major League Baseball for 33&nbsp;years, until the relocation of the National League's [[Montreal Expos]], who became the [[Washington Nationals]] in&nbsp;[[2005 Washington Nationals season|2005]].<ref>[https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1891484 Expos finally found a new home], ESPN, September 29, 2004</ref>