Washington Nationals Ultimate Simulation: Meet the Old School Nats

The “Old School” Washington Nationals are up first as we introduce the bottom four seeds in the Ultimate Nationals Simulation.

The Washington Nationals had to start somewhere. To kick this series off, we will look back upon the “best” of the early years of the Nationals and unveil the bottom four seeds in this tournament.

If you missed yesterday’s introduction to the simulation, you can check it out below.

The early years of D.C.’s newest baseball team were not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. From 2005-2011, the Nats totaled 492 wins, 640 losses, five managers, two general managers, zero seasons above .500, and six consecutive years of below average attendance.

Ironically, their inaugural season in 2005 was the best of the bunch. The Nats finished 81-81 and showed flashes of actual competence. They won ten straight games from June 2 to June 12.

In early July, the squad bolstered their lead in the National League East to 5.5 games before falling apart in the second half of the season, winning under 40% of their games.

The Nats lost 102 games in 2008, fired General Manager Jim Bowden, and hired Mike Rizzo. Despite this move, the Nationals finished with a worse record in 2009, losing 103 games.

Because of how awful the team was in 2008 and 2009, the Nationals selected #1 overall in the MLB draft in back-to-back years.

Those two picks yielded Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Also, in 2011, after an 80-81 season, the Nationals selected Anthony Rendon with the #6 overall pick.

While the overall picture is not pretty there are stand out performers, including one player joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez as the only members of the 40/40 club.