National Association

Washington Nationals History

By Patrick Mondout

The Olympic Base Ball Club of Washington (or "Washington Olympics") were a team that played during the first two seasons in the old National Association (NA). 

At a glance... WASHINGTON NATIONALS Franchise Facts Established 1861 Disbanded  1872 Located Washington, D.C. Executives Nick Young (1871) W. Pike (1873) Year by Year Results W L % 1871  15 15 .500 1872  2 7 .222 Affiliations NABBP (1861-1862, 1864-1870) National Association (1871-1872) Postseason/Titles NA Titles (0) Nicknames Olympic of Washington (1871-1872) Ballparks Olympic Grounds (1871-1872) Top Performances Single-Season Career

One of the oldest amateur teams outside of New York, the Olympic club paid the $10 entry fee and joined the professional NA in 1871.

The team managed to sign five of the fabled 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings (Andy Leonard, Fred Waterman, Asa Brainard, Charlie Sweasy, and Doug Allison), which instantly gave the team credibility and made it competitive. Such was the nature of the era that players could switch teams pretty much at will (such players were called "revolvers") and the Olympics took advantage of it.

The record of 15-15 might seem unimpressive, but this would be the last time a major league team in the nation's capital would finish at or above .500 for 40 years! (The 1912 Washington Senators went from 90 losses the previous season to 91 wins under new manager Clark Griffith.)

Leonard, Sweasy, and Allison left from even greener pastures before the 1872 season and Asa Brainard's best days were behind him. The team also faced competition from another D.C. team, the Nationals. Neither team had enough of a fan base and the Olympics won just two games (both against the Nats) before giving up in late May of 1872. (A brief newspaper note on June 3rd reports that the team had disbanded.)

National Association sources/bibliography:
Baseball: The Early Years by Harold Seymour.
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by David Block.
Baseball in Blue and Gray: The National Pastime during the Civil War by George B. Kirsch.
Blackguards and Red Stockings by William J. Ryczek
The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 by Marshall D. Wright.
Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein.
When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 by William J. Ryczek

David Nemec, the tireless 19th Century Baseball researcher, has also written a novel called Early Dreams, which takes place during this era and features real-life characters such as Cap Anson, George Wright, and Henry Lucas.

General Baseball History sources/bibliography:
Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns (PBS DVD)
The Formation, Sometimes Absorption and Mostly Inevitable Demise of 18 Professional Baseball Organizations, 1871 to Present by David Pietrusza.
The Great 19th Century Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, 2nd Edition by David Nemec.
Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825-1908 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900-1948 by Dean A. Sullivan.
Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1945-1972 by Dean A. Sullivan
Past Time: Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel
America's National Game: Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning, Evolution, Development and Popularity of Baseball by Albert Spalding
Total Baseball: The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia by John Thorn, et al.