Another D.C. disaster?

"Washington: First in war. First in peace. Last in the American League." -- old Vaudeville gag

With the exception of one World Series title (1924) and two AL pennants (1925 and 1933), and a couple of other decent finishes here and there, the history of Major League Baseball in the nation's capital is best left forgotten.

The old-time Senators did produce perhaps the greatest pitcher in history, Walter Johnson, who won 416 games between 1907 and 1927, and might have won a lot more if he wouldn't have been pitching for lousy teams for much of that time.

Those Senators, charter members of the American League, left Washington to become the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season. A brand-new version joined the AL in 1961, but bolted for Texas a decade later.

Baseball finally returned to D.C. in 2005, to the National League this time, as the landing spot for the remnants of the Montreal Expos.

The Nationals, as the Washington team is known this time around, put in a good showing in their first season, breaking even at 81-81. They won 10 fewer games in '06, the final season for Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as manager.

During spring training this year, veteran baseball observers started conjecturing that the Nationals might finish 2007 as one of the worst teams in history. I've heard it reported that some sportswriters got a pool going on the among of games they'd lose, ranging anywhere from 105 to what would be a record-breaking 130.

I thought some hyperbole might be involved there, but after the first week of the season, it looks like those guys might be on to something.

Washington has managed to win one of its first seven games, coming from behind to pull one out in the ninth. In those seven games, that has been the only time the Nationals have held the lead. They've scored 18 runs and given up 45. Their alleged "ace" pitcher, John Patterson, has a 9.35 earned run average after two starts.

It's early yet, but none of that sounds very promising.

If the Nationals' performance sends sportswriters scrambling for the record books later this summer, they might want to check deep into history for just how awful baseball teams have been in Washington.

I've mentioned the American League Senators, which started play in 1901. Washington had a representative in the National League prior to being dumped when the league contracted from 12 to eight teams. Washington had been in the NL for eight years and posted these finishes: 10th, 12th, 11th, 10th, 10th, seventh (wow!), 11th and 11th. Ouch.

Prior Washington teams were no good, either. The American Association, one of a handful of 19th-century major leagues, put a team in D.C. in 1884, but it folded after 63 games in which the team's batting average was an even .200. The National League tried the capital for the first time in 1886, and the result was a last-place finish with a record of 28-92, and a .210 team average. The only bright spot was a rookie named Cornelius McGillicuddy, who hit .361 in a 10-game trial. Better known as Connie Mack, he later gained fame by managing the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 years.

As a regular catcher the following season, Mack hit .201, but Washington managed to creep into next-to-last place. The team returned to the basement in 1888 (Mack didn't help much by batting .187) and '89, despite Mack upping his mark to .293. The team disappeared for a year before resurfacing in the American Association in 1891, finishing -- you guessed it -- last.

Go back to the really dark ages of baseball, and it doesn't get much better. The sport's first professional league, the National Association, had two teams in Washington at various points, the Olympics and the Nationals. In 1872, the Nationals played 11 games and lost them all. They tried again in 1873 (8-31) and 1875 (4-23).

That sure didn't set a good precedent for their namesakes of the 21st century.

Trivia question 11: This Hall of Fame player was named American League manager of the year when he guided the Washington Senators to an 86-76 record in 1969, nine years after retiring from another AL team with which he spent his entire playing career. Who was he?