1971 Washington Senators season
| 1971 Washington Senators | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
|
|
|
|
| Location | |
|
|
|
|
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Bob Short |
| Manager(s) | Ted Williams |
| Local television |
WTOP (Warner Wolf, Ray Scott, Tony Roberts) |
| Local radio |
WWDC (FM) (Ron Menchine, Tony Roberts) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1971 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses. This was the Senators' 11th and last season in Washington, D.C., as they moved to Arlington, Texas the following season, becoming the Texas Rangers. The move would leave Washington without a Major League Baseball team until the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated there in 2005, becoming the current Washington Nationals.
The acquisition of former Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain would not pay dividends for the franchise. Amid constant run-ins with no-nonsense Washington manager Ted Williams, Denny McLain lost 22 games in 1971.
By the end of the 1970 season, Senators owner Bob Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12 million, he would not renew his lease at RFK Stadium and move elsewhere. Several parties offered to buy the team, but all fell short of Short's asking price.
Short was especially receptive to an offer from Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, who had been trying to get a major league team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade. Years earlier, Charlie Finley, the owner of the Kansas City Athletics, sought to move his team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed by the other AL team owners.
Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park which had been built in 1965 to house the AA Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League. However, it had been built to major league specifications. It was also located in a natural bowl; only minor excavations would be necessary to expand the park to major-league size.
...
Wikipedia