Washington DC has a long history with baseball and baseball cards dating back to the late 19th century. One of the earliest professional baseball teams to call Washington home were the Washington Nationals who played in the American Association from 1881 to 1899. While it’s unknown if any baseball cards were produced specifically featuring the Nationals during that early era, they likely would have appeared on larger tobacco cards or cabinet cards that showcased multiple baseball players.
The first true baseball cards designed for the collectors’ market emerged in the late 1880s produced by manufacturers like Old Judge and Goodwin & Company. These early rendition baseball cards commonly featured major leaguers from top teams of the day like the Boston Beaneaters, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Chicago Colts and Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s possible a few Washington Nationals players may have earned spots on these pioneering baseball cards but without the team’s individual branding or logo prominent on the design.
In 1901, the American League was founded as a major league competing with the National League and one of its eight inaugural franchises was the new Washington Senators who played at National Park. The Senators went on to become a staply fixture in the nation’s capital for over 60 years. Some of the earliest identifiable early 20th century baseball cards showcasing Washington DC players came from sets like 1909-1911 E90 and 1912 Tacoma Gum. Sets from this era often featured multiple Senators stars of the time including Walter Johnson, Sam Crawford and Eddie Ainsmith.
During the boom of baseball card collecting in the 1920s fueled by the rise of bubblegum as the premium insert, the Washington Senators were regularly highlighted in iconic sets like 1921 Baltimore News, 1923 Sweet Caporal Tobacco and 1925 Hornsby Caramels. Franchise icons like Goose Goslin, Joe Judge and Sam Rice had their individual player cards during Washington’s “First Edition” era before moving to Griffith Stadium in 1922. The 1930s saw the Senators represented in classic gum and candy inserted sets like 1933 Goudey and 1936 Sport Kings among others.
In the post-World War 2 period of the late 40s and 50s, the Senators franchise seemed to get renewed spotlight on baseball cards at a time when the hobby was revolutionized by the advent of modern cardboard issues not mixed in with smoking products. Hall of Fame inductees like Early Wynn, Mickey Vernon and Roy Sievers enjoyed baseball card popularity. Top players from their pennant years like Johnny Schaive, Bob Porterfield and Harvey Haddix also found decent cardboard coverage in sets like 1951 Bowman, 1953 Topps and 1959 Fleer.
Of course, one of the most iconic baseball cards ever produced was the iconic 1957 Topps rookie card featuring “The Kid” himself, Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in a Washington Senators uniform. Even after the Senators bolted for Minnesota after the 1960 season, their legacy continued appearing on early 1960s cards through the final holdouts traded elsewhere like Killebrew, Roy Sievers and Camilo Pascual.
After a four-year absence, MLB baseball returned to Washington DC with the new expansion franchise, the Washington Senators who took the field in the brand new Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1961. While not achieving great success on the field, some defining early cards of the second edition Senators included 1961 Topps rookie cards of Joel Davidson and Jose Valdivielso and 1962 rookie cards of Ron Nischwitz, Fritz Ackley and Tommie Agee. Other 1960s and 1970s Senators stars like Frank Howard, Ed Brinkman and Ken McMullen were regular fixtures on Topps, Fleer and Kellogg’s issues of the interval.
In 1972, political meddling and franchise mismanagement led to another Senators relocation, this time to Arlington, Texas where they became the Texas Rangers. The final Washington Senators cards were 1972 Topps ones highlighting the last season in the nation’s capital. The franchise continued to be remembered through traded away standouts with the lasting images like Frank Howard’s first season as an Angel immortalized on a 1973 Topps card.
After a 33-year hiatus, Washington DC was again granted an expansion team in 2005 that took the field as the Washington Nationals playing at the brand new Nationals Park along the city’s Anacostia River. This ushered in a whole new generation of Nationals players debuting on baseball cards starting with 2005 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects cards highlighting first round draft picks Ryan Zimmerman and Bill Bray. stars like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Juan Soto and Anthony Rendon have since become fixtures on countless modern baseball card issues from Topps, Bowman, Panini and more capturing the rising success of the current D.C. ballclub. With a 2019 World Series title now added to their short history, the baseball card legacies of great 2000s-era Nationals are only beginning to be written.
Whether as Senators or Nationals, Washington DC has enjoyed uninterrupted baseball representation on card issues spanning over 130 years. From pioneers like Walter Johnson and Sam Rice to modern day standouts like Bryce Harper and Juan Soto, a rich history of the nation’s capital’s national pastime has been preserved on cardboard for collectors and fans alike to enjoy for generations to come.
