Opening Day 2005 at RFK Stadium

Lore & Background

The 2005 season was a rebirth for baseball in Washington, a city that had lost its previous team, the Washington Senators, in 1971. The Nationals, born from the relocation of the Montreal Expos, brought a new energy to RFK Stadium, a venue originally built for football but adapted for baseball. The day was a civic celebration, with fans flooding the streets in red, white, and blue, waving signs that read 'Welcome Home, Nats.' The game itself was a tight contest, with the Nationals rallying in the eighth inning to secure a 5-3 victory, capped by a two-run double from José Vidro.

In Their Own Story

The air was electric as the crowd roared, the first pitch from the President sailing across the plate. I was there, a kid clutching a foam finger, my dad pointing out the old Senators logos on the scoreboard—ghosts of a team I'd only read about. The smell of hot dogs and fresh-cut grass mixed with the hum of 45,000 voices, a living, breathing organism that pulsed with every out. When Vidro’s double landed in the gap in the eighth, the stadium shook—a sound that wasn't just noise, but a release of three decades of silence. For one afternoon, RFK wasn’t just a concrete bowl; it was a cathedral of hope, and I was part of the congregation.

Reader's Guide

The 2005 season was the Nationals' inaugural year in Washington, a chapter defined by transition and discovery. The team, still carrying the Expos' roster and a patchwork identity, played at RFK Stadium—a temporary home that became a symbol of the city's patience and passion. This era mattered because it established the Nationals' identity as a community-driven franchise, blending the legacy of past D.C. baseball with a new generation. The Opening Day win set a tone of resilience, even as the team finished with a .500 record. It was a foundation year, where fans learned to love a team that was still finding its way, and where the seeds of future success—like the drafting of Ryan Zimmerman later that summer—were planted. This day remains a touchstone for the club's lore, a reminder that baseball in D.C. was not just revived but reborn, and that sometimes the most important victories are the ones that prove you belong.

Did You Know?

• President George W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch, marking the first time a sitting president had done so at a D.C. opener since 1971—and the first pitch he'd thrown at a major league game since leaving the Texas
• The Nationals' lineup included future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, but by 2005 he was already with the Angels—though fans still wore his Expos jerseys as a bittersweet nod to the franchise's past.
• RFK Stadium had not hosted a regular-season MLB game since the Washington Senators left in 1971; the last pitch thrown there before 2005 was a ceremonial one by former Senator Frank Howard during a 2004 exhibition.
• The game was broadcast nationally on ESPN, drawing a large audience eager to see baseball's return to the capital—and featuring a pregame segment that showed President Bush practicing his pitch on the White House lawn.