The Washington Nationals of the 1870s were the first important baseball club in the capital city of the United States.
The two teams practiced in the backyard of the White House and played each other in the spring of 1860; the Nationals consistently lost to the superior Potomacs, but the latter disbanded on the outbreak of the Civil War while the Nationals kept playing, and by the end of the war were "solidly in the esteem of Washington fans, with the club's shortstop, slight, 23-year-old Arthur Pue Gorman, the darling of the spectators.
In the summer of 1865 the Nationals invited the Philadelphia Athletics and Brooklyn Atlantics, two of the major teams of the era, to Washington, losing to the former 87–12 and to the latter 34–19, before 6,000 spectators, including President Johnson.
"[5] They defeated the best the locals had to offer, crushing Columbus 90–10, the Cincinnati Red Stockings 53–10, and the Cincinnati Buckeyes 88–12, beating Louisville, Indianapolis, and St. Louis as well before falling to the Rockford Forest Citys (with future Hall of Famer Albert Spalding) 29–23.
By this kind of enterprise Washington clubs were able to keep a cadre of good players and to offer excellent accommodations.
In 1867 the Nationals' park was located on a field four hundred feet square, surrounded by a ten foot fence, and shaded on the north side by roofed stands.
[2] The team's leading players include: 1B Paul Hines, 2B Holly Hollingshead, and SS Jacob Doyle.
The club probably failed by "unappealing play" and consequent receipts too small to support travel.