The 11-year tenure in Washington, D.C. saw the team plagued with poor performances, and were the definition of futility, losing an average of 94 games a season.

The team's struggles led to a twist on a joke about the old Senators: "Washington: first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League."

Their only winning season was in 1969 when Hall of Famer Ted Williams managed the club to an 86–76 record, placing fourth in the AL East.

When the original Washington Senators announced their move to Minnesota in 1960 to become the Twins in 1961, Major League Baseball decided to expand a year earlier than planned to stave off the twin threats of competition from the proposed Continental League and loss of its exemption from the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The new Senators and Angels began to fill their rosters with American League players in a chaotic, last-minute expansion draft.

Ownership changed hands several times during the franchise's stay in Washington and was often plagued by poor decision-making and planning.

Owner Elwood Richard Quesada once wondered why he needed to pay players who did not belong in the majors and later agreed to a ten-year lease at D.C. Stadium—a move that would come back to haunt the Senators.

The Senators finished the season in ninth place, with a dismal 61–100 (.379) record, and 47½ games behind the World Series winning New York Yankees.

The Senators ended the season in eighth place with a 71–88 (.447) record, 25½ games behind the World Series winning Baltimore Orioles.

The Senators ended the season tied for sixth place with the Baltimore Orioles, with a 76–85 (.472) record, 15½ games behind the Boston Red Sox.

Following their brief success in 1969, owner Bob Short was forced to make many questionable trades to lower the debt he had incurred to pay for the team in late 1968; the purchase price was reported at $9.4 million.

[11][12] Serving as his own general manager, Short was forced to make many questionable trades to service the debt and bring in much-needed revenue.

Moreover, like their predecessors in their final few years in the nation's capital, the new Senators had to compete for an audience with the Baltimore Orioles, 45 miles (72 km) to the northeast, who by the 1960s were perennial contenders.

The Senators ended the season in last place in the AL East with a 70–92 (.432) record, 38 games behind the World Series winning Baltimore Orioles.

At that season's end, Short dealt his best starting pitcher and the left side of his infield to the Detroit Tigers for erstwhile 30-game-winner Denny McLain, who had spent most of the 1970 campaign suspended because of gambling allegations.

[15] Short was especially receptive to an offer brought up by Arlington, Texas, mayor Tom Vandergriff, who had been trying to obtain a major league sports team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade.

Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park built in 1965 to house the Double-A Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League.

Thousands simply walked in without paying after the security guards left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000, while fans unfurled a "SHORT STINKS" banner.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Senators leading 7–5, several hundred youths stormed the field, raiding it for souvenirs.

With no security in sight and only three bases, umpire crew chief Jim Honochick forfeited the game to the New York Yankees.

As the second iteration of the Washington Senators, the team's first home uniforms featured navy pinstripes and navy-trimmed red letters.