Washington Senators / Nationals Uniform History (Original Edition)
Washington's team was officially nicknamed Nationals in 1905, but Senators and Nationals were used by fans and media interchangeably. It was only in 1955 that the team formally changed its name to "Senators". In fact a 1950 prototype jersey with Nationals in script was found recently. When MLB expanded to Minnesota for the 1961 season, Washington owner Calvin Griffith requested and was allowed to move the Senators to Minneapolis instead, giving Washington the expansion team and ending the original franchise's long tenure in its original city.
Washington Nationals
1901
"WASHINGTON" arched across home and road jerseys with a pillbox cap.
1902
"W" in block on the pocket. Collars are navy. White caps.
1903
Fancy "W" logo. Pockets removed. Road grey cap has piping added.
1904
"WASHINGTON" arched across home and road jerseys. Pillbox cap at home, navy on the road.
1905
"NATIONALS" arched across home jersey, the first team to put the nickname on the jersey. Tall "W" on road shirt. Road cap is grey with piping.
1906
"NATIONALS" arched across home jersey, now with a white cap. Road jersey is navy with an old english "W" and navy cap with piping.
1907
"W" on home white, blue collar flap, with navy cap. "WASHINGTON" across navy road jersey with white collar flaps and white cap with piping.
1908
"WASHINGTON" across home jersey as well. Home cap changed to navy with piping and a "W" logo. Road cap flipped to navy.
1909
Logo on home jersey returns to "W" with white collar flaps."WASHINGTON" across home jersey as well. Road collar faps are navy.
1910
White home, road cream with navy on the placket, white or cream caps with piping. "W" logo on both. Both the 1909 style "W" and a smaller block font are worn. Collar flaps are gone.
1911
Home jersey unchanged but cap becomes navy with white piping. Road jersey has placket piping, the "W" has serifs, and cap is cream with navy piping.
1912-16
Jerseys get pinstripes and the "W" moves to the sleeve. Road jersey has a blue placket. Caps are navy with a white crown and visor band.
Caps change to plain navy with "W" insignia in 1916.
1917
Stars & Stripes patch worn on the chest. Blue placket removed from road jersey.
1918-23
Stars & Stripes patch dropped.
Spalding
Spalding
1924
Sun collar dropped for standard collar, though the sun collar jersey is still used as seen in the photo. Pinstripes dropped on road jerseys.
A white home jersey was used in the 1924 World Series.
1925
Same as the previous year.
1926-27
Solid white at home, solid grey on the road. Stars & Stripes sleeve patch. White/grey caps.
1928
Home and road jerseys have pinstripes and a navy "W" on the sleeve. Navy caps have a white "W" at home, red "W" on the road.
Spalding
1929-30
"W" serifs gone. Pinstripes gone from road jersey. Cap logo is white both home and road. Collars are dropped.
1931-35
Jersey numbers added.
Spalding
Cap changes to navy with no insignia in 1933.
Spalding
Cap logo returns.
1936-37
Home pinstripes gone. Navy "W" with red trim on home sleeve, Red "W" with navy trim on the road. Cpas have a "W" in red with white trim.
1938
"W" moves to the chest. Placket piping added to home jersey. Red "W" on home cap, white on road cap, no outline.
Spalding
1939
White home, road grey. Zippers debut. "W" on right sleeve. Cap logo is a white "W". Baseball Centennial patch on left sleeve.
1940
"W" on both sleeves.
1941
Logo moves back to the front.
1942
Two home jerseys, a zippered pinstripe and buttoned white. Buttoned road grey.
Spalding
Health sleeve patch, designed by US Division of Physical Fitness, worn in 1942 in support of war effort.
Health patch has been removed from this jersey.
1943-47
Placket piping added.
Stars & Stripes sleeve patch worn into 1947.
MacGregor GoldSmith
1948-49
Pinstripes, red trim added to home jersey and cap logos. Road jerseys and caps have no red trim.
MacGregor GoldSmith
Spalding
1950-54
Red trim added to road jerseys. Zippers replace buttons. Same cap used home and road, white logo with red trim.
MacGregor GoldSmith
AL 50 year patch worn in 1951.
Cap logo loses the white trim in 1952.
Spalding
Wilson
Washington Senators
1955
Spalding
The team nickname is formally changed to Senators. Though the official name had been Nationals, fans and media had called them "Senators" for years. Road jersey gets the city name across the chest for the first time.
1956-58
Wilson (home), Spalding (road)
Home jersey lettering goes 3D.
Here's a closeup of how the 3D lettering was done. Note the chain stitch.
1958 jerseys with the arched "WASHINGTON" were recycled for 1959 with the script changed to "Senators".
1959
Wordmark changes to "Senators". Mr. Senator sleeve patch added.
Wilson (home), Spalding (road)
1960
Buttons replace zippers.
Wilson (home), Spalding (road)
After the 1960 season the original Senators relocate to Minneapolis.