The Washington Blue Legs, or less commonly known as the Washington Nationals, were a professional baseball team established in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and played their home games at the Nationals Grounds and the Olympics Grounds

Olympics Grounds

Olympics Grounds was a baseball grounds located in Washington, D.C.. It was home to the Washington Olympics of the National Association in 1871–1872 and home to the short-lived Washington clubs of 1873 and 1875, including the Washington Blue Legs...

. According to Retrosheet

Retrosheet

Retrosheet is a non-profit organization whose website features major league baseball box scores and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest from 1871–1872, 1874, 1911 NL, and 1918–2010...

, they played two seasons in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...

 as the Nationals, playing 11 games in 1872, and 39 games in 1873. But according to Baseball-Reference

Baseball-Reference

Baseball-Reference.com is a website providing statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics.-History:...

, the franchise lasted just the 1873 season, and were nicknamed the Blue Legs.

1872 Washington Nationals

The 1872 team's season consisted of 11 games played, all of which they lost. Their manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 for this season is listed as either Warren White

Warren White (baseball)

William Warren White was an American Major League Baseball player who played mainly third base for six different teams in his six seasons of professional baseball, five of which were in the National Association and one season in the Union Association.-Early life:Born in Milton, New York, he also...

 or Joe Miller. The team's leading players include: 1B

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

 Paul Hines

Paul Hines

Paul Aloysius Hines was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891...

, 2B

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

 Holly Hollingshead

Holly Hollingshead

John Samuel "Holly" Hollingshead was a Major League Baseball center fielder, second baseman, and manager in the 19th century....

, and SS

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 Jacob Doyle.

1873 Washington Blue Legs

won 8 games and lost 31.

The Blue Legs were managed by Nick Young

Nicholas Young (executive)

thumb|Nicholas Ephraim Young was an American executive, manager and umpire in professional baseball who served as president of the National League from 1885 to 1902. Born in Amsterdam, New York at Johnson Hall, the estate of Sir William Johnson, he served in the Union Army during the Civil War,...

. Their top hitter was left fielder

Left fielder

In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

 Paul Hines

Paul Hines

Paul Aloysius Hines was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891...

, who went 60-for-181, a batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

of .331.