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On this day, September 30, 1971, the Washington Senators played their final game.
Last edited Thu Sep 30, 2021, 07:45 AM - Edit history (1)
Hat tip, WTOP
It was a Thursday.
Rowdy Fans Hand Senators Final Loss
By Myra McPherson and Tom Huth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 1, 1971
The Washington Senators' 71-year-old life ended one out too soon.
In the top of the ninth last night -- with the Senators leading 7 to 5 and two out -- several hundred youths in the yelling crowd of 14,460 surged onto the playing field at R.F. Kennedy Stadium. They ran the bases and stole home, tore out tufts of grass, grabbed the ball boys' folding chair and pinched dirt for their jacket pockets.
When first base was lifted and carried away, you could tell it was all over. And so, the final irony: the fans lost the game for the Senators, who had to forfeit their last contest here to the Yankees.
No one on the field cared, nor did those fans who watched smilingly from their seats. The huge banks of lights dimmed out one by one. Police started herding the crowd back into the stands. Three men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Two groundskeepers lifted their shovels under police guard to dig up the pitching rubber. Four other officers stood over home plate. One of them said, "They just told us to guard home playte {sic}." He didn't say for what.
And so ended one of the rowdiest wakes ever. The crowd was noisy and wild from the beginning. They came on a muggy, windy night to say goodbye to the Texas-bound Senators, who in their lifetime lost far more than they won.
The crowd came with a jovial camaraderie for one another and their departing team -- an emotion born out of their dislike for Robert Short, the owner who made it possible for them to never, ever see another Washington Senators game here.
One woman wore a black mourning arm band over her raincoat sleeve ( "I don't know what I'm going to do without them" ) and a 14-year-old boy wept as he lugged a styrofoam dummy of Short around the stands with him.
{snip}
By Myra McPherson and Tom Huth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 1, 1971
The Washington Senators' 71-year-old life ended one out too soon.
In the top of the ninth last night -- with the Senators leading 7 to 5 and two out -- several hundred youths in the yelling crowd of 14,460 surged onto the playing field at R.F. Kennedy Stadium. They ran the bases and stole home, tore out tufts of grass, grabbed the ball boys' folding chair and pinched dirt for their jacket pockets.
When first base was lifted and carried away, you could tell it was all over. And so, the final irony: the fans lost the game for the Senators, who had to forfeit their last contest here to the Yankees.
No one on the field cared, nor did those fans who watched smilingly from their seats. The huge banks of lights dimmed out one by one. Police started herding the crowd back into the stands. Three men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Two groundskeepers lifted their shovels under police guard to dig up the pitching rubber. Four other officers stood over home plate. One of them said, "They just told us to guard home playte {sic}." He didn't say for what.
And so ended one of the rowdiest wakes ever. The crowd was noisy and wild from the beginning. They came on a muggy, windy night to say goodbye to the Texas-bound Senators, who in their lifetime lost far more than they won.
The crowd came with a jovial camaraderie for one another and their departing team -- an emotion born out of their dislike for Robert Short, the owner who made it possible for them to never, ever see another Washington Senators game here.
One woman wore a black mourning arm band over her raincoat sleeve ( "I don't know what I'm going to do without them" ) and a 14-year-old boy wept as he lugged a styrofoam dummy of Short around the stands with him.
{snip}