The original Washington Senators existed from 1901-1960. Some of the more famous Senators were Walter Johnson, Goose Goslin, Camilo Pascual, and Harmon Killebrew. At the end of the 1960 season, the American League expanded, and owner Calvin Griffith decided that he would move his team to Minnesota, which was a better baseball town. The Senators were renamed the Minnesota Twins as a reference to the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The city of Washington, which had been known for being “first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League” had lost its beloved franchise, and felt betrayed by their owner.
After the original Senators had moved out of town, Major League Baseball decided to give the city of Washington a new franchise. Also named the Senators, the new team, managed by Gil Hodges and later Ted Williams, continued where the old Senators had left off, winning no pennants in its 10 years of existence. At the end of the 1971 campaign, owner Rob Short decided to move the Senators to Texas, where they became the Texas Rangers. The city of Washington has been without a baseball franchise ever since.
