The 1971 Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses (). This was the Senators' 11th and last season in Washington, D.C.; they moved to Arlington, Texas, and became the Texas Rangers in 1972. The previous Senators (now Minnesota Twins) were in Washington from 1901 through 1960.

The move to Texas left Washington without a Major League Baseball team for 33 seasons, until the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated there in 2005 and became the current Washington Nationals.

Offseason

October 9, 1970: Ed Brinkman, Aurelio Rodríguez, Joe Coleman, and Jim Hannan were traded by the Senators to the Detroit Tigers for Denny McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae, and Don Wert.Denny McLain page at Baseball Reference November 3, 1970: Greg Goossen and Gene Martin were traded by the Senators to the Philadelphia Phillies for Curt Flood and a player to be named. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Jeff Terpko to the Senators on April 10, 1971.Curt Flood page at Baseball Reference November 30, 1970: Joe Foy was drafted by the Washington Senators from the New York Mets in the 1970 rule 5 draft. March 29, 1971: Ed Stroud was traded by the Senators to the Chicago White Sox for Tommy McCraw.Ed Stroud page at Baseball Reference

Regular season The acquisition of former Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain did not pay dividends for the franchise. Amid constant run-ins with no-nonsense Washington manager Ted Williams, McLain lost 22 games in 1971.

Relocation to Texas By the end of the 1970 season, Senators owner Bob Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12 million, he would not renew his lease at RFK Stadium and move elsewhere. Several parties offered to buy the team, but all fell short of Short's asking price.

Short was especially receptive to an offer from Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, who had been trying to get a major league team to play in the Metroplex for over a decade. Years earlier, Charlie Finley, the owner of the Kansas City Athletics, sought to move his team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed by the other AL team owners.

Arlington's hole card was Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park which opened in 1965 to house the AA Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs of the Texas League. Built to major league specifications, it was located in a natural bowl, and only minor excavations were necessary to expand the park to major-league size.

After Vandergriff offered a multimillion-dollar up-front payment, Short finally decided to pull up stakes and move. On September 21, 1971, he got his wish, receiving approval from AL owners to move the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season.

Washington fans were outraged, leaving public relations director Ted Rodgers with the unenviable task of putting a positive spin on such events as fans unfurling a giant banner that contained Short's name, preceded by a popular four-letter invective. A photo of the banner appeared on the front page of a DC newspaper the following day.

Fan enmity came to a head in the team's last game in Washington, on September 30. Thousands of fans simply walked in without paying because the security guards left early in the game, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000. The Senators led 7–5 with two outs in the top of the ninth. Just then, fans poured onto the field, thinking the final out had already been made. A teenager scooped up first base and ran away. With no security guards in sight, the game was forfeited to the Yankees, 9–0.

Opening Day starters Dick Bosman Paul Casanova Tim Cullen Mike Epstein Curt Flood Joe Foy Toby Harrah Frank Howard Elliott Maddox

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 8: Darold Knowles and Mike Epstein were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Frank Fernández, Don Mincher, Paul Lindblad, and cash.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference June 8: 1971 Major League Baseball draft Stan Thomas was selected in the 27th round.Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference Mike Cubbage was selected in the second round of the secondary phase.Mike Cubbage page at Baseball Reference July 16: Joe Foy was released. September 27: Jim French was released.Jim French page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1971 Washington Senators Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Paul Casanova 94 311 63 .203 5 26 1B Don Mincher 100 323 94 .291 10 45 2B Tim Cullen 125 403 77 .191 2 26 SS Toby Harrah 127 383 88 .230 2 22 3B 85 329 92 .280 5 33 LF Frank Howard 153 549 153 .279 26 83 CF Del Unser 153 581 148 .255 9 41 RF 66 171 44 .257 0 16

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Dick Billings 116 349 86 .246 6 48 128 258 56 .217 1 18 Bernie Allen 97 229 61 .266 4 22 Lenny Randle 75 215 47 .219 2 13 122 207 44 .213 7 25 Jeff Burroughs 59 181 42 .232 5 25 Joe Foy 41 128 30 .234 0 11 Mike Epstein 24 85 21 .247 1 9 Richie Scheinblum 27 49 7 .143 0 4 Jim French 14 41 6 .146 0 4 20 40 2 .050 0 2 13 35 7 .200 0 2 Frank Fernández 18 30 3 .100 0 4 Tom Ragland 10 23 4 .174 0 0 3 9 3 .333 0 0 Rick Stelmaszek 6 9 0 .000 0 0 Bill Fahey 2 8 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 35 236.2 12 16 3.73 113 33 216.2 10 22 4.28 103 18 124.2 5 9 3.47 89 Mike Thompson 16 66.2 1 6 4.86 41

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO 54 124.1 5 7 3.98 43 27 124.1 6 5 2.75 70 Jim Shellenback 40 120.0 3 11 3.53 47 23 61.2 1 5 4.96 19 14 47.0 3 4 5.94 21

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Paul Lindblad 43 6 4 8 2.58 50 Denny Riddleberger 57 3 1 1 3.23 56 56 1 1 2 3.59 38 46 5 2 5 1.92 56 12 2 2 2 3.52 16

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Denver

Notes

References

1971 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference 1971 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com