1971 Washington Senators
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	RFK Stadium
City	Washington, D.C.
Record	63–96 (.396)
League place	6th
Owners	Bob Short
Managers	Ted Williams
Television	WTOP – (Warner Wolf, Ray Scott,Tony Roberts)
Radio	WWDC (FM) (Ron Menchine, Tony Roberts)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

The1971Washington Senators season involved the Senators finishing fifth in theAmerican League East with a record of 63 wins and 96 losses (.396). This was the Senators' 11th and last season inWashington, D.C.; they moved toArlington, Texas, and became theTexas Rangers in1972. The previous Senators (nowMinnesota Twins) were in Washington from1901 through1960.

The move to Texas left Washington without aMajor League Baseball team for 33 seasons, until theMontreal Expos of theNational League relocated there in2005 and became the currentWashington Nationals.

• October 9, 1970:Ed Brinkman,Aurelio Rodríguez,Joe Coleman, andJim Hannan were traded by the Senators to theDetroit Tigers forDenny McLain,Elliott Maddox,Norm McRae, andDon Wert.^[1]
• November 3, 1970:Greg Goossen andGene Martin were traded by the Senators to thePhiladelphia Phillies forCurt Flood and a player to be named. The Phillies completed the deal by sendingJeff Terpko to the Senators on April 10, 1971.^[2]
• November 30, 1970:Joe Foy was drafted by the Washington Senators from theNew York Mets in the 1970 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• March 29, 1971:Ed Stroud was traded by the Senators to theChicago White Sox forTommy McCraw.^[4]

The acquisition of formerCy Young Award winnerDenny 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.^[5]

By the end of the1970 season, Senators ownerBob Short had issued an ultimatum: unless someone was willing to buy the Senators for $12 million, he would not renew his lease atRFK 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 mayorTom 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 theKansas City Athletics, sought to move his team to Dallas, but the idea was rebuffed by the otherAL team owners.

Arlington'shole card wasTurnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park which opened in 1965 to house theAADallas–Fort Worth Spurs of theTexas 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.

• Dick Bosman
• Paul Casanova
• Tim Cullen
• Mike Epstein
• Curt Flood
• Joe Foy
• Toby Harrah
• Frank Howard
• Elliott Maddox^[6]

• May 8:Darold Knowles andMike Epstein were traded to theOakland Athletics forFrank Fernández,Don Mincher,Paul Lindblad, and cash.^[7]
• June 8:1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Stan Thomas was selected in the 27th round.^[8]
  • Mike Cubbage was selected in the second round of the secondary phase.^[9]
• July 16:Joe Foy was released.^[10]
• September 27:Jim French was released.^[11]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Denver

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007).The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
• 1971 Washington Senators team page at Baseball Reference
• 1971 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

• Washington Senators (1961–1971) seasons
• 1971 Major League Baseball season
• 1971 in sports in Washington, D.C.

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