For honored members of 2005 Nats, "it really has not felt like 20 years"

John Patterson hadn’t been back to Nationals Park since the final day of the 2007 season, a day he didn’t know at the time would be his final day in the major leagues. The lanky right-hander has built a whole new life since, running a real estate company with his wife outside Dallas, coaching his 8-year-old son’s baseball team. His long, flowing hair has gone totally gray, which combined with the glasses he wears makes him look more like a college professor than an ex-ballplayer.

Patterson’s baseball life was a generation ago. And yet when he walked into the park Friday, the memories instantly flooded his mind. Opening Night at RFK Stadium. His 13-strikeout shutout of the Dodgers. The 10-game winning streak that left the stands bouncing every night and the team in first place.

“I remember it all so vividly,” the now-47-year-old said. “A lot of it is coming back to me. It really has not felt like 20 years.”

That was the sentiment of everyone who assembled here this weekend for the 20th anniversary celebration of the first team in Nationals history. Two decades is a long time. Think about the state of the franchise today compared to then. It’s hard to believe the two are connected.

“As you go along and look back, you realize that it’s pretty cool,” infielder Jamey Carroll said. “You were a part of MLB history. … The longer you get away from it, the more you realize it was a pretty big deal.”

It really was. At the time, Major League Baseball had not seen a franchise relocate since 1972. Yep, when the second iteration of the Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers. The league had expanded into six new markets during the ensuing 33 years. But not once in that time had a franchise packed up and moved to another city.

Twenty-eight of the 55 players who appeared in a game for the 2005 Nationals had previously appeared in a game for the Expos. They had spent three seasons in organizational limbo, first believing they were going to be contracted, then splitting their home games between Montreal and San Juan. They were sad for the fans of Montreal – any D.C. fan of a certain age can understand that particular brand of heartbreak – but they were thrilled to finally have a permanent home.

“OK, this is special. We have to make sure that we make this count,” closer Chad Cordero recalled thinking. “We didn't want to disappoint the fans, because they had been missing baseball for so long. We just went out there and did the best that we could, and fortunately it kind of paid off for the most part.”

It absolutely did, thanks to an unforgettable season that caught everyone by surprise.

The 2005 Nationals, still owned by MLB for that first season before the Lerner family purchased the club, sported a modest Opening Day payroll of $50 million. There were some quality players already on the roster, but former general manager Jim Bowden could only bolster it with affordable veterans like Vinny Castilla, Cristian Guzman and Esteban Loaiza.

Frank Robinson’s squad managed to tread water for two months, hovering around the .500 mark. And then they came back to D.C. on Memorial Day to open the longest homestand of the year. They took three of four from the Braves. Then they swept the Marlins, Athletics and Mariners in succession, a 10-game winning streak that still stands to this day as the longest in club history and catapulted them from third place to first place in the National League East.

Along the way, the city embraced the team in a way even the most optimistic observers could not have expected. RFK Stadium bumped and thumped every night, fans old and young alike falling in love with these guys.

“To make the run we did, and to have the city behind us the way it was … we ended the first half so strong,” catcher Brian Schneider said. “I know it didn’t work out for us, but seeing those bleachers down the third base line bouncing, the president (throwing out the first pitch on Opening Night), there’s just so many things. There was such a buzz around town.”

The buzz remained through the final day of the season, even if the rate of success didn’t. A team that went a remarkable 50-31 during the first half shockingly went 31-50 in the second half and finished with a .500 record.

The Nationals have enjoyed far more successful seasons since. They won division titles in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. They won the World Series in 2019. They’ve employed superstars the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer and Juan Soto.

The 2005 Nats had none of that. Even Ryan Zimmerman, who would go on to become the face of the franchise, was a minor part of that team, called in September and taking only 62 plate appearances.

And yet the inaugural team continues to be beloved by fans and by the players themselves, who understand how special that season was in the grander scheme.

“To know that we were part of a special time in baseball, and it included being in Washington, D.C., is pretty cool,” said Carroll, who looks at a poster of the 2005 team on his wall every day.

“Did we know what we were getting ourselves into?” Schneider asked. “You see the history of the game that was here, with the presidents, and then they had baseball taken away from them. So we knew it was going to be a huge deal. To be on that team that came back, and to see fans that have been here since day one, it’s always good to see their faces again. I’m very grateful to be a part of this.”

The organization paid tribute to them all today, unveiling a “2005 Washington Nationals” sign from the façade of Sections 314 and 315 behind home plate, inducting the entire team into the ballpark’s Ring of Honor.

If it seems strange to honor an 81-81 team like that, when there have been so many better teams since, just consider what the distinction meant to these players when they learned the news.

“It's something you don’t really expect,” Cordero said Friday. “We were just a team that was coming down from Montreal and trying to find a way to bring back baseball to all the fans who were missing it after a long time. So, to realize what they’re doing tomorrow, it just kind of makes it come full circle. …

“I never thought I was going to be part of something like that.”