Best of the Decade: Baseball finally returns to D.C.

As the Nationals celebrate 10 seasons in Washington, D.C., we reflect on some of the best moments since the franchise moved to the nation's capital. Each Wednesday through mid-August, check out Nationals Pastime for a remembrance of one of the watershed moments in Nationals history.

After a long 33-year wait, baseball finally returned to Washington on April 14, 2005. Since the Senators rolled out of D.C. following the 1971 season, the nation's capital watched as Major League Baseball awarded expansion franchises to the likes of South Florida and Arizona.

But on Sept. 29, 2004, MLB formally announced D.C. as the home for the Montreal Expos. The new team, the Nationals, would play at the old ballpark, RFK Stadium, for their first three seasons.

The Expos won just 67 games in 2004 after dealing with home games at Olympic Stadium and in Puerto Rico while in baseball limbo. However, when the 2005 Nationals showed up at RFK for opening day in D.C., they had already won five of their first nine on the road and were tied atop the National League East.

A mass of red and white filed into the old arena on East Capitol Street where the Senators played from 1962 to 1971. 45,596 fans watched President George W. Bush throw out the ceremonial first pitch, 95 years to the day President William Howard Taft began the yearly tradition at the old Griffith Stadium.

After all the pomp and circumstance, right-hander Livan Hernandez took the mound and spun a gem. The 30-year-old wowed the crowd, allowing just one hit, an infield single, while shutting out the Diamondbacks over eight innings.

The Nationals took a 5-0 lead into the ninth behind the hot-hitting from third baseman Vinny Castillo. Castillo's fourth inning two-run triple scored Jose Vidro and Jose Guillen to give the Nats their first two runs in front of the new home crowd. In the sixth, Castillo launched the first homer, a two-run shot, in RFK in over three decades. When Castillo came to the plate in the eighth, he needed only a single to hit for the cycle. But, the cheers of the chance to see added history quickly turned to deep boos as Castillo was denied the opportunity when Diamondbacks reliever Lance Cormier plunked him.

"What an experience," Castilla told reporters. "The president was here, 50,000 people were cheering, my wife was in the stands. That's a night I'll never forget. It's something I'll be able to tell my grandkids."

Hernandez battled for the complete game, but couldn't finish the ninth. A three-run homer from Luis Gonzalez ended Hernandez's evening with just two outs left. Nationals manager Frank Robinson called on closer Chad Cordero, who made it interesting before getting Tony Clark to fly out for a 5-3 Nationals' victory.

After winning their first game in their new home, the Nationals stood surprisingly in sole position of first place in the division.

"It keeps the enthusiasm high and the expectations even higher," Robinson told reporters. "They're probably going to Vegas and putting coins on us right now."

The 2005 Nationals ended up leading the NL East at the All-Star break before dropping off in the second half to finish with a respectable 81-81 record. But the one special night when the national pastime returned to the nation's capital will always be remembered.

"I didn't know it was going to be like this," said center fielder Ryan Church to reporters after securing the last out. "But these people are hungry for baseball. Hearing the screams and the yells, it's not Montreal at all. It just gave me chills."

* Miss any of the memorable moments we're highlighting from Nationals history? Here's the list to date:

No. 10: 10-game winning streaks in 2005, 2014
No. 9: Mr. Walk-Off started it all on Father's Day 2006
No. 8: Nationals return to the postseason in 2014
No. 7: Zimmerman's walk-off welcomes Nats to new home
No. 6: Zimmermann's no-hitter to end 2014 regular season
No. 5: Nationals draft Bryce Harper
No. 4: Nationals clinch first playoff birth, win NL East in 2012