The Washington Senators were responsible for many baseball memories at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. For sports fans in the D.C. Metropolitan area, there are also so many other favorite teams to look back on, and remember when and where they were when runs, touchdowns, and goals were scored.
The demolition of the old ballpark built on federal land at 2400 East Capitol Street, just a couple miles east of the U.S. Capitol building, has been in the planning stages for several years. Structural demolition officially began last month.
Home to the NFL’s Washington Redskins for 36 seasons, great players who have worn the burgundy and gold immediately jump out to football fans in the city that borders Maryland and Virginia. Kilmer, Jurgensen, Theismann, and Riggins, with no first names needed, are forever favorites in Redskins history.
The official opening of the stadium on Oct. 1, 1961, was the day that gridiron action in D.C. was baptized. The visiting New York Giants left town having won the first NFL game, 24–21, in what was initially called the District of Columbia Stadium. Often, by fans and the media, D.C. Stadium became a more used tag by the District’s tenants.
Major League Baseball, for ten seasons, was the main focus for sports fans in D.C.
When Griffith Stadium hosted its last Senators game at the conclusion of the 1961 season, Washington’s American League club moved into the new, state-of-the-art stadium. With the Senators owner Cal Griffith relocating his franchise to the Midwest to become the Minnesota Twins, an expansion franchise was awarded to new ownership in Washington, to keep baseball in America’s capital.
With the demolition of RFK Stadium underway, for Dick Bosman, a celebrated starting pitcher for Washington, playing in D.C. holds lasting memories.
“I was a country kid out of Wisconsin that pitched in the Major Leagues for 11 years, and I had many good times in Washington,” Bosman told The Epoch Times on Sunday of his six seasons wearing a Senators uniform. “The ball didn’t carry well there, but I think it was a fair ballpark.”
Bosman recalls regularly seeing politicians attending Senators games, and on occasion had his picture taken with them. There is a photograph with him that includes former President Richard Nixon and his Senators’ manager, Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams.
Bosman is quick to tell that he has another framed memory in his Florida home with former President George H. W. Bush. Often, during the Senators’ stay in D.C., the sitting United States President would attend Opening Day, and to start the Major League Baseball (MLB) season, would throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
But, for the two MLB All-Star Games that were hosted at RFK Stadium (the stadium was renamed in January 1969 for former New York’s U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who months earlier had been assassinated while running for the U.S. presidency), and other baseball events, it’s the Senators’ final game on Sept. 30, 1971 that remains memorable.
Hosting the New York Yankees, the announced crowd of just shy of 15,000 fans wouldn’t let the teams complete the game peacefully. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, unruly fans stormed the field. Unable to complete the game, one in which Washington was ahead 7–5, the home club was forced to forfeit the game 9–0.
“That game was pretty chaotic, mainly due to a lack of security. With the fans upset, I assume because we [Senators] were moving to Texas the next season, it was hard for me to concentrate on the mound,” recalls Bosman, 80, who threw five innings as Washington’s starting pitcher for that game. “The fans came on the field in the ninth inning for the second time during the game. I can tell you, me and ‘Hondo’ [Senators’ slugging all-star Frank Howard] were upset, with all that was going on up in the stands. The second time the fans came onto the field, I couldn’t see security.”
With the 10th and final season completed by the second coming of Senators’ baseball in D.C., and the move to Arlington, Texas, where the club would be rebranded as the Rangers, Bosman remembers no special send-off by club owner Bob Short or the D.C. community. Sitting in the Senator’s clubhouse in RFK Stadium, Bosman remembers sharing a few beers with teammates Howard and Don Mincher. Bosman regrets not having saved his Senators uniform after his last outing in Washington.
“As far as our owner, I didn’t see or hear from Mr. Short after our last game that night in D.C.,” Bosman said.
Although there is no official Senators’ alumni association, Bosman talks of his former teammates keeping in touch through official MLB channels. He remains very close with his former catcher Jim French, both in the minor leagues and in all his half-dozen seasons with the Senators. Fellow hurler Joe Coleman and infielder Tim Cullen are other names from his Washington days that are dear to Bosman.
When MLB owners decided to bring the game back to D.C. for a third time in 2005 as the Washington Nationals, RFK Stadium played home to the National League franchise for its first three seasons, until their new ballpark was ready for occupancy.
