Washington Nationals: Remembering Alfonso Soriano as a Nat
Alfonso Soriano spent just one year in the nation’s capital and the numbers he put up for the Washington Nationals led to a very historic season.
Born and raised in the New York Yankees system, Alfonso Soriano spent one season with the Washington Nationals sandwiched between his time with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. What began as insubordination over playing in the outfield ended in one of the best single-season performances in team history.
Soriano was brought to the Nationals in the final year of his contract in a trade with the Rangers. Washington parted ways with pitcher Armando Galarraga, outfielders Terrmel Sledge and Brad Wilkerson in the deal.
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Galarraga is best known for having his perfect game erased from history on a horrific umpiring call from Jim Joyce. Wilkerson is known as the last player to ever wear a Montreal Expos uniform.
With Jose Vidro (who never looked good in a Washington Nationals uniform as he was meant to be an Expos lifer) manning second base, the position Soriano was accustomed to, a change was needed. Soriano was asked to play left field, which he initially refused to do.
After settling in at his new position though, Soriano went on to have a remarkable season with his bat and his legs. Soriano crushed 46 home runs and stole 41 bases becoming just the fourth player in MLB history to join the 40-40 club.
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He had an OPS of .911 and drove in 95 runs, mostly while hitting leadoff for a team that finished last in the division with a 71-91 record. He also scored 119 runs while playing in a career-high 159 games.
Just as quickly as Alfonso Soriano was there, however, he was gone.
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Entering free agency after the season he signed an 8 year/$136M contract with the Cubs. His stellar season with the Nationals was just a blip on the radar in his career though he provided several memorable moments for the fans in DC.