Two of the newest Hall of Famers who have important ties to the Washington Nationals organization are about to be awarded the club's highest honor.
Washington announced Thursday that it will induct Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez into the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park in a ceremony before Monday's game against the Miami Marlins.
Raines, one of the greatest leadoff hitters of all time, still sits at or near the top of many statistical categories in Nationals franchise history thanks to his 13 years with the Montreal Expos. In 2004, mere months before they moved to Washington, the Expos retired Raines' No. 30. The move was merely ceremonial, however, as the Nationals returned those digits to circulation after the relocation.
The four-time stolen base champion becomes the third player from the Expos era to be placed on the Nationals' Ring of Honor, joining his longtime Montreal teammates and Hall of Famers Gary Carter and Andre Dawson.
Rodriguez played 155 games with the Nationals during the final two seasons of his career, hitting just .255/.291/.341 with six homers over that span. While his brief tenure in D.C. might be forgotten by many, Pudge does have a significant place in the team's history as the first Hall of Famer to have the Nationals listed on his plaque. He'll also become the first player named to the Ring of Honor based solely on his accomplishments for the Nationals.
Rodriguez's most memorable moment as a National likely came on June 8, 2010, when he caught Stephen Strasburg's historic 14-strikeout major-league debut.
According to FederalBaseball.com, the criteria for induction into the Nationals' Ring of Honor is as follows:
- The player had to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- The player had to have played with the Washington Nationals, Washington Senators (both iterations, now the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers respectively), Homestead Grays (Negro Leagues), or Montreal Expos
- The player had to have played significant years with (any of) those teams.
Both Rodriguez and Raines now meet that criteria with their induction to Cooperstown.
Other Nationals' Ring of Honor inductees include Senators Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Harmon Killebrew; Negro League legends Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell; and former Expos and Nationals skipper Frank Robinson.
