The Washington Nationals will honor their predecessors by wearing the uniforms of the 1969 Expos to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Expos/Nationals franchise on July 6th against the Kansas City Royals. This will be the first time since the Nationals relocated to Washington DC in 2005 that they have donned the classic Expos uniforms.
Why are the Nationals now honoring the franchise they succeeded? Why after 15 seasons are they paying homage to a team and history from which they have long tried to distance themselves? While it would be hard not to cash in on the Montreal Expos brand and merchandise at this time with all the talk of baseball returning to Montreal that has occurred the last few years, the Nationals have established their niche in the 15 years since they left.