<P> The Senators faced John McGraw's heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series . The two teams traded wins back and forth until the series reached the seventh and deciding game . The Senators trailed the Giants 3 to 1 in the eighth inning of Game 7, when Bucky Harris hit a routine ground ball to third which hit a pebble and took a bad hop over Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom . Two runners scored on the play, tying the score at three . An aging Walter Johnson then came in to pitch the ninth inning, and held the Giants scoreless into extra innings . In the bottom of the twelfth inning with Ruel at bat, he hit a high, foul ball directly over home plate . The Giants' catcher, Hank Gowdy, dropped his protective mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat . On the next pitch, Ruel hit a double and proceeded to score the winning run when Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took another bad hop over Lindstrom's head . This would mark the only World Series triumph for the franchise during their 60 - year tenure in Washington . </P> <P> The following season they repeated as American League champions but ultimately lost the 1925 World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates . After Walter Johnson's retirement in 1927, he was hired as manager of the Senators . After enduring a few losing seasons, the team returned to contention in 1930 . In 1933, Senators owner Clark Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him nine years prior: 26 - year - old shortstop Joe Cronin became player - manager . The Senators posted a 99--53 record and cruised to the pennant seven games ahead of the New York Yankees, but in the 1933 World Series the Giants exacted their revenge winning in five games . Following the loss, the Senators sank all the way to seventh place in 1934 and attendance began to fall . Despite the return of Harris as manager from 1935--42 and again from 1950--54, Washington was mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years contending for the pennant only during World War II . Washington came to be known as "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League", with their hard luck being crucial to the plot of the musical and film Damn Yankees . Cecil Travis, Buddy Myer (1935 A.L. batting champion), Roy Sievers, Mickey Vernon (batting champion in 1946 and 1953), and Eddie Yost were notable Senators players whose careers were spent in obscurity due to the team's lack of success . In 1954, the Senators signed future Hall of Fame member Harmon Killebrew . By 1959 he was the Senators' regular third baseman and led the league with 42 home runs earning him a starting spot on the American League All - Star team . </P> <P> After Griffith's death in 1955, his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency . Calvin sold Griffith Stadium to the city of Washington and leased it back leading to speculation that the team was planning to move as the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics had all done in the early 1950s . By 1957, after an early flirtation with San Francisco (where the New York Giants would eventually move after that season ended), Griffith began courting Minneapolis--St. Paul, a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer before agreeing to relocate . The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960 a deal was reached: The Senators would move and would be replaced with an expansion Senators team for 1961 . Thus, the old Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins . </P> <P> The Washington franchise was known as both "Senators" and "Nationals" at various times, and sometimes at the same time . In 1905, the team changed its official name to the "Washington Nationals ." The name "Nationals" appeared on uniforms for only two seasons, and was then replaced with the "W" logo for the next 52 years . The media often shortened the nickname to "Nats ." Many fans and newspapers (especially out - of - town papers) persisted in using the "Senators" nickname, because of potential confusion caused by an American League team using the "Nationals" name . Over time, "Nationals" faded as a nickname, and "Senators" became dominant . Baseball guides listed the club's nickname as "Nationals or Senators", acknowledging the dual - nickname situation . </P>

When did the washington senators become the minnesota twins