The game must have felt like a hot dagger to the heart of every Washington fan. Just four years before, the perennially futile Senators had left town, only to be replaced by an even less effective collection of players. And now, as Washington Post writer Bob Addie lamented, “fickle fate ordained that the old Senators, now known as the Twins, should win the pennant by beating the new Senators.”

With a 2-1 victory over their former selves in front of a pitiful Washington crowd (8,302 fans), the Twins punched a ticket to the World Series for the first time since moving to Minnesota, and the first time in franchise history since 1933. Meanwhile, Washington endured a 72-90 record. It was the best performance so far by the new Senators, but still a forgettable one. The team left town four years later, and playoff baseball hasn’t returned to the nation’s capital since.

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