The Potomac Nationals have been through several incarnations in the 4 decades they have played in Northern Virginia. Last Friday, the P-Nats commemorated there tenure as the Alexandria Dukes by wearing and wore 1978 replica uniforms. They wore a blue, orange and white combination , as seen in this Baseball Reference Dukes entry. At some point, they also wore a blue, white and orange cap with an A. That season, the Dukes played as an independent. In ’79, they were the Alexandria Mariners. In ’80 they would be an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, even wearing a black and gold pillbox cap with an A on it while restoring the Dukes name. I remember a neighbor having an Alexandria Dukes pennant too.

The Dukes played in Four Mile Run Park. I don’t know if the current baseball diamonds reflect what the facility was during the Dukes days but if so, wow, that’s pretty spartan, even for the Carolina League in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They moved to Prince William County in 1984 and became the Prince William Pirates. Then, they affiliated with the New York Yankees and became the Prince William Yankees (I remember the interlockling PW on pinstripes — sharp) before becoming the Prince William Cannons. Then they became the Potomac Cannons and finally, after becoming an affiliate of the new Washington Nationals they became the Potomac Nationals.

Seemingly, the change from Prince William to Potomac was to make the club more marketable to Northern Virginians in Fairfax and Arlington counties. I always thought it was silly and kind of disingenuous since Pfitzner Stadium is probably over 10 miles away from the Potomac River. The P-Nats are trying to move into a new facility at Stonebridge near Interstate 95 (insidenova.com). That would be considerably closer to the Potomac River, but if I were Prince William County, I would make them switch back to the Prince William name in order to get any funding, site approval, etc. We’ll see.

So, what is the irony I mentioned in the headline? The Four Mile Run home of the Alexandria Dukes was actually just a few miles from what was once known as Potomac, Va. That town, created in 1908 was annexed by the city of Alexandria in 1930 according to Wikipedia. The “Potomac Cannons/Nationals” would have made more sense in 1978 than it does now.

By the way, I’d be tempted to buy a Dukes cap with the “A” and maybe even an “ALEXANDRIA” road jersey if they ever had them since I live in the city. I’d also be tempted to get a “PRINCE WILLIAM” road jersey if they change back for obvious reasons.

MEANWHILE, IN THE BIG LEAGUES

The Washington Nationals have gone 9-1 over the last ten games with only a Sunday loss to the Houston Astros halting the streak. Last night, the Nats scored a couple of touchdowns on the San Francisco Giants (mlb.com video) to take that season series with two games to play. The gained another game on the Atlanta Braves in the NL, who are 5½ behind. DC will need every win they can, this won’t get an easier. Tonight is the last West Coast night game of the regular season and tomorrow is a 3:45 p.m. start. Thursday is an off day. A homestand starts on Friday night with the New York Mets in town.