On October 15, 1925 around 4:30 in the afternoon, the Washington Senators lost game 7 of the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The defeat ended their title defense from 1924.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That same day, in nation’s capital Theodore N. \u201cTed\u201d Lerner<\/strong> was born. If Washington was the World Series champion in his life, it was only for the first few hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the next 94 years, a championship never returned. The American League Nats won another pennant in 1933, but would bow out in five games, more than a week before Lerner’s ninth birthday. Lerner would work at Griffith Stadium as an usher and attend the 1937 All-Star Game there. He would never attend a World Series though, as the franchise was routinely “first in war, first in peace, last in the American League.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first AL franchise abandoned Washington after the 1960 season because owner Calvin Griffith was racist<\/strong><\/a>. A second team was promptly awarded to the District of Columbia, but the expansion Senators fared even worse than the original. In 1971, owner Bob Short moved the team<\/strong><\/a> to “some jerk town with the single boast it is equidistant from Dallas and Fort Worth.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n While baseball in the District was floundering, Lerner was quietly developing real estate. It’s been oft-cited that Lerner borrowed $250 from his wife to start what grew into Lerner Enterprises<\/strong><\/a>. The company developed Tysons Corner and other malls as well as other suburban real estate. His three children and their spouses entered the tight-knit private company as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By 1977, Lerner had the capital and interest in returning baseball to his hometown. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA real estate juggernaut<\/h2>\n\n\n\n