Washington Wizards

Wizards games are announced by Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier. Coaches. All Wizards regular season games can be seen on Comcast SportsNet which is available in the Washington, DC area and other local areas. However, the team soon returned to its losing ways, finishing the 2004 season with a record of 70-91, the best in team history, and in 4th place in the American League East, also a team best. Injured Reserve. Expectations were low for the team entering the 2004 season, but the team surprised most baseball experts by compiling a 42-41 record (.506) in their first 83 games, staying within 5 games for the American League wild card, a remarkable feat considering the team was 18 games below .500 at one point. Bench
. In 2003, the team signed manager Lou Piniella, a proven manager who helped the Seattle Mariners become competitive in the mid-1990s.

Starters
. From their inception in 1998, the Devil Rays are yet to be major contenders, finishing in last place in the American League East every year from 1998 to 2003. Following this game, the Wizards were swept by the Miami Heat (#1 seed in the 2005 playoffs), ending a stellar season. Many never forgave the team. In Game 6, the Wizards won their first playoff series in 23 years defeating the Chicago Bulls 94-91 and became only the ninth team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0-2. Petersburg on the map was named...Tampa Bay. In a Game 5 victory against Chicago they took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. And, in a biting irony, the team that was supposed to put St.

In Game 3 of the first round against the Chicago Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988. The Dome that had built 3 other teams' new stadiums was now out of date. The 2004-2005 season marked the first time the franchise had ever made the playoffs as the Wizards; the last time the team had made the postseason was in 1996-1997, when it was still known as the Bullets. But, to stay current, it needed more than $70 million US from the city in renovations. The MCI Center is also home to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. So, the Dome was finally occupied. Also that year the Wizards moved to the MCI Center located at 601 F Street in Northwest Washington, DC. In fear, baseball decided to have another expansion, this time admitting Naimoli's group and a group from Arizona.

The names Seadogs, Express, and Monuments were also considered but rejected. Angry at MLB about the Giants, group leader Vince Naimoli threatened a lawsuit. They had changed it because the name Bullets carried a violent overtone. A local boycott on Blockbuster Video stores lasted for years. On May 15, 1997, the Bullets officially unveiled their new name and logo. Many were bitter, especially at Huizenga, who voted against the move. During the transition, the Bullets also played home games at Cole Field House, the home of the University of Maryland Terrapins, while waiting for the completion of their new arena in Landover, the Capital Centre (later known as the USAir/US Airways Arena.) Through the mid-1990s, the Bullets still played a few games per season in Baltimore. However, at the last minute, the team was sold to a local San Francisco group.

In 1973, the team moved to Landover, Maryland and became the Capital Bullets, and they changed their name to the Washington Bullets the next season. A press conference was announced, uniforms were drawn up, and tickets were about to be printed. And the season after that, they moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Bullets, no relation to the 1940s Bullets franchise. Pete. The next season, they changed their name to the Zephyrs. Another shot at baseball came when the San Francisco Giants were for sale, and a group wanted to move them to St. The team now known as the Wizards started as the Chicago Packers in the 1961-62 season. Adding salt to the wound, Huizenga named the Miami team the Florida Marlins.

The Washington Wizards are a National Basketball Association team based in Washington, D.C.. Not wanting two Florida teams, and faced with a strong bid from Denver, the league bypassed the Bay Area and took Huizinga's bid. C - #34 Peter Ramos (Puerto Rico). Not helping matters was a bid by Wayne Huizenga for a team in Miami. SF - #24 Jarvis Hayes (Georgia). St. Petersburg fielded a group, expecting to be a lock until a competing group from Tampa also showed up. SF - #10 Damone Brown (Syracuse). Too much, it turned out.

F/C - #36 Etan Thomas (Syracuse). The 1993 expansion, the first in more than a decade, brought out interest from the area. PF - #51 Michael Ruffin (Tulsa). The Seattle Mariners also looked at the area. G/F - #7 Laron Profit (Maryland). Soon, teams started to look in to moving to the area, the first being the Chicago White Sox, who but for a last minute action by the Illinois Legislature were heading to St. Petersburg. SG - #8 Anthony Peeler (Missouri). The dome was built without any notification of receiving a team (Major League Baseball recommended highly against it), and was solely meant to attract an existing team.

G - #3 Juan Dixon (Maryland). That changed with the building of the state-of-the-art Suncoast Dome in 1986. F/C - #5 Kwame Brown (Glynn Academy, Brunswick, Georgia). The main obstacles were city infighting and the lack of a stadium. PG - #2 Steve Blake (Maryland). Petersburg area made many attempts to acquire a baseball team before receiving the Devil Rays in the 1998 expansion. SG - #20 Larry Hughes (Saint Louis). The Tampa Bay/St.

PG - #0 Gilbert Arenas (Arizona). Petersburg, Florida. They are in the Eastern Division of the American League. C - #33 Brendan Haywood (North Carolina). The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. SF - #1 Jared Jeffries (Indiana). Princeton Devil Rays. PF - #4 Antawn Jamison (North Carolina). Visalia Oaks
Southwest Michigan Devil Rays
Hudson Valley Renegades.

41 - Wes Unseld. Montgomery Biscuits. 25 - Gus Johnson. Durham Bulls. 11 - Elvin Hayes. American League
. Don Nelson. Pitching Strikeouts: 172 Troy Saunders (1998).

Chris Webber. Pitching Wins: 14 Rolando Arrojo (1998). Rasheed Wallace. Hitting Streak: 18 games - Quinton McCracken (1998). Ben Wallace. Stolen Bases: 59 Carl Crawford (2004). Rod Strickland. Triples: 19 Carl Crawford (2004).

Brent Price. Doubles: 47 Aubrey Huff (2003). Robert Pack. Runs: 104 Carl Crawford (2004). Gheorghe Muresan. Hits: 198 Aubrey Huff (2003). Bernard King. Batting Average: .318 Fred McGriff (2001).

Michael Jordan. Runs Batted In: 107 Aubrey Huff (2003). Gus Johnson. Home Runs: 34 José Canseco (1999), Aubrey Huff (2003). Juwan Howard. 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball). Bob Dandridge. 12 Wade Boggs.

Phil Chenier. Victor Zambrano. Manute Bol. Greg Vaughn. Michael Adams. Tony Saunders. Wes Unseld. Jim Morris.

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe. Fred McGriff. Elvin Hayes. Jose Canseco. Walt Bellamy. Wilson Alvarez. 15 Matt Sinatro (bullpen coach).

7 John McLaren (bench coach). 6 Tom Foley (baseball coach/player) (3rd base coach/infield instructor). 2 Billy Hatcher(1st base coach). 4 Lee Elia (hitting coach).

55 Chuck Hernández (pitching coach). 14 Lou Piniella (manager). Wade Boggs.