The Montreal Expos franchise officially relocated to Washington, District of Columbia, prior to the 2005 Major League Baseball season, transforming directly into the team now known globally as the Washington Nationals. Established as an expansion franchise in 1969, the Expos spent thirty-five seasons playing in Montreal, Quebec, achieving notable success and fielding legendary teams featuring Hall of Fame players like Vladimir Guerrero, Tim Raines, and Andre Dawson, before declining attendance, stadium lease issues, and financial challenges prompted Major League Baseball—which owned the franchise at the time—to orchestrate the move. Upon relocating to the United States capital, the franchise initially played at RFK Stadium for several years before moving into the state-of-the-art Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, where the organization eventually captured its first World Series championship in 2019. The historical records, statistics, and organizational lineage of the Montreal Expos were preserved and carried over into the Washington Nationals franchise history, cementing the direct continuity between the two geographic eras.