Minor League Baseball team
The Fredericksburg Nationals are a Minor League Baseball team that is the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and play their home games at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, with a capacity of 5,000 people.
History
In June 2018, Potomac Nationals owner Art Silber announced that he had signed a letter of intent to build a new stadium in Fredericksburg, Virginia, that would open in April 2020.[5] The 5,000-seat multi-purpose stadium will include a 300-seat club facility and 13 suites.[6] In November 2018 the Fredericksburg city council unanimously gave final approval for the Silber family to finance, build and maintain the $35 million stadium with the city as an "anchor tenant" making an annual payment to the club of $1.05 million for 30 years.[7]
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on February 24, 2019,[8] but construction work did not begin until July[9] or August 2019.[10] On September 25, 2019, general manager Nick Hall said, "We're 100 percent planning on opening April 23."[11] MASN reported on January 13, 2020, that Hall had said that construction was on schedule and that he was confident the venue will be ready for the 2020 season.[12] With the 2020 season start postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nationals held a virtual opening day on April 23, 2020. Hall said that the stadium was baseball-ready though construction was not yet complete, even though, with construction deemed as essential business, "The construction progress has gone off without a hitch."[13][14] Construction was continuing at the start of June 2020.[15]
As part of a process to give the team a new name that included Fredericksburg,[7] a "Name the Team" contest that began in April 2019 received more than 2,400 responses on the team name, colors, mascots, and ways to incorporate local history and culture.[9] On October 5, 2019, the team announced that it had changed its name to the Fredericksburg Nationals for the 2020 season and that its marketing nickname for the team – "P-Nats" when the team was the Potomac Nationals – would change to "FredNats."[16][17][18]
The teams uniforms were revealed on November 16, 2019, along with a Mary Washington logo at an event on Mary Washington's 311th birthday.[19]
In March 2020, the team unveiled their new mascot, Gus, described as "fat and fluffy" with purple fur and bright green eyebrows.[1]
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being canceled on June 30.[20][21] With no minor league season to play, Fredericksburg became the alternate training site for the Washington Nationals, hosting players who were not on the active roster, as well as a number of minor league players and instructors, during the 2020 season.[22]
Before the Fredericksburg Nationals could play a game at the Class A-Advanced level, the team was notified in December 2020 that it would need to accept relegation to the Low-A level to continue play as an affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Silber confirmed the Fredericksburg Nationals would continue their affiliation with Washington at the new level for 2021 and beyond.[23] They were organized into the Low-A East.[24]
Fredericksburg began competition on May 4, 2021, with a 16–3 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats at Bank of the James Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.[25] The Nationals played their first home game at FredNats Ballpark on May 11, 2021, losing to the Delmarva Shorebirds, 7–5, with 2,065 people in attendance.[26][27]
In 2022, the Low-A East became known as the Carolina League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.[28]
