“I never played here,” Raines said. “I never played one game here. Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever been to Washington, D.C.”

That the two new Hall of Famers were being honored at Nationals Park on Monday served as another reminder of the franchise’s complicated history. Raines spoke wearing a white Montreal Expos jersey, the jersey he wore for 13 years and seven All-Star Games as he starred as one of baseball’s best players of the 1980s. It took until this year, the 10th and final year on the ballot, to get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 15 years after appearing in his final game and 13 years after the Expos ceased to exist.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to have my name on the Ring of Honor, obviously because there’s no longer a team in Montreal,” said Raines, who joined catcher Gary Carter and outfielder Andrew Dawson as Expos Hall of Famers inducted into Washington’s Ring of Honor. “The closest thing I have to having something up in the rafters is in Montreal at the hockey arena. Obviously, I did not play any hockey. This makes it much more real. And I’m happy and elated about the whole situation and to be a part of all of this.”

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The setting was more familiar to Rodriguez, who became the first former Nationals player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Before meeting with reporters, the former catcher stopped to chat and take a photo with Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner, who returned to Nationals Park for the first time since his left leg was amputated earlier this month to be in attendance for the Ring of Honor ceremony. Rodriguez played in just 155 games across the 2010 and 2011 seasons in Washington. (He played in 2,543 total as a major leaguer.)

When the Nationals unveiled their Ring of Honor with 18 people in August 2010, honorees had to have been elected to the Hall of Fame and to have played “significant years” with the Nationals, Senators, Homestead Grays or Expos. The organization changed the criteria for induction last season when Frank Howard was honored. Howard slugged 237 home runs for the Senators, the most in D.C. baseball history until Ryan Zimmerman topped the number last month, but isn’t in the Hall of Fame.

Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo signed a 38-year-old Rodriguez to not only stabilize the catching position but to serve as a positive clubhouse presence for a young team that needed a couple more years of seasoning before becoming a perennial contender. Of his 155 games as National, none was more memorable than when he was behind the plate when Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in his major league debut in 2010 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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“To be able to dominate them the way he did was really impressive,” said Rodriguez, who took part in a ceremony Monday morning for the dedication of Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez Field at Mason District Park in Annandale.

Both players received warm ovations when they were introduced during a pregame ceremony before the Nationals took on the Marlins — an organization for which Raines and Rodriguez also played. Their names were then unveiled along the facade of the suite level, where names from Washington’s long and unique baseball history — spanning four franchises, three leagues and two countries — reside.

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