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I can't help myself. Consider this the last time you'll ever hear me
talk seriously about the Expos.
Ten years ago today, August 11, 1994, the last true game was played by a professional MajorLeague Baseball team bearing the name Montreal. It was a 4-0 loss to the
Pirates, in Pittsburgh. It dropped the team to 74-40 on the year.
Their winning percentage was .649 and they were a full six games up on the Atlanta
Braves. The third place team in the National League East was the New York Mets, at eighteen and a half games back.
The '94 'Spos were headed towards a pennant, and a probable World Series showdown with the New York Yankees,
who at 70-44 were the only team in the same universe as them.
How nice would that have been?
The Yankees coming into the Big O in October,
with over 60 000 Montreal fanatics going nuts on
every pitch. A World Series in Montreal? Back then? I don't think
any team coming into town would have known what hit them.
But alas, it wasn't meant to be. The strike, the fire sales, Claude
Brochu, new stadiums, buy-a-brick plans, management issues, Jacques Menard, Washington rumors, Jeffrey Loria, Jeff Torborg, Porto Rico, MLB ownership, the bullshit, the bullshit, the bullshit. We put together some semi-solid teams again, but August 11, 1994, that was the last time we had a total
contender, the real deal, a squad from top to bottom, with sound
management and a loaded farm system, a dynasty in the making. The team of the 90's, with Felipe Alou at the helm.
About that team: that loss was their first loss in a week. They had just won 6 of 7, 12 of 14, and get this, 20 of their last 23 games. They were hitting stride, big time. The names: Moises Alou was hitting .339, Larry Walker .322, Marquis Grissom .288. A kid named Rondell White was playing behind them, learning the ropes. Another kid, Cliff Floyd was the everyday first baseman, and having a solid season. The infield was rounded out
by Mike Lansing, Wil Cordero, and Sean Berry. All of them were hitting in the area of .280.
The pitching staff had Ken Hill having a career year, with 16 wins, and easily headed towards 20 something. You had Jeff Fassero and Kirk Reuter, having good years. And you had the legend, Pedro Martinez, at 11-5 in August, having his breakout season. Rounding it out was a surprise that year. All winning teams and seasons need a surprise. Ours was Butch Henry, at 8-3, and pitching way beyond himself.
Big John Wetteland, who had 90 saves in the two previous seasons, and would go on to have over 300 career saves in his career, was closing the door. The set-up man was a young and lean, in his prime, Mel Rojas. Without a doubt, it was the best one-two closing punch in the majors at the time.
Sure and steady Darrin Fletcher was the man catching.
Some names from the supporting cast, just for fun, should bring back some memories: Randy Milligan, 'Sweet' Lou Frazier, Lenny Webster, Gil Heredia, Jeff Shaw. We even had 'un petit gars de chez nous', Denis Boucher, who appeared in ten games that year.
Finally, the fans. Montreal fans were always notorious for coming out late in the season. Even in the early 80's, during the Carter, Cromartie, and Dawson heyday when they drew over two million, the big crowds only came out after the hockey play-offs, and more so, after St Jean Baptiste. July is when the season would start, as far as Montrealers were concerned. But then
they came out in droves, especially during winning seasons.
Their last three games at home in '94 were on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in early August against the St. Louis Cardinals. They drew 30, 37, and 31 thousand respectively for those three games. No sales, no promotions, no cheap hot-dogs, nothing. Almost a hundred thousand fans, mid-week, for a team from another division. On the weekends, at that point,
they were nearing 40 thousand consistently. At the Big O, thesame empty toilet bowl that sits there now, the 'Spos were bringing in over 200 thousand fans a week. The rest of the season would have run at near capacity, with weekend crowds of 50 thousand plus come September. Play-off games down there would have been something. They never came to be.
And so it goes. We now have this thing called a professional baseball team in Montreal. A farce, and a really bad one at that. God willing, at long last, they pull the plug soon. It's way overdue. Sometimes, though, it's nice to remember what it was like when we had a real baseball club in town,
even if it was ten years ago.
C'est la vie. May the Expos finally become the stuff of history, this year, officially.
:angryfire
talk seriously about the Expos.
Ten years ago today, August 11, 1994, the last true game was played by a professional MajorLeague Baseball team bearing the name Montreal. It was a 4-0 loss to the
Pirates, in Pittsburgh. It dropped the team to 74-40 on the year.
Their winning percentage was .649 and they were a full six games up on the Atlanta
Braves. The third place team in the National League East was the New York Mets, at eighteen and a half games back.
The '94 'Spos were headed towards a pennant, and a probable World Series showdown with the New York Yankees,
who at 70-44 were the only team in the same universe as them.
How nice would that have been?
The Yankees coming into the Big O in October,
with over 60 000 Montreal fanatics going nuts on
every pitch. A World Series in Montreal? Back then? I don't think
any team coming into town would have known what hit them.
But alas, it wasn't meant to be. The strike, the fire sales, Claude
Brochu, new stadiums, buy-a-brick plans, management issues, Jacques Menard, Washington rumors, Jeffrey Loria, Jeff Torborg, Porto Rico, MLB ownership, the bullshit, the bullshit, the bullshit. We put together some semi-solid teams again, but August 11, 1994, that was the last time we had a total
contender, the real deal, a squad from top to bottom, with sound
management and a loaded farm system, a dynasty in the making. The team of the 90's, with Felipe Alou at the helm.
About that team: that loss was their first loss in a week. They had just won 6 of 7, 12 of 14, and get this, 20 of their last 23 games. They were hitting stride, big time. The names: Moises Alou was hitting .339, Larry Walker .322, Marquis Grissom .288. A kid named Rondell White was playing behind them, learning the ropes. Another kid, Cliff Floyd was the everyday first baseman, and having a solid season. The infield was rounded out
by Mike Lansing, Wil Cordero, and Sean Berry. All of them were hitting in the area of .280.
The pitching staff had Ken Hill having a career year, with 16 wins, and easily headed towards 20 something. You had Jeff Fassero and Kirk Reuter, having good years. And you had the legend, Pedro Martinez, at 11-5 in August, having his breakout season. Rounding it out was a surprise that year. All winning teams and seasons need a surprise. Ours was Butch Henry, at 8-3, and pitching way beyond himself.
Big John Wetteland, who had 90 saves in the two previous seasons, and would go on to have over 300 career saves in his career, was closing the door. The set-up man was a young and lean, in his prime, Mel Rojas. Without a doubt, it was the best one-two closing punch in the majors at the time.
Sure and steady Darrin Fletcher was the man catching.
Some names from the supporting cast, just for fun, should bring back some memories: Randy Milligan, 'Sweet' Lou Frazier, Lenny Webster, Gil Heredia, Jeff Shaw. We even had 'un petit gars de chez nous', Denis Boucher, who appeared in ten games that year.
Finally, the fans. Montreal fans were always notorious for coming out late in the season. Even in the early 80's, during the Carter, Cromartie, and Dawson heyday when they drew over two million, the big crowds only came out after the hockey play-offs, and more so, after St Jean Baptiste. July is when the season would start, as far as Montrealers were concerned. But then
they came out in droves, especially during winning seasons.
Their last three games at home in '94 were on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in early August against the St. Louis Cardinals. They drew 30, 37, and 31 thousand respectively for those three games. No sales, no promotions, no cheap hot-dogs, nothing. Almost a hundred thousand fans, mid-week, for a team from another division. On the weekends, at that point,
they were nearing 40 thousand consistently. At the Big O, thesame empty toilet bowl that sits there now, the 'Spos were bringing in over 200 thousand fans a week. The rest of the season would have run at near capacity, with weekend crowds of 50 thousand plus come September. Play-off games down there would have been something. They never came to be.
And so it goes. We now have this thing called a professional baseball team in Montreal. A farce, and a really bad one at that. God willing, at long last, they pull the plug soon. It's way overdue. Sometimes, though, it's nice to remember what it was like when we had a real baseball club in town,
even if it was ten years ago.
C'est la vie. May the Expos finally become the stuff of history, this year, officially.
:angryfire