The Expos

[Shortstop]

1980 NLCS SERIES
Game 4 - Stade Olympique

Stung by losing the chance to sweep the series the previous night, the Expos exploded in the first inning, scoring five runs thanks to a Dwight Evans' triple and a slew of runs from Andre Dawson, George Brett and Rusty Staub.

If Atlanta were stung by the result, they didn't show it, and proceeded to stage some excellent play, resulting in loaded bases at the top of the third. However, a double play quickly took some of the heat off their momentum, and the Expos lead by 5-1.

The next inning, Dwight Evans tagged up off a Rusty Staub fly-ball and reached home to put Montreal ahead by five. Even though it was only the bottom of the third, the party was well underway in the Stade Olympique.

By the bottom of the fifth, it was a love-in, with Montreal extending their lead to 9-2. Rusty Staub doubled down the left field line for two RBIs, while Milt May drove in his captain for the best received run of the night.

By the end of the night, with Montreal ahead 12-3, it was only fitting that the last original Expo should have the glove in his hand the moment that Montreal became the first Canadian team to qualify for the World Series.

MONTREAL EXPOS - 1981 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

[Shortstop]

1980 WORLD SERIES
Game 1 - Memorial Stadium

The Baltimore Orioles would be Montreal's opponents in the 1980 World Series, and therefore had the weight of an entire nation on their shoulders. This wasn't about baseball anymore - it was America against Canada. The Orioles had won just one World Series before (1966) and appeared in three other series (1944, as St Louis Browns, 1969 and 1977).

Their line-up suggested experience and stability:

CF - Al Bumbry (93/93) - Orioles 1972-80, .313 career average
RF - Rob Ellis (80) - Brewers 1971-80, Orioles 1980. Traded at start of season
LF - Don Baylor (95) - Orioles 1970-80, .300 career average
3B - Doug Decinces (95) - Orioles 1973-80, 214 home runs
1B - Greg Goossen (76) - Mets 1965-68, Pilots 1969, Brewers 1970-80, Orioles 1980. Traded at start of season
2B - Bobby Grich (93) - Orioles 1970-80
C - Dave Skaggs (92) - Orioles 1977-80, .308 career average
DH - Mark Belanger (84) - Orioles 1965-80, .253 career average

Their pitchers also suggested quality across the board
Jim Palmer (93), starter, Orioles 1965-80, 274-116, 3.10 ERA
Paul Mitchell (94), starter, Orioles 1975-80, 96-24, 2.72 ERA
Mike Flanagan (95), starter, Orioles 1976-80, 68-38, 3.43 ERA
Mike Boddicker (89/93), starter, Orioles 1980, 7-11, 4.98 ERA
Dyar Miller (94), closer, Oriles 1974-80, 41-28 and 108 saves, 3.04 ERA

For the first time, O Canada was played before the start of a World Series game. Glenn Abbott threw the first Expos pitch in a World Series game, while George Brett collected the first hit.

For Brett, it would be two hits in one - the first and the last Expos hit for the day. Baltimore showed their patience and experience, while Montreal wildly swung at anything. By the end of the day, the Expos were fortunate to only lose 3-0. Nonetheless, they were well beaten.

[Shortstop]

1980 WORLD SERIES
Game 2 - Memorial Stadium

Game 2 would be no less tougher for the Expos, who were crushed by the Orioles offense, leaking 11 runs over the course of the night. Although Montreal would peg the Baltimore lead back to one run early in the night, thanks to a Dwight Evans home run, it was nowhere near enough to overcome the powerful Orioles line-up.

Pitcher Mike Krukow was yanked after letting up eight runs in three innings. He spent the rest of the night with tears running down his face on the bench.

[Shortstop]

1980 WORLD SERIES
Game 3 - Stade Olympique

The first World Series game to be played outside of America saw a much closer spectacle befitting of the occasion.

Andre Dawson opened the scoring with a home run over the right centre fence which sent the local fans into raptures.

Baltimore would strike back with two runs of their own in the top of the third to go ahead once again.

At the bottom of the fourth, the Expos levelled the game with George Brett singling to centre and scoring a much-needed run through Dwight Evans.

Baltimore broke the game open in the top of the sixth, with Greg Goossen hitting a home run right over the same spot Andre Dawson hit his earlier in the night. This time, the cost would be two runs to Baltimore. Goossen would later tag up and reach home off a Dave Skaggs fly ball, resulting in the Orioles going ahead 5-2.

The Expos would rally in vain in the ninth inning, but would score just one run. The final insult was the Orioles walking Ben Oglivie and Dwight Evans, only to strike out Andre Dawson.

Baltimore now lead the World Series 3-0.

[Shortstop]

1980 WORLD SERIES
Game 4 - Stade Olympique

With Glenn Abbott on the mound, it was do-or-die for the Expos.

Baltimore would go ahead early in the night, thanks to a Greg Goossen home run, however the Expos would strike back hard with a Milt May home run driving in himself, George Brett and Rusty Staub.

In the bottom of the third, George Brett scored his own home run to place Montreal an extra run ahead.

The moment of truth came in the bottom of the seventh, with Dwight Evans scoring a two-run home run, while Rusty Staub drove in two runs of his own with a double.

The celebrations in the streets of Montreal lasted long into the night, although in the back of everybody's mind there was still quite a lot of work to do.

[CatKnight]

You did it by 81! Congratulations!

[Shortstop]

1980 WORLD SERIES
Game 5 - Stade Olympique

Mike Krukow would get the start again for the Expos, and he performed largely with distinction, only allowing two hits and a walk all night.

Unfortunately for him, those two hits and a walk resulted in the grand sum of three runs, all scored in the seventh inning.

Montreal rallied again in the ninth inning, scoring through Tony Bernazard. However, even with two runners on-base and two outs, there would be no more tomorrows for the 1980 Expos.

Rob Teal, pinch-hitting for Jamie Easterly, was the final out of the 1980 World Series, and the gasp as his flyball went straight up in the air was clearly audible. The game ended with Baltimore cheers and Montreal tears, as the loyal fans trudged home on Blue Monday.

Baltimore Orioles - 1980 World Series Champions

[Shortstop]

You did it by 81! Congratulations!

Thanks! It's a great feeling to rub Toronto out of the record books as well!

Pity Baltimore were just too good, but hey, we should be back.

I bet that's what they said in 1981 too.....(I was born on the real Blue Monday....guess I'm destined to do an Expos franchise?)

[Shortstop]

A year on, it's time to pick up the pieces again.

However, it's a very different Expos franchise, as we shall see...evidently I got a bit bored and played on, but neglected to update on this forum.

[Shortstop]

The 1980s

The decade opened with a new era in baseball, with Montreal contesting the first international World Series, losing 4-1 against the Baltimore Orioles.

The next two years saw a general decline in Montreal's fortunes, but the Expos were to bounce back and made the 1983 National League championship series, losing to Atlanta.

1984 saw attendance crack 4,000,000 for the first time at Stade Olympique. However, while crowds went through the roof, the winning seasons dried up. Montreal would not record a single winning season after 1985 for the remainder of the decade, despite having five future Hall of Fame players in the side:

Expos ace pitcher Glenn Abbott (Cy Young winner in 1982 and 1983) was let go after the 1986 season and promptly signed for the Mets. He would go on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Scott McGregor was also an outstanding player for Montreal during the 1980s. The 1977 Cy Young winner won his 250th game as an Expos on August 25 1989. At the end of the decade he was unceremoniously dumped from the Montreal team and signed with the Yankees, winning a World Series ring in 1992.

Ben Oglivie recorded several career highlights while at the Montreal club, including his 1500th run, 500th home run, 2500th hit and 1500th RBI. At the age of 38, he was released and joined Atlanta where he played out the final few years of his career.

The final game of the 1980s saw the last surviving member of the 1969 Expos leave the club - CF Dwight Evans. Evans played 20 seasons yet saw post-season play just twice (1980 and 1983). During his 20 seasons he picked up 1500 runs, 2500 hits and 400 home runs - he would hit his 500th home run in a Twins uniform.

Andre Dawson would continue to play for Montreal well into the 1990s.

1980 - 100-62 - NL Champion (Lost World Series 1-4 v Baltimore)
1981 - 95-67 - 3rd
1982 - 78-84 - 4th
1983 - 99-63 - Lost NL Championship Series v Atlanta
1984 - 82-80 - 5th
1985 - 89-73 - 4th
1986 - 74-88 - 5th
1987 - 62-101 - 5th
1988 - 67-95 - 4th
1989 - 75-87 - 4th

World Series - The Decade of AL Dominance
1980 - Baltimore d. Montreal
1981 - Detroit d. New York Mets
1982 - California d. New York Mets
1983 - Baltimore d. Atlanta
1984 - California d. New York Mets
1985 - California d. Atlanta
1986 - Detroit d. Philadelphia
1987 - Detroit d. Philadelphia
1988 - Detroit d. Los Angeles
1989 - Detroit d. Cincinnati

[Shortstop]

Due to a general lack of rememberance on my behalf, the next decade or so is going to be quite lacking in detail. Apologies in advance

The 1990s
The Expos went nine years without a winning season or playoff apperance, hitting their nadir in 1993 with a 58-104 season, their worst since the 1976 debacle.

Andre Dawson became the fifth and final Expos Hall of Fame player to be inducted, finally retiring in 1998 at the age of 44, having been an Expo exactly 24 years and 129 days and debuting before more than half of his teammates on that final night in 1998 were even born!

His career statistics at time of retirement were impressive, to say the least:

At Bats - 13546 (1st)
Career hits - 3879 (4th)
Home runs - 682 (3rd)
RBI - 2462 (1st)

The Expos qualifed for their first post-season journey since 1983 at the end of the decade, but were swept in 3 games by the Mets.

1990 - 75-87 (4th)
1991 - 77-85 (4th)
1992 - 71-91 (5th)
1993 - 58-104 (6th)
1994 - 79-83 (3rd)
1995 - 78-84 (2nd)
1996 - 77-85 (2nd)
1997 - 73-89 (5th)
1998 - 74-88 (5th)
1999 - 94-68 (1st - Lost NLDS 3-0 v New York Mets)

World Series
1990 - Detroit d. St Louis
1991 - Detroit d. San Francisco
1992 - New York Yankees d. Cincinnati
1993 - Los Angeles d. Chicago White Sox
1994 - California d. Los Angeles
1995 - Los Angeles d. Detroit
1996 - New York Yankees d. Florida
1997 - Los Angeles d. Anaheim
1998 - Chicago Cubs d. Anaheim
1999 - Los Angeles d. New York Yankees

Detroit win a record six World Series in a row.
The American League's series of wins ends in Game 7 1993

[Shortstop]

The 2000s

Montreal went into a cruel cycle of very good and very bad seasons, making the post season twice and winning less than 60 games twice. Attendance ranged from 3.3 million (2000) to 1.8 million (2008), with worse yet to come.

2000 - 71-91 (3rd)
2001 - 87-75 (1st - Lost NLDS 3-0 v Los Angeles)
2002 - 54-108 (5th)
2003 - 58-104 (5th)
2004 - 67-95 (4th)
2005 - 75-87 (4th)
2006 - 88-74 (2nd - Lost NLDS 3-0 v Arizona)
2007 - 81-81 (3rd)
2008 - 69-93 (5th)
2009 - 85-77 (3rd)

World Series - The Decade of the Cubs
2000 - Chicago Cubs d. New York Yankees
2001 - Tampa Bay d. Chicago Cubs
2002 - Chicago Cubs d. Detroit
2003 - Minnesota d. Los Angeles Dodgers
2004 - Chicago Cubs d. Minnesota
2005 - Chicago Cubs d. Chicago White Sox
2006 - Chicago Cubs d. Baltimore
2007 - Chicago White Sox d. Atlanta
2008 - Philadelphia d. Texas
2009 - Baltimore d. Atlanta

[Shortstop]

The 2010s, 2020, 2021 and 2022

The 2010 was the worst in the history of the Montreal Expos, which was quite an achievement. 45 wins, and barely a million fans through the turnstiles. The logical order of things would be a period of rebuilding, which the Expos duly did, managing to piece together four straight winning seasons for the first time in franchise history (not even the great sides of the late 1970s and early 1980s could manage that, although they did manage six winning seasons out of seven).

The Expos progressed to the National League Championship series in 2017 after a 34 year absence, but would be swept by the Mets.

The years following 2017 were relatively quite, although Montreal managed to turn in respectable performances each season. That is, until 2022.

The 2022 Expos team was history-making for all the wrong reasons, winning just 38 games all season, 74 games behind the division-winning Mets. Playing inside the now-derelict Stade Olympique in front of just 14,000 fans each game, the roster of past successful seasons was sold off to save payroll, with Montreal spending an astounding $14.9m on their players in 2022, as opposed to Milwaukee and Tampa Bay, the other small-market franchises, spending $30 million. New York and Atlanta between them spent nearly half a billion dollars on their players. Simply put, the Expos were never going to place a competitive side on the field in 2022.

This was the challenge facing new owner and GM Sam Lambert in 2023.

2010 - 45-117 (5th)
2011 - 52-110 (5th)
2012 - 76-86 (3rd)
2013 - 76-86 (3rd)
2014 - 82-80 (3rd)
2015 - 82-80 (3rd)
2016 - 82-80 (4th)
2017 - 94-68 (Won NLDS 3-2 v St Louis, Lost NLCS 0-4 v NY Mets)
2018 - 72-90 (4th)
2019 - 79-83 (4th)
2020 - 85-77 (2nd)
2021 - 71-91 (4th)
2022 - 38-124 (5th)

World Series
2010 - Chicago White Sox d. Philadelphia
2011 - St Louis d. Baltimore
2012 - Chicago White Sox d. Philadelphia
2013 - Philadelphia d. Chicago White Sox
2014 - Baltimore d. Chicago Cubs
2015 - Chicago Cubs d. Los Angeles Angels
2016 - Baltimore d. Chicago Cubs
2017 - New York Mets d. Baltimore
2018 - Baltimore d. New York Mets
2019 - New York Mets d. Kansas City
2020 - Pittsburgh d. Los Angeles Angels
2021 - Oakland d. Los Angeles Dodgers
2022 - New York Mets d. Oakland

One more final reminiscing post, and then we'll be back into it....

[Shortstop]

CURRENT RECORDS

At Bats
13546 - Andre Dawson (Montreal 1973-1998)

Careeer Batting Average
.366 - Ty Cobb (Detroit 1905-1926, Philadelphia Athletics 1927-1928)

Complete Games
749 - Cy Young (Cleveland 1890-1898, St Louis 1899-1900, Boston 1901-1908, Cleveland 1909-1911, Boston Braves 1911)

Games Pitched
1392 - Ricky Bottalico (Philadelphia 1994-2012)

Games Played
3657 - Jim Fregosi (California 1961-1986)

Hits
4189 - Ty Cobb (Detroit 1905-1926, Philadelphia Athletics 1927-1928)

Home Runs
789 - Luis Gonzalez (Pittsburgh 1990-2004, Baltimore 2005-2011, Houston 2012-2013)

Plate Apperances
15344 - Keith Hernandez (Detroit 1975-1997)

Quality Starts
561 - Bert Blyleven* (Washington 1969-1970, Montreal 1971-1976, Pittsburgh 1977-1997)

Runs Batted In
2805 - Luis Gonzalez** (Pittsburgh 1990-2004, Baltimore 2005-2011, Houston 2012-2013)

Runs
2530 - Keith Hernandez (Detroit 1975-1997)

Saves
650 - John Rocker (Atlanta 1998-2017)

Steals
949 - Ron LeFlore (Detroit 1974-1991)

Strikeouts
2628 - Brad Wilkerson*** (Montreal 2001-2009, Toronto 2010-2021)

Wins
511 - Cy Young (Cleveland 1890-1898, St Louis 1899-1900, Boston 1901-1908, Cleveland 1909-1911, Boston Braves 1911)


* Remember him? Former Expos pitcher who we traded to Pittsburgh, and went on to become an iconic pitcher of his time, although he never did win that Cy Young award he so craved. As of 2022, he is the only pitcher to have more than 1000 starts (1041 to be precise, a record that is unlikely to be matched, ever. He has also pitched 5559 strikeouts, which is 'only' 1215 more than 2nd-placed Nolan Ryan. Ryan never played 28 seasons though.

** The record used to belong to Expos legend Andre Dawson

*** Drafted by Montreal in 1995, but did his best work as a Blue Jay.

Later on I will try to fill in a little information about the 1969-1980 Expos, as in where are they now, plus a few of the notable players between 1981 and 2022 - that's 41 years of history to pour over. Right now though, I prefer to focus on the present...um, I mean, the future....of the team. So on we go....

[Shortstop]

The 2023 Montreal Expos

This is the squad that GM/Owner Sam Lambert has inherited after 41 seasons of misadventure.
All players were originally drafted by Montreal unless otherwise noted

Line-up

SS Sean Varley- 72/83
24 years old - Rookie

RF Kasey Avery - 73/77
28 years old - Rookie

CF Shigeji Sato - 92
29 years old - 9th season
Acquired from trade with Atlanta Braves in 2017
The offensive jewel of the side, batting 0.301 and 24 home runs

LF Ryan Davis - 87
32 years old - 10th season
Acquired from trade with Toronto Blue Jays in 2016

C Cory Davis - 84
33 years old - 9th season
Acquired from trade with Chicago White Sox in 2016

1B Aaron Mackellachie - 76/87
23 years old - Rookie

3B Sandy Smith - 79
30 years old - 3rd season

2B David Montgomery - 80/95
23 years old - Rookie

The Bench

C Stephen Amphlett - 81/93
25 years old - 2nd season

C Ross Ober - 76
25 years old - 2nd season

LF Dan Endreson - 70
28 years old - Rookie

LF Manon Incillo - 73
26 years old - Rookie

RF Matt Lindbolm - 67
26 years old - Rookie

LF Preston Birdsong - 70/81
25 years old - Rookie

Prospects

C Tony Paige 74/97
CF Zack Wilson 72/98
1B Jario Polle 67/93
SS Ted Christiansen 73/93
2B Brad O'Neill 71/78
LF Joseph Kaye 73/83
CF Kageharu Kushara 73/88
2B Jeffery Truswell 75/85
CF Neil Cheyne 69/94

Starting Pitchers
All acquired by Montreal in draft unless otherwise stated

Andreas Coyazo - 92
26 years old - 3rd season - 9-20 career record

Martin Strauss - 81
29 years old - 9th season - 82-95 career record

Jeff Avanessoff - 82
21 years old - Rookie - 4-18 career record

Dave Shufflebarger 76/98
20 years old - Rookie - Yet to pitch in MLB

Carlos Porraz - 74/86
25 years old - Rookie - 6-21 career record

The Bullpen

Jim Snyder - 73
29 years old - 3rd season - 11-18 career record, 21 saves

Derek Manning - 82/88
21 years old - Rookie - 4-10 career record

Howie Wideman - 74/84
25 years old - Rookie - 0-1 career record

Jonathan Twombly - 84/95
22 years old - Rookie - 2-2 career record

Mike Wagner - 82/94
21 years old - Rookie - 1-2 career record

Josh Triplett - 81/98
22 years old - Rookie - Yet to pitch in MLB

Prospects
Mike Harper 75/90
Nicholas Walsh 77/90
Beverly Digby** 70/88

** Yes! We have women in baseball!