Friday June.22/2012

Note from Chuck Booth:  I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4.  The Team’s Payroll going into in 2013 and 5. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.)  To follow all of the updates, be sure to check my author page with a list of all archived articles here.

Andre Dawson and Tim Raines were perennial ALL-Stars and always had the Montreal Expos in contention every year they played for the Canadian Club.

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-I recently saw a bunch of old Montreal Expos had a celebration dinner to honor the late Gary Carter at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.  This brought me back to when I was a little kid watching the Expos on the French Channel in Canada.  I followed this team before any other in MLB.  I was a catcher in little league because of Gary Carter.  My friends and I all would ask for Montreal Expos hats and jerseys for Christmas.  I would later move on to like the Yankees when Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson joined the club, but I always liked the Expos in the National League as my team.  They were a consistent club from 1979-1995.  They drafted extremely well and were above .500 for pretty much the entire time.  At the end of this article today be sure to watch the documentary from youtube on the Expos Franchise that the Reports has linked for you.

It was unfortunate they had the 2 billion dollar monstrosity of what was Olympic Stadium as their home venue.  It was a mistake from the beginning  to build a baseball park so far away from the downtown core.  The 1994 strike killed the franchises hopes to make their 1st World Series appearance.  The team was leading the NL East with a 74-40 record and featured the outfield of Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom and Moises Alou.  They had traded away their ALL-Star second basemen Delino DeShields prior to that year for some pitcher named Pedro Martinez.  The economics of baseball were starting to catch up on the baseball club.  When the lockout was lifted in 1995, gone were Walker, Grissom and great pitchers Ken Hill and John Wetteland.  It began a constant cycle of Montreal grooming awesome talent, only to trade the players away before they had to pay them big money.  The one constant of the team was an incredible draft record from 1985-2004.  Today is part 1 of a 3 part article series in which we will look at the history of the Montreal Expos.  I have listed 30 hitters drafted by the Expos Scouting Staff that went onto nice baseball careers.  Next week I will look at the pitchers and the third week I will cover the dissection of the proud franchise before the move to Washington.

Vladdy was with the Expos from 1996-2003 and was their best hitter ever including a .323 average for the team and had a team record 31 game hitting streak in 1999.

All-Time HR List Expos/AVG/RBI Signed or Drafted Players Year in Parenthesis at the end.

* Designates Player is still active.

-a is a player drafted by the Expos and then did not sign with the club before re-entering.

1.  Vladimir Guerrero 449* RF/DH .318 RBI 1496 (1993)

Vladdy was the best Expo hitter ever, pure and simple.

2.  Andre Dawson 438 OF .279 RBI 1591 (1975) Hall of Fame

Andre Dawson won Rookie of the Year in 1977 and finished 2nd in MVP voting in 1981 and 1983.  Included in his 11 years with the Expos were 6 gold gloves and 4 ALL-Star Games.  He went into the BBHOF as an Expo.

3   Andres Galarraga 399 1B  .288 RBI 1424 (1979)

Known more for his offensive output in Colorado, the Big Cat did finish in 2nd in the batting race for the NL in 1988

4   Larry Walker 383 RF/1B .313 RBI 1311 (1984)

The All-Time Canadian HR champ just started to take off in 1994, hitting .322.  He would go onto win 3 batting titles with Rockies and one Hank Aaron Award.

5. Gary Carter 324  C  .262 RBI 1225 (1972) Hall of Fame

Gary Carter did most of his damage with the Expos, hitting 220 HRs with the club.  Carter went onto win the 1986 World Series with the New York Mets.  Carter went into the BBHOF as an Expo.  Sadly Carter passed away Feb.16/2012.

6.   Matt Stairs 265 OF/DH/PH .262 RBI 899  (1989)

Matt Stairs finished his career 2nd all time in HRs for Canadian  born players to Larry Walker.  Stairs hit a big clutch homerun in the 2008 NLCS to help the Phillies towards a World Series run.

7.    Tim Wallach 260 3B .257 RBI 1125 (1979)

Tim was a 5 time ALL-Star with the Expos and twice led the league in doubles during his 13 year stint with the club.

8.    Larry Parrish, 256 3B/OF .263 RBI 992 (1972)

Larry finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year Voting the year Gary Carter won it and was an ALL-Star in 1979.  Parrish hit 100 HRs for the club.

9.    Cliff Floyd 233 LF/1B .278 RBI 865 (1991)

Cliff won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and later was an ALL-Star in 2001.  At the age of 35, Floyd returned to the World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays only to lose to the Phillies in 2008.

10.  Marquis Grissom 227 CF .272 RBI 967  (1988)

Grissom twice led the league in Stolen bases for the Expos in 1991 and 1992.  Grissom also finished with 2251 hits and 429 SB.

11.   Jason Bay  OF 207 * .273 RBI 720 (2000)

Jason never played for the Expos, but now ranks 3rd all time in HRs as a Canadian born player.  He is a 3 time ALL-Star and won the Rookie of the Year in 2004 for the Pirates.

12.  Pete Incaviglia OF/DH 206 .246 RBI 655 (1985)

Pete never played for the Expos.  Pete played in the World Series for the 1993 Phillies.

13.  Rondell White OF 198 .284 RBI 768 (1990)

Rondell is one of only a select few players in MLB history to collect 6 hits and also hit for the cycle during one game.  Rondell was an ALL-Star with the San Diego Padres in 2003.

14. Glenn Davis 1B 190-a .259 RBI 603 (1979)

Glenn Davis never signed with the Expos after being drafted.  Davis was one of the better power hitters of the 80’s.  He finished 2nd in MVP balloting in 1986 and was a 2 time ALL-Star.

15.  Tim Raines OF 170 .294 RBI 980 (1977)

Tim ‘Rock’ Raines made 7 straight ALL-Star appearances and he led the NL in stolen bases 4 times and won the 1986 batting NL title.  Tim Raines sits 5th for SB all time with 808 swipes.   Raines should be receiving more consideration for the BBHOF.

16.  Charles Johnson 167 –a  C .245 RBI 570 (1989)

Johnson never played for the Expos after they drafted him but he won a World Series and appeared in the 1997 ALL-Star game.

17.  Brandon Phillips  2B 139 * .273 RBI 566 (1999)

Brandon Phillips is one of the best players in the NL right now and has made the last 2 ALL-Star games.

18.  Grady Sizemore  CF 139 * .269 RBI 458 (2000)

Before injuries starting plaguing Sizemore he was the best lead-off hitter in the MLB. He made 3 straight ALL-Star appearances for Cleveland and has had 4 20/20 seasons.

19.  Jose Vidro  2B 128  .298 RBI 654 (1992)

Was a 3 time ALL-Star and left the Expos/Nationals with a .301 lifetime average.

20.  Milton Bradley OF/DH 127 * .271 RBI 481 (1996)

Bradley was an ALL-Star with the Rangers in 2008 when he led the league in OBP and OPS.

21.  Orlando Cabrera SS/2B 123 * .272 RBI 854 (1993)

Cabrera won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, and has led the league in SF 3 times.  He has 2055 career hits.

22.  Ellis Valentine 123 .278 RBI 474 (1972)

Valentine was an ALL-star in 1977.

23.  Wil Cordero  SS/LF 122 .273 RBI 556 (1988)

Cordero was an ALL-Star in 1994 for the Expos.

24.  Brad Wilkerson OF 122 .247 RBI 399 (1998)

Wilkerson finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2002 and hit 30 HRs out of the lead-off spot during the Expos last year in Montreal.

25.  Brad Fullmer 1B/DH 114 .279 RBI 442 (1993)

Fullmer had a 32 HR and 104 RBI campaign with the Blue Jays in 2000.  Only amongst a select few to play with both Canadian Clubs.

26.  Geoff Blum INF/PH/OF  99 * .250  RBI 479 (1994)

The super utility infielder hit a gigantic homerun in an extra inning game during the 2005 World Series win for the White Sox.

27.  Michael Barrett C/1B 98 .263 RBI 424 (1995)

Barrett won a silver slugger award in the NL while with the Cubs in 2005.

28.  Greg Colbrunn 98 1B/PH .289 RBI 422 (1987)

Colbrunn won a World Series with the Diamond Backs in 2001 and sports a .344 lifetime postseason average in 9 different series.

29. Warren Cromartie 61  OF/1B .280 RBI 391 (1973)

Cromartie played 8 years in Japan otherwise he would have better MLB numbers.  He was part of the 1981 Expos pennant.

30. Mark Grudzielanek 90 2B/SS .289 RBI 640 (1991)

Grudzielanek was an ALL-Star in the 1996 season with the Expos and led the league with 54 doubles in 1997.  Mark also finished his career with 2040 hits.

The Washington Nationals have picked right up with drafting good players.  Jordan and Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper and Drew Storen all top the list.  Ian Desmond was also a left over from the Expos drafting.  If Harper turns out to live up to the hype he will be the greatest player the Nats/Expos ever produced.  The question is:  will he stick around to set all club records?

This next set of clips from You Tube are a must see if you want to find out what happened to the proud franchise that was the Montreal Expos (1969-2004).

For Part 2 of the Article Series:  The Pitchers click here

For Part 3 of the Article Series, The Demise:  click here

For Part 4 of the Article Series, The Washington Nationals Franchise 2005-2012: click here

For Part 5 of the Article Series, The Nats Best 25 Man Roster 2005-2012 click here

Part 1 of a 3 Part Documentary on Expos Franchise Demise:

Part 2 of a 3 Part Documentary on Expos Franchise Demise:

Part 3 of a 3 Part Documentary on Expos Franchise Demise:

Video Tribute to the 1994 club:

    ***Thank you to our Baseball Writer- Douglas “Chuck” Booth for preparing today’s feature on MLB reports.  To learn more about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames” and Chuck Booth, you can follow Chuck on Twitter (@ChuckBooth3024) and you can also follow Chuck’s website for his Guinness Book of World Record Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 days click here  or on the 30 MLB Parks in 23 days GWR tracker at the Reports click here. To Purchase or read about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book, ” please click here ***

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