Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Montreal Expos #DeepDive: Toronto Mike'd #1056

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

In this 1056th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by Danny Gallagher as they dive deep into the history of the Montreal Expos. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

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guaranteed over 100 stores across the country learn more at cannacabana.com. Joining me this week, making his Toronto mic debut as we dive deep into the history of the Montreal Expos, is Danny Gallagher. Thank you. Welcome to Toronto, Mike. Danny Gallagher. Look, thanks very much for having me on the show, Mike.

Now, I'll let the listenership know that we couldn't get your Zoom working, but we've connected via phone, and I would say a phoner with Danny Gallagher is better than no episode of Danny Gallagher at all. That's for sure. We should have fun. Thanks for being here. I appreciate

it. I have a couple of hellos I want to do off the top. One is I want to say hello to Bob Elliott, because Bob Elliott is the man who helped put us together. Oh, for sure. Bob Elliott goes back with me to 1974, Mike, when we were playing baseball. He was the scorekeeper general manager

with a team in Ottawa, and I was playing for Red Sox, excuse me, Rent for Red Sox, and we were playing against his team. So we go back a long way. Then eventually we continue to meet through the newspaper industry. I think the world of Bob Elliott, he knows it, but I wish I had a voice like his. Don't you think this show would be better if I talked like Bob Elliott?

like his. Don't you think this show would be better if I talked like Bob Elliott? He's kind of shy talking on television or radio, but he probably should do more and get that voice in there. And if he were saying hi to you, he wouldn't call you Danny, right? He would say Daniel? Most people, either

Danny or Dan. Okay, I feel like Bob would be, because it's always Michael. But anyways, shout out to Bob Elliott. Also, I just literally, five minutes ago, wrapped this week's episode of Hebsey on Sports with Mark Hebbshire. And Mark Hebbshire wanted me to say hi to you as well. Okay, yeah, Mark, we go back a while too, so he's a nice guy for sure. Shout out to Hebsey, man.

Okay, now, Danny, I want to sure. Shout out to Hebzy Man. Okay, now Danny, I want to ask you about the song I just played and then again, for the listenership, the FOTMs tuning in, we're going to do a very deep dive into the history of the Montreal Expos, but before we find out why you're an expert and hear about your book,

what was that song I just played? It's a familiar tune. I'm trying to figure out what the name of it was. Expo's theme? I guess that's not what they call this thing. I see. Oh. I know it.

It sounds familiar and I'm trying to... Les Expos sont là? And that's a terrible accent, I know, but maybe that's what they call it. Les Expos sont là. And that's a terrible accent, I know, but maybe that's what they call it, Les Expos sont là. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. No, that rings a bell, yeah, for sure. It's been a while since I've heard that. When you hear it, do you get the nostalgia back?

How does it feel to hear that song again? Well, you know, the history of the Expos, you know, goes back to 1969. It's 36 years of operation and the team was formed in 1968 when the city of Montreal got awarded a franchise

by the National League along with San Diego. And it's funny, at that time in 1968, it kind of caught Montreal by surprise that they got a team. It was awarded to the city of Montreal. Mayor John Drapeau had sent City Councillor Jerry Snyder to a number of meetings in the 1960s, starting in 1962.

And then six years later, finally Montreal got the good news. But at that time, they didn't have any ownership in place when they were awarded the team. So they had to scramble and get people in to get money in. And then eventually Charles Brompton kind of saved the day a couple of months later when the deadline came for putting in the money. Now, even before the team, and maybe this is a good time, Danny, to just shout out the

book you've written, because when people hear this episode and they get that exposed fever, they're going to want to read more detail. What is the name of your book? Shout it out for us all. Okay. detail. What is the name of your book? Shout it out for us all. Okay, it's called Basis Loaded Inside Stories About Crow, Eli, Terminator and the Expos. So what it is, is a collection of memories from 1969 to 2004, from

different stories, from different eras. And what it is, Mike, is a sequel to my book from 2021 called Never Forgotten. And then another book from 2020 called Always Remembered. All memories from the start of the franchise to the end of the franchise. And what it did was in each book it interviewed different people, new people for each book, different memories, about 45 chapters, vignettes, I call them, short or long. And so that's what it is, is, you know, a lot of memories of different players from 69 to 2004.

Amazing. Now, I don't know if there's a word, and I don't even know if this is common, but I have this interesting sense of nostalgia for this episode. I have a nostalgia for the Expos, even though I'm a lifelong Blue Jays fan who barely followed the Expos. Like, I never had love for the Expos. This isn't my history. It's not part of my personal history. But when I was, like, preparing for this deep dive into the Expos history with you, I was struck with such nostalgia for something that was Nevermind.

Nevermind, sorry. I don't know if that's common or not, but I'm pretty excited about this conversation. Yeah, for sure. You know, from 69 to 77, fans in Canada were basically, I guess, attuned into the Expos, and then the Blue Jays came along in 77. But there's a great love for the Expos, not just in Quebec, but Ontario and the rest of the province, the rest of Canada, and upstate New York, Vermont, and even a lot of other parts of the U.S. too.

There's a lot of Expos fans out there. And I can imagine for somebody who, you know, was following baseball in this country between 1969 and 1977 that, you know, this is the only game in town. We have one Canadian franchise, and it's the Montreal Expos. So we're going to get into it here, Danny.

I just want to read throughout this episode. I have notes from FOTMs who sent in notes. And the first one I want to read here comes from a good notes from fotms who sent in notes and the first one i want to read here comes from a good fotm named brian gerstein brian wrote given how many former montrealers live here now he's referring to toronto and with that stupid bill in quebec passed i expect another small wave this kind of counts as toronto content curious to hear about the huge fights over television rights and territorial divisions between

the Jays and Expos so we're going to cover a lot of ground I just wanted to start with Brian and now Danny I'm actually going to take us back before the Expos just to give us a taste of like Montreal's relationship with baseball and I think the story we're all most

familiar with is Jackie Robinson, who played for the Montreal Royals. This is back in the 40s, 1946. And really, that was before he broke baseball's colour barrier. But Montreal has a rich history with the sport of baseball. Oh, for sure. The Royals go back, you know, long before 1946 and had a lot of interesting players who played,

let's say, for the Dodgers farm team when it was in Montreal and some years where they had connections maybe with other major league teams. And they also had a popular league in Quebec called the Quebec Provincial League. So a lot of players kind of passed through Montreal before going to the Dodgers or other teams, including Tommy Lasota, who pitched many years for the Montreal Royals, and wasn't that good of a pitcher to good enough to pitch in the major leagues, but he was very good with the Royals in AAA,

and he eventually, you know, he became a bit of a scout before he got into managing in the minor leagues. So the Royals were the team that Montreal gravitated to because they were the only game in town here, the international league team. They were excited about having Jackie Robinson play there in 1946 to break the color barrier in AAA, and then he broke the color barrier in the major leagues with the Dodgers in 1947. So when the Montreal Royals, they fold in 1960, and of course the Expos start playing in 1969, so I guess there is several years there where Montreal is sort of,

I don't know what the highest level playing in Montreal was but they didn't have any high level baseball. Yeah, for sure. Like about eight years I guess after a couple years when the Royals were folded, that's when the City of Montreal,

John Drapeau and his favourite counsellor, I guess, Jerry Snyder, they decided that how about if we try to get a Major League franchise instead of a AAA franchise. So that's what Jerry Snyder did for six years. He beat the drums going to a lot of National League meetings and making it known that Montreal was a viable baseball city for the Major Leagues.

Wow. And was there any surprise? Again, I wasn't actually alive at this time, but tell me, was there any surprise that the first Canadian franchise was going to go to Montreal? I just wonder if there was any, you know, why isn't it going to Toronto? Because, you know, we think we're the center of the universe here. Yeah, that's why maybe some people in other parts of Canada don't like Toronto, they don't like the Blue Jays, they don't like the Maple Leafs, whatever. Montreal put in a big push for a franchise because Jerry Snyder was going to all of these meetings.

And maybe Montreal put a better effort than Toronto did to try to get a franchise back in the 1960s. It is kind of odd. You know, Toronto, the big city, would have had a franchise long before 1977. Yeah, it's just surprising because, you know, I was three you know, three years old in 77.

It's literally, I don't remember baseball before the Blue Jays. But I want to, this is a great note I got. And I want to preface this by saying we have these regular events,

like in-person events called TMLX events, Toronto Mike Listener Experiences. And we had our ninth TMLX on May 13th. So not too long ago. That was a couple weeks ago. And we had our ninth TMLX on May 13th. So not too long ago. That was a couple of weeks ago. And Leslie Taylor showed up.

And Leslie Taylor is a listener of the program. I know she's watching live on Facebook right now. Leslie Taylor sent in this lovely note. And then I'm going to play a piece of audio. But she wrote, I contributed a bunch of material to Danny Gallagher a few years ago for one of his books. He had a chapter on my dad.

Do you know who Leslie Taylor's dad was? Yes, Russ Taylor was the announcer who was the sidekick to Dave Van Horn from, what, 1969 to about 1977. He was the first announcer hired by the Expos. He was hired before Dave Van Horn. I talked to Dave Van Horn a few weeks ago, and he told me that story.

He's told me the story before, but he just told me again that Russ Taylor was the first announcer hired, and then right near the end of spring training in 1969, not long before the 69 season started, Dave Van Horn was hired and he had to kind of get all his luggage together and get going to the first game in New York. Okay, now, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you there. Keep going, please.

Yeah, so Dave Van Horn had to kind of scramble to get to new york for the first game ever game in uh 1969 in early april and russ taylor was his uh color commentator so that was quite a uh a combination that really went over well with the listeners for six or seven years before, you know, Russ died of a heart attack on his birthday in 1977. Pretty unfortunate. That's terrible news. Okay. Now, so because I know Leslie and the family are listening, I'm going to take a couple,

and by the way, I should point out Leslie's sister, another daughter of Russ Taylor, is Carolyn Taylor, who people would recognize in this country as one of the women from the Baroness Von Sketch show. And Carolyn... Go ahead. Yeah, that's interesting. I don't think I knew that. And Carolyn Taylor

will be on Toronto Mic'd, I think it's next week. I have to check the calendar. But in the next couple of weeks, Carolyn Taylor is actually making her Toronto Mic'd debut. Oh, that's beautiful. I know. What a family. Now, I have to check the calendar, but in the next couple of weeks, Carolyn Taylor is actually making her Toronto Mike debut. That's beautiful. I know. What a family. Now, I'm going to take two minutes to let another voice tell us a bit more about

Russ Taylor before we move on. Let's listen for a couple of minutes here. This is Dick Irvin, Sports Director of CFCF Radio in Montreal with the pregame show on this Expos broadcast of the Expos Atlanta Braves doubleheader, which will come your way with Dave Van Horn and Duke Snyder from theF Radio in Montreal with the pregame show on this Expos broadcast of the Expos Atlanta Braves doubleheader which will come your way with Dave Van Horn and Duke Snyder from the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

This morning all of the people connected with the Expos and everyone connected with sport of any kind in Montreal and indeed in Canada were shocked and saddened by the news of the sudden death of Russ Taylor. Currently the Expos director of communications and for the first eight seasons of the Expos their play-by-play broadcaster on radio along with with Dave Van Horn and latterly, Duke Snyder as well.

Here at CFCF Radio, the archives contain many moments that Russ shared with all of us, and the Expo's broadcast crew have requested that we play a few of those moments for you now. In the broadcasting business in Montreal, we always referred to Russ Taylor as the old pro. His association with CFCF goes back into the early 50s, and before, perhaps, his love of sport goes back much further than that. One of his earliest jobs was as a radio technician at the Montreal Forum, and it was there he heard a broadcaster from the Maritimes doing an amateur game. A few years later, he recommended that same broadcaster

to those handling Canadians' broadcasts, and that is how Danny Gallivan came to Montreal. Russ was the morning sportscaster for many years in CFCF radio, and when television arrived, he became part of that scene, too. But first and foremost, Russ's love was baseball. When they were looking for a place in which to play Major League Baseball in Montreal, it was Russ Taylor who told Warren Giles and John McHale about Jerry Park. He was with them the first time they walked into the park.

He was there the first and last times the Expos played there. He was the play-by-play man alongside Dave Van Horn and Latterly Duke Snyder from the first game through to the end of last season

when he became the director of communications for the ball club. Russ loved Jerry Park. He loved the broadcasts and he loved baseball. And he was one of the broadcasters

at a microphone when Hank Aaron hit one of his record-setting home runs. Hard hit drive deep into center field. That ball is going, going up. broadcasters had a microphone when Hank Aaron hit one of his record-setting home runs. So there's some Russ Taylor for you, Danny. Why, Russ Taylor, he was an amazing announcer. I was so glad to have him part of the Expos

legacy for so many years. So I mentioned off the top that I opened it up last night on Twitter. I said, I want to hear your favorite Expos memory. So even though we're going to go chronologically, at the appropriate time, I'll start to shout out some FOTMs and their favorite Expos memory. And I already talked about Brian Gerstein, who's a some FOTMs and their favorite Expos memory.

And I already talked about Brian Gerstein, who's a good FOTM, but he's from Montreal. And his memory is sitting in the bleachers with my best friend at Jerry Park for 50 cents with my junior Expos card and stuffing myself with high-grade steamy. Not about wins or losses. it's about the experience expo's history for winning never delivered for many reasons also too young for beer so could we start by talking about the ballpark that they started in in 1969 jerry park yeah it was very intimate and small and beautiful. It was close to the fans, close to the players. Sometimes, often the players would just go over to the low-slung seats and talk to the fans.

It was really amazing. Then right field, they had a pool beyond right field. There were Willie Stargell and a number of other players that hit home runs in there. But it was kind of the right size for the early days of the Expos.

It's too bad that they couldn't have maybe expanded that park later on for it to be a more permanent facility before Olympic City. At Jerry Park, people called it Jack Paris. So it was quite a ballpark. I mean, Cameron Carpenter, another great FOTM, Cameron Carpenter's memories, his favorite memories of the Expos,

was the metal stands at Jerry Park. Yeah, I guess it was something to sit in them and maybe bang your hand on there to cheer a home run and so on. It was quite a legitimate part of Jerry Park. And Mike Hannafin, who actually, he used to work at CFY, and he's worked in, you know, media for many years. He's going to make his Toronto Mike debut next week, actually. But Mike Hannafin writes in his memories of the Expos,

the old scoreboard graphics and organist at Jerry Park. I guess in those days, I guess Fernand Lapierre was there and he eventually made his way to Olympic Stadium to be the organist. So there's a lot

of things going on to make it entertaining for the fans. Now those early seasons of Expos Baseball at Jerry Park, not a particularly as you'd expect from an expansion team, but not a particularly good team

for the first several seasons, right? Yeah. In 69, they brought aboard a lot of guys who they claimed in the 1968 expansion draft that were sold in Montreal. And they brought in a number of players like Manny Mota

and a number of other gentlemen, Don Clendenin, and Jim Mudcat Grant. A lot of guys, Mike, who was kind of the long and the tooth and kind of getting up in years, but they wanted to bring in some veterans. And in the end, you know, they ended up trading some of these guys. Like Maury Wills, he had spent most of his career with the Dodgers, so he spent part of that 1969 season with the Expos

and not that happy playing in Montreal. So he was traded back to the Dodgers in the middle of the 69 season. And they just didn't have a lot of great ballplayers, and they ended up losing over 100 games. Of course, their big star was Rusty Stobb. They got him from Houston Astros and he was the early franchisee from

69, 70 and 71 before he was traded to the Mets. He had 30 home runs in 1970. He was amazing. LeGrand. Yeah, he was amazing. Le Grandeur Orange, he could hit with power. He always choked up on the bat, which was really quite a phenomenon,

but still able to hit really good and hit a lot of home runs and got a great following from the Expos fans. Yeah, he was the lone Montreal representative at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game the first three seasons. And another, I find this interesting, and I'm going to play a clip in a moment as we talk about Rusty Staub,

but he learned French. That'll endear you to the Montreal fans. Yeah, for sure. He made an effort to try to learn the French language and he tried to do some interviews in French with the French media. Yeah, for sure. All right, here's another little clip here. In August, the Expos and general manager John McHale

realized that they were in a legitimate pennant race and reached out for veteran pinch-hitting help in the person of an old friend, Dusty Stomp. That first at-bat win, they pinch-hit me against the Pirates, and they were changing pitchers when I came up. The ovation that they gave me there I just it was it was overwhelming you know I just tried to contain it but I didn't I didn't do the real good job you know I I said stay on top of the ball Grant Jackson was pitching through me a good fastball to hit and I had a great swing at and popped it up and I want to choke

myself the ground orange did contribute to the cause with some timely hits and a strong clubhouse presence. That's Donald Sutherland doing the narration. And of course, that's the return of Rusty Staub. So can you give me some context here? I guess he comes back to the Expos. Yeah, that was amazing. That seven years after he had last played in Montreal in 1979, the Expos thought that he would be a good president on the team

in the midst of the race for the pennant in 1979. So they acquired him from the Tigers, July the 20th, but his first game back in Montreal was not until a week later. And I was at that game. I was working at that time for the Ottawa Journal-Newsmaker, but I was not covering the Expos game. I was going there as a fan. Somebody else at the Journal was covering the game,

but I went there with my girlfriend on a bus with 48 other people to the game, and that place was just rocking. That's my most exciting moment in Expos history, is that at bat when he came up to face Grant Jackson. Not necessarily him hitting, but the standing ovations as he had to step in and out of the batter's box because the noise was so loud,

the standing ovations were so loud. It was over 59,000 people there. It was just a tremendous occasion in Expos history. Okay, wow. Again, because I wanted to talk about Rusty Stobb because he was like the first star, and then I wanted to bring in his comeback, but I'm going to go a little bit out of order

now. So, of course, the Expos don't win the pennant until 81. We'll get to 81, but I wanted to just shout out Bill Stoneman for a minute. Okay. So the Blue Jays, my team, have only one no-hitter in the franchise history. Of course, that was Dave Steeb.

I want to say August or September, early September 1990 is what I want to say for Dave Steeb. But he's got the, it was in Cleveland, but he's got the lone no-hitter in Blue Jays history. But listen to this, Danny. This is from the inaugural season in 1969. One and one pitch on the way. Swung on, sharp grinder, Wills has it, bottles it, throw to first. In time, he did it! A no-hitter, a no- did it. A no-hitter.

A no-hitter. A no-hitter for Bill Stoneman. That's something, eh? And you know who did do it? You know, for an expansion team, I guess it didn't really matter whether it was an expansion team. To have a no-hitter is really something else. He didn't have a great team, but he had some good stuff,

fastball and curve, and was really kind of nasty with his pitches, Bill Stoneman. And then later on, he pitched another no-hitter. So Stoney was one tough character on the mound. And do you know whose call that was? Whose voice did we hear making that call there on the first no-hitter?

I was trying to figure it out. Is that Dave Van Horn? No. It's a voice we've already heard, actually, calling a Hank Aaron home run earlier. Oh, Russ Taylor. Okay. It's another Russ Taylor.

Okay. And what's interesting to me, again, Blue Jays have one no-hitter. Even though Dave Steeb should have had several himself, he only recorded one. He should have had a perfect game, too, but that's another story for another day. But Bill Stoneman, he throws a second no-hitter for the Expos in 1972. That's right. It is really, truly amazing to have two noherty's early in the franchise.

Great. Now, I mentioned FOTM sent in their memories of the Expos. Future Blue Jays, that's the handle of this individual. He says his favorite Expos memory, he says, was from 1973. He says Tom Seaver started, Willie hit number 657, and Mike Marshall got the save. This was his favorite Expos memory. Yeah, 1973, the Expos surprised a lot of people in the fifth season by threatening for the

National League East. They played some pretty good balls through most of the year. They had guys like Ken Singleton and Mike Torres and so on and so on. And then they just didn't quite do it at the end. But that season kind of surprised a lot of people.

So let's talk about, you know, the team that would win the 1981 pennant. Now, I want to... What year was Gary Carter's rookie year? It was about 1975, I believe. Okay.

So a memory again, this is actually Leslie again, but she says her favorite Expos memory was meeting Gary Carter in his rookie season and getting his autograph. He wrote best of luck in your future endeavors. And she had to ask her dad what endeavors meant. So that's quite the, quite the, quite the gun. But talk to me, if you don't mind, about the kid, Gary Carter.

Okay, Gary Carter, when he came on the scene, he was drafted as a shortstop. And by the second or third year in the organization, they decided to put him in the outfield. And then one game, he crashed into the outfield wall, and that's when they decided they should make a catcher out of him. So they had other catchers going on at the same time, but then Carter eventually became the starting catcher

and lasted for many years until he was traded after the 1984 season. But he had a lot of charisma. He had the smile. They call him the Kodak smile guy. Some people maybe didn't like him for doing so many interviews and smiling so much. Like Andre Dawson, the stoic outfielder, sometimes didn't care too much for Gary Carter,

but Gary Carter brought a lot of leadership to the clubhouse and on the field. He played the dirtiest position on the field, a catcher up and down with all his equipment on and a big mask on the front of his catch you up and down with all his equipment on and a big mask on the front of his head. It's not an easy job, and Carter did that with a plumb for

so many years. It truly was the face of the franchise. If you asked for a face of the franchise from 1969 to 2004, Gary Carter would be it. Wow. Okay, so we're going to talk a face of the franchise in 69 to 2004, Gary Carter would be it. Wow. Okay.

So we're going to talk about many of the other important Expos, if you will. Gary Carter there. Now, Tom Hicks, his favorite Expos memory, he said his first Major League Baseball game that he ever attended was in Montreal. He says his sister got lost on the way to the bathroom and was found via PA

announcement. This is his memory of the Expos. Okay. Alright, so Danny, we talked about the two no-hitters. The Stoneman pitched two no-hitters. But in 1981, a third no-hitter

is pitched by an Expo, Charlie Lee. That was amazing. May the 10th, and I remember Dave Van Horn announcing it. He said, Charlie Lee, Charlie Lee, Charlie Lee is showing a no-hitter. It was really quite a special moment, you know, in the midst of the other season where they're going to eventually earn a playoff. So that was one of the

big highlights of that season for sure early on before the strike started. Now, okay, so tell me, so 81, I want to, you know, I want to take some time with 1981 because this is the only division title that the Expos would win.

But set the table here. This is a strike-shortened season, 1981. Exactly. And just before that, Mike, in late May, the Expos traded Ellis Valentine to the Mets for Jeff Ridden, the reliever. Now, we've got to talk a bit about Ellis Valentine to the Mets for Jeff Ridden, the reliever. Now, we've got to talk a bit about Ellis Valentine. He was one of the greatest talents in Expos history, one of the greatest players early on,

and the Expos thought very, very highly of him. He had a tremendous arm, tremendous bat, great power, but he had a lot of demons that he didn't want to practice. He didn't like to get involved in pregame exercises or whatever. He would show up sometimes late at the ballpark. He had his cocaine problems, and then they just decided in May of 81 that they had enough of him

and they traded him. And, you know, years later, I talked to Ellis Valentine, oh, 1989 or 1990, for a book that I'd written years ago, and he said it was all about me. He said it was I, self, and me, meaning he was just into himself, being selfish and not contributing to the team.

So he wasn't surprised, but I guess he was really disappointed he was traded. And then Jeff Rudin turned out to be a great reliever for a number of years. And then the strike came, and finally they got back on the field and worked their way into October the 3rd and finally won a playoff berth for the first time. And just like weeks earlier, Mike Day replaced Dick Williams as the manager with Jim Fanny.

Okay, yeah, and I should point out, Danny, like, again, you're the Expos subject matter expert, and later in this program, we're going to get a little more of your background, just how you became the subject matter expert. But I'm here, I have a kind of some points I know, which is just enough to be dangerous, and I'm going to kind of guide us along. But if I ever skip anything you want to talk about or if there's any story that you want to just, you just chime right in, man,

if I skip something. Because I know Brian's probably upset that I didn't focus more on the 1979 season because that's his favorite Expo season of all, was 79. Yeah, for sure. Like 79, they finally made the playoffs. They finally had a post-500 team.

From 69 to 78, they were always under 500. And finally, they made it over 500. They didn't make the playoffs, but they had a super team. Maybe one of the best in franchise history. They went 95-65, and they got going down near the end, and they couldn't sort of get over that hump and get ahead of the Pirates, and Willie Sturgill hits the home run in September off Dale Murray, and that kind of kept the Pirates ahead,

although there was still a number of games left in the 79th season. But they had to be pretty proud of what they did that year. So 1981, even though it was short and due to the strike, but this moment exists. I want to play this for Expos fans tuning in. the whole team out on the field. Look at the celebration out there. My goodness. What a ball game.

Look at Grimari. Grimari dancing. Ray Burris giving Jim Fanning a hug, and now Carter, their congratulations. Must be a great thrill. Duke, you've been through it many, many times. Coming in. Well, this will be quite a clubhouse.

There's Reardon. Reardon, one of the stars of the game today. Bryn Smith, who did a good job. Charlie Lee, who did a great job earlier in the season. Jim Fanning, still out in the dugout area. So they win the pennant. They're off to

the NLCS, where they'll face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Before we talk about that, Diamond Dog just says that his favorite Expos memory was Steve Rogers shutting out the Phillies to get the Expos to the NLCS. Was that a shutout, though? What was the score of that game that clinched the pennant for the Expos? Do you know? Yeah, I'm trying to remember.

See, that October 3rd game was when they clinched the playoff, but that's the game that Jeff Wooden saved the game, and Wallace Johnson hit a two-run triple, the biggest triple in Expos history. And what he does now when he's at autograph sessions, he signs the ball the triple. See, I think it was 4-1.

I think it was a 4-1 final. Yeah. Okay. So they get into the series against the Phillies, what they call the mini-series or the National League Division Series, and they beat the vaunted, powerful, talented Phillies three games to two, and Steve Rodgers wins two of them and beating Steve Carlton twice.

Steve Carlton's like a Goliath. Okay, I'm glad you're explaining this because I literally start following MLB in 1983. That's the year I start plugging in and starting to fall in love with my Blue Jays, listening to Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth on CJCL 1430. Now, is that because of the strike that they had this miniseries? What was this exactly? that they had this miniseries?

What was this exactly? Yeah, what they did, because of the strike, they had a number of teams who had the best record in the first half and the best record in the second half playing in the playoffs in the American League and National League. And somehow the Expos had the best record in the second half, and the Phillies had the best record, I believe, in the first half. So that's how they ended up playing in that first series.

And the Cincinnati Reds, they were really disappointed because they had the best overall record that year in the National League and they never got in their playoff. Oh my goodness. Okay, that explains the comment, the Expos win the second half, which I actually was going to ask you,

what are we talking about? What do you mean the Expos won the second half? Okay, I totally, now I'm up to speed here. But this sets up an NLCS because the Expos do advance to the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Paul Hunter, who covered sports for the Toronto Star for many, many years, is a good FOTM himself.

I asked him, like, what's your favorite Expos memory? And he says, I certainly remember my least favorite moment. And then he uses the hashtag Rick Monday. I should give a trigger warning. I'm going to play it now. You ready? Okay. Actually, before I play it here, let me play this first. Stand by before we get the

trigger warning. Let's listen. A drive to left field. Oh, wow. That is out of here. Jerry White. Look at this. Jerry White with a three-run home run. Four to one Expos. Jerry White tees off.

Look at him. He knew that it had a chance. Baker way back. The left fielder didn't have a chance. And there it is. A home run for Jerry White. 4-1 Expos in the sixth inning. And there it is, a home run for Jerry White. 4-1 Expos in the sixth inning.

Well, at Olympic Stadium, the most vocal, enthusiastic crowd we have ever seen witness a baseball game is ecstatic. So could you tell me about this game, that clip that's from? It sounds almost like that might be the apex of the Expos franchise. This is the moment. I'm listening to that. I'm getting goosebumps.

Oh, that is a tremendous moment. See, the first two games were in Los Angeles, and the Expos split the series very first, pitched a masterpiece in Game 2 in Los Angeles, beating Fernando Valenzuela. And so the Expos came back to Montreal for the remainder of the series, all excited. And this particular game, Jerry White, you know,

basically mostly a part-time hitter, but in the playoffs he got a lot of full-time playing time. So it was 1-1, and Jerry Rouse was pitching for the Dodgers, and there was two men on, and Jerry White came up in the biggest home run in his history, one of the biggest moments in Expos history, and it was just pandemonium. Again, you're getting a crowd of over 55,000,

close to 60,000 people just with goosebumps and clapping and standing ovation. And it was just a tremendous moment in Expos history. And boy, that really set off the celebrations in the streets of Montreal when that game was over. So that's Game 3, so that puts the Expos up 2-1. What happens in Game 4? So Game 4, that's when the Expos should have gone for the jugular,

but they just fell flat. They only scored one run. They kept it close in Game four for a few innings and then the dodges broke it open and they won seven one so it was a real uh downer losing that game that that's when they should have gone for the juggler and really got going and scoring a lot of runs and put it away and win that series 3-1 and go to the World Series. But that game tied the series 2-2 and set up the...

Yeah, don't spoil it. Okay, so I should say, so I remember my Blue Jays were up 3-1 in the series against the Kansas City Royals, the ALCS in 1985. And I still remember reading in the paper, like, this is actually the first year that we're a best of seven. If this had been last year, the Jays would have won the series.

It was a best of five. So just so listeners, younger listeners know, this is not a best of seven, this NLCS is a best of five and it's two, two going into game five. Paul Hunter uses the hashtag Rick Monday, his least favorite moment, and I'm just going to play this clip. So brace yourself, Expos fan.

Now in the stretch. Here's the 3-1 pitch, and it's swung on, fly ball, center field, Dawson going back onto the warning track, Dawson at the wall. That ball is a home run. That ball is out of here ball is a home run. That ball is out of here, and a home run for Rick Monday,

and the Dodger bench clears to congratulate Rick Monday, who has hit a two-out home run here in the ninth inning. And it appeared that Andre Dawson had room as he went back to the fence, and he just flat ran out of room as the ball cleared the fence at about the.385 mark. Well, as we mentioned, Ron, Rick Mondayy, a fastball hitter in that situation. Steve had to come in with a fastball. He hit it hard. He hit it to center field, the deepest part of the field. Andre went back on it. Thought he had a chance, but it just cleared the fence. A ninth inning home run, and the Dodgers have gone ahead 2-1. All right, Danny, there it is.

Tell me about this game five. Yeah, you know, that call by Ron Roos, boy, that is the best call I've heard of that particular home run. But going back to the start of the game, Ray Burris was up against, well, let's talk about what I call Blue Sunday, the game before Blue Monday, Blue Sunday, because they couldn't play on the Sunday because of rain and dirty weather, and they wanted to play, and after quite a few hours,

they decided to postpone the game. But the interesting story is that there was conspiracy theories involving Jim Fanning. He wanted to save Ray Burrows for an extra day's rest. So they had conversations with the weatherman at Dorval Airport, and Roger Brulot was one of the assistants in the Expos front office, and he was corresponding with Jim Fanning, and Jim was telling Roger that any way possible to have this game called off.

telling Roger that in any way possible to have this game called off. But it ended up that Weatherman told the Expos that the rain was going to stop. But somehow the Expos, even Roger

Barat told me he went to Chubb Feeney, the National League manager on the field, or the National League president on the field, or the president, National League president on the field, and told him the rain's not going to stop. So at that point, Chubb Feeney called the game. So we go to, so I call it Blue Sunday because they would have preferred to play on a Sunday,

but Blue Monday, so Ray Burrows is up against Fernando Van Osweiler again. In game five, it was another cold weather, but there was no rain or snow or anything. So it's 1-1. In the first inning, let's get the first inning, Andre Dawson hits into a double play, but Tim Rain scores a run, and it's's one nothing dodges until about the fifth inning and then Rick Mundy gets on base and he comes around and scores the tying run on a chopper to second base by Fernando Valenzuela and all these years later

I've been saying how come the Expos infield was was not pushed in to cut off a play at the plate if the runner's going in? I couldn't ever figure that out. But so then later in the game, after in the bottom of the eighth inning, Burroughs was in the on-deck circle, ready to hit with a big, big, exposed bomber jacket, a winter jacket on, and he was told that there was going to be a pitch hitter, and Tim Wallach went up against Fernando Valenzuela, and he went out.

He grounded out. And so then they came to the top of the ninth inning, and that's when a new pitcher came in from the bullpen, and Jeff Rudin thought it was going to be him. It was him and Steve Rogers warming up in the bullpen, which in those days was almost right beside the dugout. But the umpire motioned to the bullpen for somebody to come in, and Jeff Rood started walking across the chalk lines,

but the umpire told him, no, it's Steve Rogers. Jim Founding wants Steve Rogers. So Steve Rogers comes in to pitch in relief, and only maybe the third time in all his years of pitching, he was out of his element. He has told me many times and other reporters that he had so much adrenaline, his stomach was beating, his heart was beating because that was not his situation.

He was overthrowing the ball. He was trying to throw it 100 miles an hour. And funny enough, he got the first two guys out. Steve Garvey popped up the second, and the next batter, Ron Say, line one deep to left, and Tim Raines caught it at the warning track. And there's some clips of Steve Rogers after that line drive.

He was shaking his head. That's not good. So some people were saying that at that point, that's when Jim Fanning should have brought in left-hander Bill Lee or left-hander Woody Fryman to pitch to the left-handed hitting Monday, lefty versus lefty. But Jim decided to leave Steve Rodgers in because he had a good relationship with Jim Fanning

or Steve Rodgers over the years and left him in. And so it got to a 1-1 count and then what I saw on the tapes is that Rodgers deliberately threw the next two pitches as balls one was high and then the next one about a foot in front of the plate. And that's when, at that point, Rick Mundy said to the umpire, I want a new ball. So they threw that ball out.

And the next pitch, for some reason, Steve Rogers grooved it. Probably at that point, it was a count three and one. He should have walked up. But he grooved it and Rick Mundy hit it out. And that's the moment whenever I talk to an Expos fan

who's old enough to remember 1981. Rick Mundy, Blue Mundy, as you say, that's the moment they reference. It's almost more often than a highlight you hear about that devastating loss in Game 5 against the Dodgers. Yeah, like Jeff Radin. Here's the deal with Jeff Radin. He gave up.

He didn't have a good playoff series against the Phillies or the Dodgers. And he's given up a couple of home runs, one in the Phillies series and a couple in Los Angeles. And he also had some soldier elbow and back problems, but he had been cleared by trainer Ron McClain to pitch in game five. And he told the trainer, and i guess he told jim fanning but fanning didn't want to use him but the biggest mistake was that he didn't use uh bill lee who purposely got up in the bullpen on his own and warmed up and and tipped his hat to fanning and

said look at i'm here You should be bringing me in. Then Woody Fryman with the left-hander, they didn't bring him in. So that was kind of a mistake to bring in Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers had volunteered the day before to go in and be available for game five. But, you know, I think if Dick Williams was still the manager,

he would not have used Steve Rogers in relief. Interesting. Man, I mean, it's like the Zapruder film. You just dissect every moment of that, what went wrong.

But I guess at the time, in 1981, you know, after the Monday home run, you're thinking, like, we have a great core. You got Andre, you know,

we've talked about Steve Rogers, but Andre Dawson and Tim Raines, he's a guy I'd like to talk to about next. Tim Raines, the Hall of Famer, what can you say, oh, I should shout out Phil. Phil, the FOTM Phil says, Tim Raines,

his favorite Expos memory was seeing Tim Raines against the Mets in New York on the NBC Game of the Week. But what say you, Danny, about the great Tim Raines? Yeah, he was tremendous uh in 1981 in the strikes shortened year um he stole 71 bases and if they'd been a whole year he would have stole over 100 bases he had a tremendous year in his first full year with the Expos.

And then in 1982, well, in the off season of 81-82, he got into some bad stuff back home in Florida by starting to do cocaine. He figured, okay, here I am. I'm a star. I'm going to starting to do cocaine. He figured, okay, here I am. I'm a star. I'm going to start doing some cocaine. And he continued to do that through most of the 1982 season, even though he had like a decent year but not as good as 81. And that's when he admitted to the Expos at some point during the 82 season

that he needed help with his cocaine problem. So they sent him to a rehab center somewhere in the States, point during the 82 season that he needed help with his cocaine problem. So they sent him to a rehab center somewhere in the States and thankfully he was able to clear away that problem of using cocaine because for the rest of his career he was not bothered by that and so 83 84 85 86 he had some great years uh his his uh legacy legacy i think is from 80 81 to 87 88 89 90 he and he kind of taped it off and wasn't as good. But in 86, 87, that was the winter of owner's collusion, and a number of free agents like Tim Raines were not getting, supposedly not getting much in the way of offers from their own teams.

And for some reason there was a rule that Raines and some other guys could not sign with their own team until May 1st of 87, a month after the season started. It was kind of strange. So when that May 1st deadline came along, Bill Stoneman was the Expos money guy at that time negotiating contracts. So he flew to Florida to negotiate with Tim Raines' agent, and they got it done real quick on May the 1st, and then he flew to New York on May the 1st and then he flew to New York

on May the 1st and then everybody knows about that game on May the 2nd, 1987 when basically he hadn't played any spring training. He had a couple of minor league playoff, not playoff games, but minor league rehab stint games where he played and was able to perform a little bit, but it was not real game action. And he comes out that first game in New York and he goes four for five, including the Grand Slam as the Expos won the game. It was just a phenomenal game, probably the best game in his history.

And that was Phil again, Phil's favorite memory of all time for the Expos. Now I just want to... I have a bunch of thoughts now I need to spill out into the microphone here. But I want to just say in the Ken Burns baseball documentary and I remember

when it first aired on PBS I was riveted by this documentary and I still remember the reveal that Tim Raines started sliding head first because he'd have a glass vial of coke in his back pocket.

So I guess... Yeah, it really amazed me. I don't know how the expo let him do that. Well, you know, come on, you remember the 80s, I think. The 80s were different times. But by the way, in that 1982 season we're referring to, which was a drop for Tim Raines there

from 81, because of the cocaine habit. But it's worth noting in this episode that Montreal hosts the All-Star game in 1982. That was on July 13th. And Expos fans voted, you know, because their Expos fans voted

and they were hosting, they voted Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Steve Rogers All all-stars. And Al Oliver was actually a reserve. And that was only the second time since 1969 that the host team had four starters. So I just thought we'd mention that. And just before we move on here, you mentioned,

we talked about 87 and the collusion against free agents. And Andre Dawson, I think, speaking of great expos, suffers the most here, right? Because isn't that the year he took a ridiculously low figure of money to sign with the Cubs in 87, and he ends up winning the NL MVP, right? Yeah, that's an amazing story. He had gone through all of the wonder of 86 and 87. He had gone through all of the winter of 86 and 87.

He said he did get an offer of $1 million from the Expos, but that was a decrease from what he had been earning in 86. So he said he kind of severed ties with the Expos. And somewhere in the middle or early part of March during spring training, he decided on his own with his agent Dick Moss that they would go to Mesa, Arizona and show up at the Cubs spring training camp and deal with Dallas Green, the general manager, and say, look at Dallas. We want to play here. Andre said, I want to play on natural grass.

I don't want to play on artificial turf anymore. So here I am. I'm offering my services to you, and here's the contract, and you fill in the blanks. So, well, Dallas Green, Andre Dawson has told me this story. Dallas Green, because of that collusion stuff, he said he had to talk to his owners and he had to talk to Major League Baseball and see if he could actually do anything about doing a contract

because of all of this collusion stuff. So he got permission. Yeah, he could sign Dawson. So he puts in $500,000. So Dawson, I guess, probably disappointed with the offer, decided to accept it. And then he went on and hit 49 homers and drove in 138 runs. And with the MVP, it was such a phenomenal story.

And that's the year George Bell won MVP for the Blue Jays. So 87. Okay. Now, just want to shout out the late, great Gary Carter. His trade to the New York Mets, and that was December 84. I just can imagine, as an Expos fan, that's got to be a heartbreaker. Oh, for sure. What happened there is that several years earlier, he had signed a contract,

What happened there is that several years earlier, he had signed a contract, although a different version, seven years for $15 million or eight years for $16 million. And Charles Brompton, the owner, agreed to that, but very, very reluctantly. He was not fond of giving out a large contract with a large amount of money, which was roughly $2 million a year, one of the biggest contracts in all of baseball at that time. So after the 84 season, he instructed the new general manager, Murray Cook, he said, Murray, I want you to trade Gary Carter.

And that's how Murray Cook told me a couple years ago. Charles said, I want you to trade Gary Carter. And that's how Murray Cook told me a couple of years ago. Charles said, I want you to trade him. So Murray Cook told me that it was basically the Mets that really just had the money to maybe afford Gary Carter. So that's what happened. So in December of 1984, they traded Gary Carter for a number of players. Mike Fitzgerald, Floyd Jormans, Herm Winningham, and Hubie Brooks. Wow.

So, you know, Hubie and Floyd Jormans were pretty decent players. The Expos actually thought that they could, Herm Winningham would become a full-time player, but he didn't. And then Fitz, he was more of a part-time player who would not rule an answer to Carter at all. But he was a good guy in the clubhouse for a number of years, and at the plate, you know, behind the plate.

And then Gary Carter would eventually get his chip when, you know, thanks in part to Bill Buckner making a key error at first base, but eventually the Mets would win the World Series with Gary Carter. That's right. But, you know, Gary Carter, when he

got inducted in the Hall of Fame or elected he told the Hall of Fame he wanted to get in with the Mets logo on his plaque but the Hall of Fame people told him no, your legacy is with the Expos you spent what, 10 years with the Expos you have to have

the Expos logo on your plaque so, you know the have the Expos logo on your block. So, you know, the interesting thing too with Carter, he ended up, as you know, getting traded, or picked up on waivers from the Dodgers by the Expos for the 1992 season. And then he retired after the 92 season, after he got that last hit, a double, over the head of Dawson,

who was still with the Cubs at that time. Right. Well, that's another big moment in Expos' history, is that hit by double by Carter. Woo! Now, I just want to, I realize now, I know you have a noon appointment, so I'm going to cook with gas here for a moment here. Here's a few FOTMs I want to shout out with their memories.

Diamond Dog says he remembers fondly the big comeback against the Reds in 1989 on home runs by Rex Hudler and Damaso Garcia.

Yeah, Joe, that 1989, that was a team that should have won the National Leagues, but it faded at the end. They led all through parts of July and August, and I was on the beat then,

and, you know, enjoying a team that was close to maybe winning the National Leagues, and they really, really folded. It was just a real shambles. And that was the impetus for Charles Brompton to start selling the team. He didn't eventually officially give up

the team for another year, but he let it know and that was it. His heart was broken when the Expos faded and lost in 1989. Well, let's shout out another. So, 1989, there was a big trade. I want to say, I'm going to read the note from Superfan Happy Slide.

That's his handle or her handle. The big 1989 trade for Mark Langston didn't result in a division win, and Randy Johnson was one of the pieces that went the other way. But at least the team tried to win. After losing, the kid, the Hawk, and Rock, and Langston move on. It was a change of narrative for the franchise. Yeah, that sounds like they went big on 89, and when it didn't pan out, well, time to rebuild, I guess.

Yeah, it's interesting. Just a couple of days ago was the 33rd anniversary of that Mark Langston trade for Randy Johnson, Brian Holman, and Gene Harris. It was, I look back, I was on the beat. I had reported it a month before that it was in the works, but they didn't announce it for another month. So what happened, a trade happened,

it was announced in San Diego, and when you look back at it, it was a good trade because Langston was an established pitcher, and Dave Dombrowski got approval from Bronwyn to make the trade. You know, Langston was making more money than Johnson, Holman, and Harris together. Right. But they wanted an established pitcher because they didn't see that Randy Johnson

would help them that particular year. So they traded, and eventually they faded, and Langston kind of faded too, even though he started out of the gate with some pretty good games. But then he followed it himself, and at one point when he was going good, there was a talk of maybe signing him to a three-year deal,

and he seemed to accept it. But after the season, a bad season ended, he went in and signed with the Angels. Now, a shout-out to Jason here. Jason's fondest Expos memory is an 89-extra inning game versus L.A. when, and please, I should know how to pronounce his name. Is it Yupi? Yupi?

Yupi, yeah. Okay, good. When Yupi, and I could recognize Yupi because now he's showing up at Habs games, but when Yupi got ejected, this memory sticks out in Jason's mind all these years later when the mascot got ejected. I was at that game.

It was 22 innings. It started on one date and finished on the next day. I had about one or two in the morning. Hey, Danny, I was once at an 18-inning game, and I thought, wow, this is like two games in one. But 22 innings, I've never been at a 22-inning game. Well, yeah, that was something else. You know, Dennis Martini, that was a game that he came in and pitched in relief.

And then Larry Walker actually saved the game earlier in the game when he made this phantom catch off the right field wall after a hit by Eddie Murray. And so they called it a catch ball, a caught ball, but in fact it was really a double. Anyway, a lot of interesting things happened in that game. Larry Walker, one of his first few games with the Expos in his debut, he had debuted a few days earlier,

but that game he was very, that was one game when he showed that he's really, really smart as an outfielder. His instincts for the game became known very early in his career.

He had that sixth, what do you call it? Sixth sense? Instinct. Yeah. The five tools. Well, he had the sixth tool, which was the mental instincts to look ahead in the game from the outfield. And he was an outstanding runner. Now, you mentioned Dennis Martinez,

and that's going to bring up a big memory for Midtown Gord and many others listening. And I do have a clip. I'm just going to take a quick moment here. And brevity is a soul of wit, and we don't have a lot of time, so I'll be very brief here. But I want to thank the following sponsors these people these companies they help fuel the real talk and they let us do these deep dives into the montreal expos with danny gallagher so i want to

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In the bottom of the ninth, 26 in a row have been retired by Dennis Martinez. In the bottom of the ninth. 26 in a row have been retired by Dennis Martinez. One and two pitch. In the air. Center field. Grissom el presidente el perfecto And I love how they let the crowd take it from there. I'll bring it down, but... Oh, is that your phone? Is that Dennis Martinez calling you?

Now, tell me about this. I mean, we talked about how many no-hitters already in Expo's history. Now, this is about this. I mean, we talked about how many no-hitters already in Expo's history. Now, this is a perfect game, far, far more rare than I think anything in Major League Baseball, pretty much. But tell me what you can about this. This is the 13th official perfect game in Major League history. That's Dave Van Horn with the iconic call of El Presidente, El Perfecto. What can you share with us about the Dennis Martinez perfect game

really amazing you know what Dave Van Horn decided to do when he said El Presidente El Perfecto he decided that he would not speak anymore he wanted the fan noise to take

over his broadcast he wanted just dead silence. And that was his strategy. One of his greatest calls of any hits or home runs was that one. Dennis Martinez, that was not a very good year for the Expos. Part of the stadium had fell down. Buck Rogers had been fired in midseason and replaced by Tom Reynolds

who was over his head as a manager and Dennis Martinez you know that hit by Chris Gwynn to deep center that was quite a poke to deep center and Marquis Grissom had the speed to get back and get it and that was something else, Dennis Martinez

a perfect game I asked Vin Scully later a few years ago, what was the highlight of that game for him Vin Scully, and this is what he told me when Dennis Martinez sat down in the dugout after the game

and started crying. Because Dennis Martinez, that was a special moment because he owed a lot to the Expos for taking him after his drinking problems with the Orioles. And that was when he cried. He was thanking the Expos. He was thanking the Expos for giving him that chance. It was just a very emotional moment for him.

Wow. So that's the fourth, am I right? Am I count correct that this is the fourth no-hitter in Expos history? Even though it's a perfect game, but also, of course, a no-hitter. But four, right? Yeah, there's game, but also, of course, a no-hitter. But four, right? Yeah, there's two. Stoney, Charlie Lee, Dennis, and somebody else apparently had one for five innings,

but I don't think it counted. No, I don't think that counts. That doesn't count. But still, I just want to point out the Jays who have now been around, if I guess I have to do the math, but have had a longer franchise history now than the Expos, and still only the one. So just an interesting fun fact.

Oh, speaking of fun facts, just a quick one before we move on. And I'm going to start talking twice as fast as normal. But Dennis Martinez, as his catcher in that game for the perfect game, is Ron Hasse. Okay? And I know you know this fun fact,

but this is wild to me. Ron Hasse caught Len Barker's perfect game like 10 years earlier. Ron Hasse caught Len Barker's perfect game like 10 years earlier. Ron Hasse is the only man in Major League Baseball to catch two perfect games. Yeah, that's really, truly amazing. And Dennis loved pitching to Ron Hasse. So Ron Hasse was there.

There were several other catchers catching for the Expos that year. But Dennis loved throwing to Ron Hasse was there. There were several other catchers catching for the Expos that year. But Dennis loved throwing to Ron Hasse. And supposedly, it's true that Ron Hasse would be going up to Dennis during the game and saying, you had the no-hitter. And they say when you have a no-hitter, you're not supposed to jinx him and say it. But obviously, Dennis knew there was a no-hitter, you're not supposed to jinx him and say it. But obviously Dennis knew there was a no-hitter. And so

that's how it turned out. It was a beautiful moment in X-Force's history. I guess that would have to be the highlight, the biggest highlight in X-Force's history would be the perfect game for sure. Wow, okay. Now I'm

going to thank three FOTMs for their comments. Todd Van Allen, he went to a game, I'll read his note, went to a game with a friend of mine, sitting near the Montreal dugout. Yuppie walked on top of it, waved at the crowd, and as he walked past a man and his son,

the child said, for everyone to hear, Yuppie's feet stink. Todd Van Allen never forgot that day. And then I'm just going to, two more quickly. Mike Ross, who's actually the public address announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs here at Scotiabank Arena. His favorite memory is meeting Gary Carter in the press box in 1998 and having lunch with him.

That was a great thrill for Mike Ross, who got to hang in the Montreal clubhouse when he was working AAA Ottawa games. And then one more, because this is going to lead to a clip, and we can talk about this moment. Diamond Dog says, Cliff Floyd's home run against a befuddled Greg Maddox in 1994. And I have a clip.

You ready? Ready to go. And the 2-2. Fly ball, deep right field. David Justice looks up. This ball's gone. And the 2-2. Fly ball deep right field. David Justice looks up. This ball's gone. Three-run homer for Cliff Floyd. And the Expos lead it 5-1.

Only the third homer of the year for Cliff Floyd. Floyd off the changeup. Remember, he ran two right in on his navel, but that was a good changeup right on top of the plate. Floyd had to be sitting on an off-speed pitch. So it's a noisy end to the evening for Greg Maddox, and Steve Bedrosian has come on to pitch. All right, now, Danny, let's talk about 1994. Boy, they had a tremendous season.

They were 74-40 at the time of the strike. They had pitching. They had a great bullpen. They had great offense. They had a great manager in Philippe Allou. And it was screwed up by the strike and the cancellation of the season. One of the turning points was that home run by Cliff Floyd. Cliff Floyd told me that that symbolized what the Expo did

in getting over the hump of the Atlanta Braves, who had been dominating baseball in the National League for a few years, and that showed the Expos that they could compete with the Atlanta Braves. And Greg Maddox throws this ball down at Cliff Floyd's shoelaces, and Cliff Floyd somehow golfs it out. It's the biggest home run in Cliff Floyd's history. And after the game, Greg Maddox got mad and threw chairs and stools all over the Braves clubhouse at Olympic Stadium. He's so mad.

Wow. Okay. Now, just to remind people again, there's a lot of heartbreak. We should address the fact that when you're revisiting the Expos history, there's a part of me that's glad I'm a Jays fan and not an Expos fan. There's a lot of heartbreak. And I speak as a Leafs fan, so I know heartbreak. But 1994, the Expos after the All-Star break, they went 20-3. They had a run between July 18th and August 11th of 1994. When they were, yeah, 20-3.

They had five players named All-Stars that year. Moises Lu, Will Cordero, Darren Fletcher, Marquise Grissom, and Ken Hill. And basically, maybe just not to dwell on it, but what is it with this labor dispute that terminates the season? There was no World Series in 1994. Oh, the owners wanted to institute some sort of a salary cap, and the players would not have anything to do with it. But probably to save that season, Donald Feer and the Players Association and the players should have agreed to continue the rest of the season

and continue negotiations in the offseason. But Players Association wanted to make a point and they put the players out on strike, which is really, really unfortunate. Oh my goodness, yes. And you probably have made this argument yourself, but when the season's cancelled, now remember, I'm just checking my Brian Gerstein notes,

there's six and a half games up on the Braves when the season's called. And they, I mean, again, the Yankees had a great team too. Like there's no slam dunk, but they would have had an opportunity to win their first World Series. And then the season's canceled and many fans just don't come back. This is really

unfortunate timing for this franchise. It couldn't be worse, actually, considering what happens next. There's an alternate universe somewhere where they don't cancel the season, and they make the playoffs, and the fans stick around, and that core sticks around, and they're still playing in Montreal.

Oh, for sure. They could have had a little dynasty if they've been able to get into the playoffs and maybe generate a lot of revenue for the 1995 season to pay players more money in the offseason of 94-95, but because they lost a lot of money

by no revenue in the offseason, Claude Boucher the managing general partner had this bright idea of wanting to trade Ken Hill Marquis Grissom and uh John Wetland to save money and they didn't offer Larry Walker a contract and at that point for the 95 season all of them would have been making uh you know millions of dollars and they just didn't have the money. They had no off-season ticket sales. It was pretty bad. But it would have

helped if Claude Berchoux maybe had kept these guys for at least a few months of the 95 season. He instructed Kevin Malone, the general manager, to trade these guys. It kind of went downhill. Ten years later, the general manager, to trade these guys. So it kind of went downhill. Ten years later, the team left out.

Tragic, tragic, tragic tale here. Now, before we bury this franchise, shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I want to recognize Diane, Mike Gregotsky, and Tobias Vaughn because all three, when I asked for their favorite Expos memories, I think all three are probably Jays fans, that's why, but there was great love for the Pearson Cup games. You know, watching the, you know,

Jays play the Expos. In fact, Tobias Vaughn shouts out a Canada Day matchup between Roger Clemens and Jeff Juden that he remembers, but just to shout out, the Pearson Cup games were kind of fun. Oh yeah, that went on for a number of years in the 70s,

and I believe in the part of the 80s, where they would get the Blue Jays and the Expos together for exhibition games. And, yeah, it was a lot of fun. I guess later on, I'm sure even before they folded and then were moved to Washington in 2004, I'm sure that the Expos fans and the Blue Jays fans would have hoped that they would have revived that Pearson Cup game, but it was kind of scrapped after a number of years.

So let's get to it here, Danny. Okay, so Major League Baseball buys the Expos prior to the 2002 season. And it sounds like this is specifically a result that they couldn't secure funding for a new ballpark in Montreal. Is that right? Well, that's right. Bud Selick, who is not well liked by Expo's fans, tried to help Claude Bourchoux get funding from the Quebec government and tried to encourage companies and businesses in Montreal to get something going to provide an ownership group

to take over the team. But after two or three years they decided that nothing was happening there was no ownership people in Montreal or Quebec coming forth and they decided just to move the team to Washington so it was it was kind of like a first to the last 2002, 2003, 2004. It's a team owned by Major League Baseball. It's not owned by a majority owner. It was kind of a joke.

Well, I will just shout out FOTM Darren Shanahan, who says he fondly remembers the rally they had in August 2003 with no ownership. The team surprised everyone by catching up to wildcard to the wildcard, but then the league blocked them from making any trades and that killed the season. This is Darren's words. I was hopeful even then that someone would step up and save the team.

So that's Darren Shanahan. I also want to point out that, uh, there's a couple of years, I guess, where, uh, the Expos play, uh, 22 home games each year in Puerto Rico,

if we remember correctly. And then they relocate. The announcement comes from Major League Baseball. This is September 29, 2004, that they make the big announcement. They're going to relocate the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season. I'm sorry for your loss, man. I'm hurting here even saying these words. Oh, for sure.

To lose a team is not easy. There's a lot of grief and depression of fans who are really close to the team. that grief and depression of fans who are really close to the team. And really unfortunate, you know, Bud Selig was saying no ownership came forth, so they just kind of got rid of the team, but very unfortunate. Yeah, I think about, you know, Vancouver Grizzlies, they weren't around as long, but I'm trying to think, you know, I'm a Toronto sports fan, so I've never experienced this. You know, the Raptors are still here, the weren't around as long, but I'm trying to think. I'm a Toronto sports fan, so I've never experienced this. The Raptors are still here.

The Jays are still here. The Leafs aren't going anywhere. So hopefully I never have to experience that heartbreak of losing a team that you loved. I can't imagine. But just to put a bow on everything here before we say goodbye, and this has been awesome. Danny, this has been awesome. What's the name of your book again?

this has been awesome. What's the name of your book again? It's called Bases Loaded Inside Stories about Eli, Crow, Psy, Terminator,

and the Expo. And if I could plug an upcoming book signing, Mike. Of course. Sunday, June the 12th at Christie Pits in Toronto. I'll be there before

and during the Maple Leafs baseball game against the Brantford Red Sox selling all my and signing all my books. Blue Monday always remembered, never forgotten and bases loaded. I'll be setting up shop about 12.30pm on top of the hill at

Christie Pits Sunday, June the 12th. Okay, thank you for mentioning that. I can promise you that many FOTMs will come, but Mark Hebbs here will stroll to Christie Pits to say hi that day for sure. So that's awesome. Now, just to put a bow on it all. Okay, so the Expos posted an all-time record. They had

2,753 wins, 2,943 losses. They had 2,753 wins, 2,943 losses. They actually had four ties. I won't ask for details, but you could have ties at some point. I don't know. There's four ties in their 36 years in Montreal. I just want to shout out some stars we didn't have time to talk about, but of course, here we talk a lot about Vladladdy jr but vladdy senior he led the franchise and home runs and batting average steve rogers led the franchise and wins and strikeouts they had the four no hitters we've talked about during the episode they had the perfect game there's only that was only the 13th in major league history uh the expos retired four numbers they retired um they had uh nine members of members of the Expos have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

And Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, and Tim Raines, they have Expos caps on if you go to Cooperstown and check out their plaques. I want to shout out Bartolo Colon. He's the last Expo to play in the major leagues. He played in 2018 with Texas. That's probably the last we'll see of him. And Ridley Funeral Home, they kind of get the last word here because their favorite memory of the Expos was when,

and I'm going to quote this because it's going to be very controversial, when they won the World Series in 2019. Now, what was your thought as an Expos, what is the thought of Expos fans when they finally, the franchise in Washington wins the World Series in 2019? I was, I never really cared for the Expos, you know, going to Washington. But I actually, you know, didn't mind when they won the World Series

because former Expo Dave Martinez was the Washington Nationals manager. And I had covered him when he was with the Expos in the late 80s and early 90s. And he was a really fine individual part-time player. So I had no qualms about that. It's just that they want to somehow share some of the Expos records and coordinate them into records that the Nationals play, and I don't really have any use for that. But generally speaking, I don't mind the Washington Nationals.

That was a decision made by Major League Baseball that they would move to Washington because Washington was considered the best location at that time among other cities. Now, Danny, this is actually the best note, and I know you've got something to do, so I'm going to close with this note and get your reaction to this. Then I'm going to do an outro,

and then I'm going to fade out of Lois of the Low, and I'm going to actually play a three-minute tribute to the Expos. So if you have to disappear before the end, I can catch up with you later. But if you're still around, I'll give you a formal goodbye when I stop recording. But this is a note from Dan McKay, and Dan McKay writes simply, the Expos need to come back.

Whether it's Tampa, the Oakland Athletics, or an expansion team, the Expos need to come back. Danny, do you think we'll ever have the Montreal Expos back? It may happen in a few years' time through expansion or relocation of Tampa Bay or maybe even Miami. It's possible. But after Major League Baseball crossed the idea of the split-season concept between Montreal and Tampa Bay. The ownership group in Montreal,

Stephen Broppin and Mitch Garber and so on, they lost a lot of interest in having any involvement with any potential team in Montreal. So I don't know what will happen if expansion ever comes up in a few years or relocation of a team. Their hearts were broken by that split-season concept, which didn't really make a lot of sense to begin with.

But it's possible in three or four years or five years, but something may come up. But you never know. There's also some good teams in our prospective locations in the United States, Mike. Okay, listen, hope springs eternal. I hope one day that I can see a game in Montreal. I can see the Expos playing a major league baseball game in Montreal. That's my hope.

Yeah, look, thanks a million, Mike, for having me on for 90 minutes. It was tremendous. Well, the pleasure was all mine. Again, thanks, Danny. This was awesome. You know your stuff. You've written the books. People can buy your books, and they should meet you at Christy Pits.

And that brings us to the end of our 1056th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Danny, how can we follow you on Twitter? Daniel Gallagher 7. Okay, I'm going to take it. Daniel Gallagher 7. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Sticker U is at Sticker U. Dewar are at Dewar Performance, D-U-E-R. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH and Canada cabana. They're at Canada cabana underscore. See you all next week. I would like to share this with the people in Montreal that are not going to have a team anymore. But my heart and my ring is with them too. This one's from the Spoh, Montreal.

Annie Slade's got the springtime blues real bad. Can't help but reminisce about the great years we had I remember photo day, 83 summer Yeah, still have to pick a meal, my pops and my brother I remember All-Star Game, 5 fans strong 59,000 fans, look it on I remember tears at the kids' last game Stood right behind him as the anthem played Now my homemade sign's got his

autographed name on the newspaper cover first rush with fame I remember singing Valderri Valderra 0-3 wild card

race last hurrah I remember Vlad 40-40 in the call they got long the game against the Braves Cliff Floyd

going long still missing Montreal ball six years on yeah sometimes you don't know what you got till it's gone

Marcus Christian is flying he's already in second. Here he comes to third. He's been made. The play of the play. Chris Lampard's right. Save that all.

And scores. This one's for the kid and the cat and the hawk. And this one's for Britt Larry walking the rock. And this one's for El Presidente mowing no cab. And this one's for Spaceman growing flat. And most of all, this one's for us, The fans who stuck with the team when the times were tough Singing Those were the days

And the memories will never fade Those I hold in my heart I remember Rondell White and Lou Frazier Odie Nixon, F.P., Eli, and Lazer I remember the magic El Perfecto 27 men up and down like Presto. I remember sun coming down on the field, no roof. I remember doing a jig on the dugout with Utes.

I remember just how close we came. 81 in the strike year, still feel the pain. I'll never forget that last night at the O. Had both arms wrapped around my dad and my bro. It looked just like that pic we took years ago. The only thing different were the tears that flowed Yeah most of y'all must think I love the Havs more But if it were up to me it'd feel like 94

I remember the last time I checked the box score And the last sad send off from Dave Van Horn This one's for the kid and the cat and the hawk And this one's for Grit, Larry, Walk and The Rock And this one's for El Presidente, Moe and O'Kam And this one's for Spaceman, Gro and Vlad And most of And this one's for El Presidente Mowin' no cab And this one's for Spaceman Growin' flat And most of all, this one's for us

The fans who stuck With the team when the times were tough Singin' Those were the days And the memories will never fade Those are more than one This one's for the kid And the cat and the hawk

And this one's for Grit Larry Walkin' the rock And this one's for El Presidente Mowin' no cab And this one's for the kid and the cat and the hawk And this one's for Grit Larry, Walkin' the Rock And this one's for El Presidente, mowin' old cabs And this one's for Spaceman, growin' flares Sometimes it's the little things that bring us together That's why I'm an X-Bowl forever, remember I'm a-fuckin' away And the memories will never fade

Cause I'm hold hold in my heart Let me leave you with this, Elliot. To Rusty and Beachy And Singy and Georgie Stoney and Frenchy Bach and Psy and LP Hawk, Crow and Rock Woody, Ross the Boss and the Kid

Eli, Gully, Scotty, Charlie and Scoop The Cat and Marquise Walk and Moe El Presidente and Pedro Flippy and Rondell And Orlando and Michael and Brian And Jose and Vladdy You got the picture

A wealth of wonderful memories And I know that as Expos fans You won't let go of that