Come join us on the Sportsnaut Unfiltered Podcasts. This afternoon we are taking a deeper look into the ill-fated Montreal Expos team. There have been so many great players to come from this franchise. We look deeper into THE team of the 80’s and find out why with big names like Wetteland, Hill, and Grissom they still couldn’t win. Listen now…
The Montreal Expos the Unforgettable Expansion Team
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Connect with Jonah Keri:
- Follow @jonahkeri
- Grantland.com
- Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos
Connect with TC:
The Montreal Expos the Unforgettable Expansion Team:
- Do you remember Youppi?
- Can you name each of the players in the title of Jonah’s book?
- Where are the Expos now?
- Listen in to find out more!
TC and Jonah spend some time today talking about one of the most promising teams of the 1980’s, the Montreal Expos. A team full of super talented players with a lot of promise. The Expos were expected to make several postseason appearances during the 1980’s. This sadly was not the case. They only made it into postseason games in the 1981 split season as many recall, and it didn’t end well. The problem seemed to be with so many great players on the team in the 80’s and 90’s they were never cohesive enough to be a great team. Jonah shares a statistic he uncovered while doing some research for his book, from 1978-1983 the primary second base man hit ZERO home runs. This is a HUGE problem!
Jonah points out that the teams bullpen was just lacking adequate players for key positions. You can see this strategy working for many teams today as they play “Moneyball” to pickup utility players and keep the teams moving forward. From the sounds of things the 1994 strike took a very hard toll of the Expos team. Jonah tells us about all of the players that had to leave in 1995 due to the payroll restrictions that went into place. Including some players walking right into the hands of the teams biggest rivals!
TC and Jonah go on to talk about the “new” team taking the place of the Expos which seems to be the Tampa Bay Rays. However baseball has a different climate today than it did in the 80’s and early 90’s. The guys also discuss how this is now Washington’s 3rd attempt at a franchise, but maybe this is the charm right? There is all this, and more, listen in and feel the love! Baseball season is here ladies and gents!
And don’t forget to thank our guest today by checking out his new book Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos from your local bookseller!
Photo: Jonah Keri- Stock Photo of Book