Glory Days W ashington D C is the capital of the United States That is why it seemed so strange that the city went without a baseball home team for almost 35 years After the 1971 season the Washington Senators left town and became the Texas Rangers Not until 2005 did baseball return to Washington The team that brought it back was the Montreal Expos The Expos played their first season in 1969 That year the National League NL added two teams one in San Diego California and the other in the Canadian city of Montreal Two years earlier Montreal had held a successful World’s Fair called Expo 67 The city would also host the Summer Olympics in 1976 Montreal was truly an international city and Major League Baseball MLB was excited about the idea of bringing the game to a wider audience 6
The Expos put good players on the field right away Their stars included Bill Stoneman Rusty Staub Ron Fairly Mack Jones and Steve Renko Just a few games into the 1969 season Stoneman pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies Over the next few years many more talented players wore the Montreal uniform including Mike Torrez Mike Marshall Ken Singleton and Ron Hunt By the late 1970s the Expos had assembled a very competitive team Catcher Gary Carter third baseman Larry Parrish and outfielders Warren Cromartie Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson formed the heart of a very dangerous batting order At the same time Montreal developed an excellent pitching staff which was led by Steve Rogers Scott Sanderson Bill Gullickson Charlie Lea and Jeff Reardon Over the years the Expos welcomed many other star players including Tim Raines Tim Wallach Andres Galarraga and Dennis Martinez Despite all of this talent the team had a hard time winning on a regular basis Montreal made the playoffs just once in 1981 LEFT This trading card shows the 1969 Expos ABOVE Rusty Staub led Montreal in home runs in each of the team’s first three seasons 7
The team won a playoff series against the Phillies but then lost the National League Championship Series NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers The Expos rose again in the 1990s Those teams were paced by hitters Larry Walker Moises Alou and Marquis Grissom Pitchers Pedro Martinez Ken Hill and John Wetteland were stars on the mound In 1994 Montreal had the best team in baseball The Expos seemed headed to the World Series until the season ended in August over a labor dispute Heartbroken and frustrated many Montreal fans stopped following the Expos That was a shame because they missed a chance to watch Vladimir Guerrero The slugging outfielder was named an All-Star in 1999 and later developed into the league’s best all-around star Unfortunately the team could not afford to pay its players the huge salaries that other clubs offered Guerrero and other top prospects eventually left Montreal for other teams In 2002 with the Expos struggling to stay in business MLB took over the team Three years later the club moved to Washington D C and LEFT Pedro Martinez ABOVE Vladimir Guerrero 9
