Davey Rootbeer
08-22-2005, 07:30 AM
Now then, i haven't had the good fortune to be alert or awake or in any possible state that would allow me to take a look at this situation in the last several months. Blame it on lack of time, lack of energy, or just plain lack of oomph. Which, to put it another way, is what i'm going on about here.
The reason for this thread?
As i was cleaning my room for college, i stumbeled upon an old discarded baseball ticket stub.
Field Box. Game 81. October 1, 2001. Mets vs Expos @ Shea.
The last game of the Mets' season in 2000, when they went all the way to the world series for the first time since '86, and got beat orange-and-blue by their brothers from the bronx.
I was 16 years old, and of course, didn't need to be ASKED to accompany my aunt to the ballpark this fine october sunday. It was a moot game, of course. the mets had already won the division, and the expos had already won the satisfaction of a baseball season in which no one had died on their team. The mets' starter was lifted after a few innings, and the subs were put in, as "Who let the dogs out" played, some 30,000 fans did a half-hearted attempt at a wave, and simultaniously filed out LA-Dodger style.
It may have been a moot game. But, as i look at that ticket stub, i realize something no one else has.
<i> The expos playing baseball in October. </i>
What a prospect!
Could one imagine the possibility of america's (and canada's) least fan-favorite ballclub playing in the fall sun with the big dogs? it causes a calamatari to drool at the jowels, and perhaps Bud Selig to spin in his already-dug grave orbiting Mall of America in Minnesota.
Let's do a brief history of baseball's equivalent of a 3rd world country.
in 1968, Baseball was dying, if not dead. Batting averages were in the .220's, home runs were rare and far between, a guy named Mantle was on his last legs (and liver), and several young pitchers named Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, and Ryan were making eyeballs pop around all around the mets' organization.
Bob Gibson pitched the Cards to the series with an earned run average of 1.12 for the season, and on-again off-again jaiilbird Denny McLain won 30 games for the Tigers. Somewhere in Los Angeles, a 5-year old Cecil Fielder did a cannonball into the pacific, and caused a deadly tsunami to wipe out the phillipines, causing many deaths.
Ther baseball gods saw their fanbase dying, being "turned on" to the "groovy" stylings of football, what with Broadway Joe and "that nice clean-cut Colts Quarterback".
So they lowered the mound, and "expanded" the national league, allowing for two new teams, One in San Diego, and one in Montreal.
The montrealers (montrealites?) were overjoyed, and sung songs in french and english to celebrate. Since the world's expo was held there just a scant year before, the team was aptly named "The Expos" or just the 'spo's for short.
they started play in 1969, debuting against who else but the Mets, and winning 11-10 off the eventual World Champions, causing Tom Seaver to cry like a little girl.
For one brief, shining moment, their team won-loss record all time was 1-0. It was perfect. 1.000 winning percentage.
Two weeks later, Bill Stoneman shuts out the Phillies 7-0, allowing no hits. Alouettes go wild and crazy. The expos become the fastest team ever to have a no-hitter thrown. (The mets, in their 43+ years, still haven't recorded one. Blame pedro.)
They go on to lose 110 games that year.
in 1973, they compete in one of the most horrible division races in baseball history, falling 3.5 games back of the Mets.
1973 NL EAST
-----W--L--pct.-GB
NYM 82 79 .509 --
STL 81 81 .500 1.5
PIT 80 82 .494 2.5
MON 79 83 .488 3.5
CHC 77 84 .478 5.0
PHI 71 91 .438 11.5
The Mets took the roaring Oakland A's to 7 games before failing to become the worst team ever to win a world series.
For a long time, nothing happened.
Then, the 'spos moved to Olympic park in '77, and Gary Carter came about, another one of the inexplicable ties this team has had with the Mets. in 1979, they failed to make the post-season after trailing off in the last week, and finished second by a game in 1980.
By all means, they would get their due in '81. But,when the players and owners argued over who da man, tensions rose, players walked out of the negotiating table, and set up lemonaide stands along the roadside to pay their childrens' tuition. As the strike loomed on, the season became split in 'twain, as would the playoff rules. The winner of the "first half" of the season would face the winner of the "second half" in a "division series", before moving on to the "championship series" and then to the "world series", which would employ millions of "quotation marks" and leave many people "pissed off".
This confused and sent many people to early graves. But the Expos finished in first place for the second half of the season, andd whipped the phillies in the Division series. Could this be it? A first-ever championship for a Canadian team? Sadly, it was not to be, as the Dodgers edged the 'spos in 5 games for the pennant.
After this, the expos grew stagnant, finishing no higher than 3rd in their division for the next 10 years, while developing many wonderful young players (for other teams) such as Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, Andres Galarraga, Tim Raines, Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, Moises Alou, and Norm MacDonald.
The finished second in both '92 and '93 in the weakened east, after the historic 1993 collapse of the mets. (Anthony Young. Why. WHY?) Toronto had already taken care of a Canadian championship, twice, in fact, during that stretch. The image of Mitch Williams and Dave Winfield lurks deep in the heart of every Phillie Phanatic even today.
All seemed primed for an Expos' run at the title. It was just as it was in the early 80's. And ran, the expos did, in 1994, they burst out of the gate, took a commanding 6-game lead over atlanta 2/3 of the way through the season, led by young ace Pedro Martinez (Gasp!).
June 29, 1994
The Expos set an attendance record for a mid-week series as they take a three game series from the Braves and in the process, take over the top spot in the NL East.
And then...
the players and owners had yet another bitchslapping contest. The season ended there. No playoffs, no world series. No october Baseball.
The expos won...nothing.
And next year, in a shortened 144-game season, they slipped back to fifth. It was ugly, to say the least. The fans gave up, all around baseball. It was back to 1968 all over again, only this time, There wasn't a young fireballer named Nolan Ryan around to amuse fans with his blazing fastball and Less-than-spectacular control (he had just retired the previous year, in fact.)
There were rumors coming out of the woodwork that the ball was going to be juiced a bit in order to draw fans' attention back to the game. A happy-go-lucky slugger, the son of the great Bobby Bonds, who had never hit more than 46 home runs in one year, took batting practice in 1995 in colorado, and told the media that he definitely felt something in the ball that made it go farther than before. (and this sticks out in my mind, because 10 years later, he would be inexplicably in position to overtake Henry Aaron atop the alltime home run list.)
Some fans came back. The mets offered box tickets for a Dollar each, to fill seats.
Some fans never came back.
The expos lost their fanbase after 1983. They finished no higher than 8th out of 12 teams in the national league in attendance after that year, and starting in 1998, finished last in attendance for 7 years in a row. Some days, you could hear the player's grunts and obscenities, echoing in the empty ballpark, which the 5,000 diehards left enjoyed more extra leg-room than anyone could possibly need.
It got worse.
Feb. 1, 2002
the Major League Baseball Ownership Committee reccomended approval of the sale of the Florida Marlins to Jeffrey Loria. It also endorsed the approval of the sale of the Expos to MLB itself.
Feb. 12, 2002
Major League Baseball's ownership of the Expos was approved by the league owners on this date, and a new management team was announced. Among those involved: Tony Tavares as club president, Omar Minaya as vice-president and general manager, and Frank Robinson as field manager. "I am very pleased with the management team that we have assembled," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "They have long experience in the game and they are first rate in every way. Now that they are in place, they will have the authority to operate the club with complete autonomy."
This became the team that no one would own, the orphan of the baseball world. So, the other MLB teams pitched in and brought it.
The expos have never quite been the same team since, putting together short runs in '96 and '02 before falling short to the Braves. In 2004, they played half their "home games" in Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico, where they recieved more fan support than anywhere in continental America.
In late 2004, the team announced it would pack up and move to Washington.
The 6 fans left formed a riot, which was decimated in its entirety by a single police officer.
Playing in washington, the "Nationals", as they have come to be called, played wonderful first season baseball, leading the National Leage East through most of the season. Come august though, the lead's slipped away, and the Nats are mired in the middle of the (suprisingly good) east. Over .500, but not quite good enough to make it to the post-season.
Of course, being owned by the other teams, they can't possibly become TOO good. why spend money to make your opponent better? So, their late season fallout is of course, to be expected. In washington, by August, they've already exceeded many full-season attendance totals from Montreal. So, like an actor in a tragic comedy, the Expos rise up again only to fall.
I put the ticket up on my wall. It's going to stay there for a good, long while.
October Baseball in Montreal....What a thought.
The reason for this thread?
As i was cleaning my room for college, i stumbeled upon an old discarded baseball ticket stub.
Field Box. Game 81. October 1, 2001. Mets vs Expos @ Shea.
The last game of the Mets' season in 2000, when they went all the way to the world series for the first time since '86, and got beat orange-and-blue by their brothers from the bronx.
I was 16 years old, and of course, didn't need to be ASKED to accompany my aunt to the ballpark this fine october sunday. It was a moot game, of course. the mets had already won the division, and the expos had already won the satisfaction of a baseball season in which no one had died on their team. The mets' starter was lifted after a few innings, and the subs were put in, as "Who let the dogs out" played, some 30,000 fans did a half-hearted attempt at a wave, and simultaniously filed out LA-Dodger style.
It may have been a moot game. But, as i look at that ticket stub, i realize something no one else has.
<i> The expos playing baseball in October. </i>
What a prospect!
Could one imagine the possibility of america's (and canada's) least fan-favorite ballclub playing in the fall sun with the big dogs? it causes a calamatari to drool at the jowels, and perhaps Bud Selig to spin in his already-dug grave orbiting Mall of America in Minnesota.
Let's do a brief history of baseball's equivalent of a 3rd world country.
in 1968, Baseball was dying, if not dead. Batting averages were in the .220's, home runs were rare and far between, a guy named Mantle was on his last legs (and liver), and several young pitchers named Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, and Ryan were making eyeballs pop around all around the mets' organization.
Bob Gibson pitched the Cards to the series with an earned run average of 1.12 for the season, and on-again off-again jaiilbird Denny McLain won 30 games for the Tigers. Somewhere in Los Angeles, a 5-year old Cecil Fielder did a cannonball into the pacific, and caused a deadly tsunami to wipe out the phillipines, causing many deaths.
Ther baseball gods saw their fanbase dying, being "turned on" to the "groovy" stylings of football, what with Broadway Joe and "that nice clean-cut Colts Quarterback".
So they lowered the mound, and "expanded" the national league, allowing for two new teams, One in San Diego, and one in Montreal.
The montrealers (montrealites?) were overjoyed, and sung songs in french and english to celebrate. Since the world's expo was held there just a scant year before, the team was aptly named "The Expos" or just the 'spo's for short.
they started play in 1969, debuting against who else but the Mets, and winning 11-10 off the eventual World Champions, causing Tom Seaver to cry like a little girl.
For one brief, shining moment, their team won-loss record all time was 1-0. It was perfect. 1.000 winning percentage.
Two weeks later, Bill Stoneman shuts out the Phillies 7-0, allowing no hits. Alouettes go wild and crazy. The expos become the fastest team ever to have a no-hitter thrown. (The mets, in their 43+ years, still haven't recorded one. Blame pedro.)
They go on to lose 110 games that year.
in 1973, they compete in one of the most horrible division races in baseball history, falling 3.5 games back of the Mets.
1973 NL EAST
-----W--L--pct.-GB
NYM 82 79 .509 --
STL 81 81 .500 1.5
PIT 80 82 .494 2.5
MON 79 83 .488 3.5
CHC 77 84 .478 5.0
PHI 71 91 .438 11.5
The Mets took the roaring Oakland A's to 7 games before failing to become the worst team ever to win a world series.
For a long time, nothing happened.
Then, the 'spos moved to Olympic park in '77, and Gary Carter came about, another one of the inexplicable ties this team has had with the Mets. in 1979, they failed to make the post-season after trailing off in the last week, and finished second by a game in 1980.
By all means, they would get their due in '81. But,when the players and owners argued over who da man, tensions rose, players walked out of the negotiating table, and set up lemonaide stands along the roadside to pay their childrens' tuition. As the strike loomed on, the season became split in 'twain, as would the playoff rules. The winner of the "first half" of the season would face the winner of the "second half" in a "division series", before moving on to the "championship series" and then to the "world series", which would employ millions of "quotation marks" and leave many people "pissed off".
This confused and sent many people to early graves. But the Expos finished in first place for the second half of the season, andd whipped the phillies in the Division series. Could this be it? A first-ever championship for a Canadian team? Sadly, it was not to be, as the Dodgers edged the 'spos in 5 games for the pennant.
After this, the expos grew stagnant, finishing no higher than 3rd in their division for the next 10 years, while developing many wonderful young players (for other teams) such as Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, Andres Galarraga, Tim Raines, Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, Moises Alou, and Norm MacDonald.
The finished second in both '92 and '93 in the weakened east, after the historic 1993 collapse of the mets. (Anthony Young. Why. WHY?) Toronto had already taken care of a Canadian championship, twice, in fact, during that stretch. The image of Mitch Williams and Dave Winfield lurks deep in the heart of every Phillie Phanatic even today.
All seemed primed for an Expos' run at the title. It was just as it was in the early 80's. And ran, the expos did, in 1994, they burst out of the gate, took a commanding 6-game lead over atlanta 2/3 of the way through the season, led by young ace Pedro Martinez (Gasp!).
June 29, 1994
The Expos set an attendance record for a mid-week series as they take a three game series from the Braves and in the process, take over the top spot in the NL East.
And then...
the players and owners had yet another bitchslapping contest. The season ended there. No playoffs, no world series. No october Baseball.
The expos won...nothing.
And next year, in a shortened 144-game season, they slipped back to fifth. It was ugly, to say the least. The fans gave up, all around baseball. It was back to 1968 all over again, only this time, There wasn't a young fireballer named Nolan Ryan around to amuse fans with his blazing fastball and Less-than-spectacular control (he had just retired the previous year, in fact.)
There were rumors coming out of the woodwork that the ball was going to be juiced a bit in order to draw fans' attention back to the game. A happy-go-lucky slugger, the son of the great Bobby Bonds, who had never hit more than 46 home runs in one year, took batting practice in 1995 in colorado, and told the media that he definitely felt something in the ball that made it go farther than before. (and this sticks out in my mind, because 10 years later, he would be inexplicably in position to overtake Henry Aaron atop the alltime home run list.)
Some fans came back. The mets offered box tickets for a Dollar each, to fill seats.
Some fans never came back.
The expos lost their fanbase after 1983. They finished no higher than 8th out of 12 teams in the national league in attendance after that year, and starting in 1998, finished last in attendance for 7 years in a row. Some days, you could hear the player's grunts and obscenities, echoing in the empty ballpark, which the 5,000 diehards left enjoyed more extra leg-room than anyone could possibly need.
It got worse.
Feb. 1, 2002
the Major League Baseball Ownership Committee reccomended approval of the sale of the Florida Marlins to Jeffrey Loria. It also endorsed the approval of the sale of the Expos to MLB itself.
Feb. 12, 2002
Major League Baseball's ownership of the Expos was approved by the league owners on this date, and a new management team was announced. Among those involved: Tony Tavares as club president, Omar Minaya as vice-president and general manager, and Frank Robinson as field manager. "I am very pleased with the management team that we have assembled," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "They have long experience in the game and they are first rate in every way. Now that they are in place, they will have the authority to operate the club with complete autonomy."
This became the team that no one would own, the orphan of the baseball world. So, the other MLB teams pitched in and brought it.
The expos have never quite been the same team since, putting together short runs in '96 and '02 before falling short to the Braves. In 2004, they played half their "home games" in Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Puerto Rico, where they recieved more fan support than anywhere in continental America.
In late 2004, the team announced it would pack up and move to Washington.
The 6 fans left formed a riot, which was decimated in its entirety by a single police officer.
Playing in washington, the "Nationals", as they have come to be called, played wonderful first season baseball, leading the National Leage East through most of the season. Come august though, the lead's slipped away, and the Nats are mired in the middle of the (suprisingly good) east. Over .500, but not quite good enough to make it to the post-season.
Of course, being owned by the other teams, they can't possibly become TOO good. why spend money to make your opponent better? So, their late season fallout is of course, to be expected. In washington, by August, they've already exceeded many full-season attendance totals from Montreal. So, like an actor in a tragic comedy, the Expos rise up again only to fall.
I put the ticket up on my wall. It's going to stay there for a good, long while.
October Baseball in Montreal....What a thought.