August 9, 1984: Expos’ Dan Schatzeder tames Cubs, hurls 10-inning shutout

The Montreal Expos were in transition in 1984. Although they had posted the best overall winning percentage in the National League from 1979 through 1983, each of those years had ended in disappointment.1 The Expos’ only playoff appearance in that span came in the strike-shortened 1981 season, and even that brief success was overshadowed by a soul-crushing NLCS loss on Blue Monday.

One by one, key players from the Expos’ most successful period were on the way out. Warren Cromartie, Scott Sanderson, Jerry White, Ray Burris, Al Oliver, and Woodie Fryman departed after the 1983 season,2 and more changes were on the way as Montreal fell behind in the NL East in 1984.

A 5-12 skid in late May and early June – punctuated by a season-ending knee injury to starting first baseman Terry Francona on June 14 − knocked the Expos out of the pennant race.3 On July 1, shortstop Chris Speier was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.4

A more dramatic move came later that month, when the Expos demoted 34-year-old Steve Rogers, the winningest pitcher in franchise history, to the bullpen. Rogers, NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 1982 and fourth-place finisher in 1983, had a 3-10 record and a 5.79 ERA in his first 17 starts of 1984.5

Rogers’ replacement in the Expos rotation was 29-year-old left-hander Dan Schatzeder, who was on his second tour with Montreal in 1984.6 Selected out of the University of Denver in the third round of the June 1976 amateur draft, Schatzeder had debuted with the Expos in September 1977.7 In 1979 he excelled as Montreal’s fifth starter and swingman, going 10-5 with a 2.83 ERA and helping the Expos to a 95-win season.8 They still missed the playoffs, finishing two games behind the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

Montreal, wanting to keep pace with the fleet-footed Pirates, traded Schatzeder to the Detroit Tigers for speedster Ron LeFlore in December 1979.9 Schatzeder’s numbers steadily declined in his two seasons with Detroit and in 1982 with the San Francisco Giants. When his ERA soared to 7.29 at the end of May 1982, the Giants demoted him to the minors,10 then sold him to Montreal for an estimated $200,000.11

“If anybody can get him back on track, we can,” reasoned Jim Fanning, the Expos’ vice president of player development and scouting.12 Fanning was correct in his assessment. Schatzeder gradually returned to his old form, with Montreal using him almost entirely in relief until the summer of 1984.

Schatzeder began his stint in the rotation with two outings against the Pirates in late July.13 On August 4 he faced the Chicago Cubs, who were in the process of taking over first place in the division with 12 wins in 14 games. Schatzeder (4-3, 2.56 ERA) was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning after giving up four runs (three earned) in a 4-1 loss.14 Dennis Eckersley earned the win, improving his record to 6-6 and lowering his ERA to 3.80 since joining the Cubs in a May 25 trade with the Boston Red Sox.15

Five days later, on August 9, Schatzeder got another shot at Chicago, this time at Montreal’s Stade Olympique. Headed for their first postseason appearance since 1945, the Cubs boasted the NL’s best offense,16 but Schatzeder, who grew up just outside Chicago in Villa Park, Illinois, was undeterred. He dominated the Cubs with a 10-inning shutout, delivering not only the best start of his career, but one of the top pitching performances in the history of the Expos.

Montreal came into the game in fifth place with a disappointing 54-58 record. The high-flying Cubs were on a six-game winning streak and in first place with a 68-45 mark, 4½ games ahead of the second-place New York Mets.

The contest featured a rematch between Schatzeder and Eckersley. Both hurlers fared significantly better than they had at Wrigley Field. Eckersley allowed only two baserunners in the first six innings, Max Venable on an infield single in the fourth and Tim Wallach on a single in the fifth. Schatzeder was nearly as stingy in the first six stanzas, surrendering just a walk and three singles, two of which were of the infield variety.

Schatzeder cruised through the next three innings, retiring 9 of the 10 batters he faced. Henry Cotto, on a seventh-inning error by Wallach, was the only Chicago batter to reach base.

Eckersley ran into trouble in the seventh when the Expos loaded the bases with two outs on a hit-by-pitch, stolen base, intentional walk, and Wallach’s infield single. But second baseman Doug Flynn popped out to end the threat, and Expos fans voiced their displeasure. According to Ian MacDonald of the Montreal Gazette, the booing was mainly directed at manager Bill Virdon’s decision to let the light-hitting Flynn bat in that situation.17

The game remained scoreless as the Expos came to bat in the ninth. Montreal loaded the bases with nobody out on a double by Andre Dawson, an error by Cubs first baseman Keith Moreland on Gary Carter’s groundball,18 and an intentional walk to Dan Driessen. After Eckersley retired Wallach on a popup to the catcher, Mike Stenhouse pinch-hit for Flynn and tapped into a force out at home. Eckersley completed his Houdini act by striking out pinch-hitter Pete Rose.19

Schatzeder returned to the mound for the 10th. Cotto reached on a bunt single and advanced to second with two outs when Tim Raines, who had moved from center field to take over second-base duties from Flynn, booted Larry Bowa’s grounder.20 Leon Durham pinch-hit for Eckersley and on a 3-and-2 count Schatzeder got out of the inning by blowing a fastball by him for his 11th strikeout. “Durham got two hits off me in Chicago last Sunday, both on sliders,” said Schatzeder.21 “I think he was expecting sliders, but I didn’t throw him any.”22

With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Raines singled off reliever George Frazier and stole second base. After Venable popped out, Raines swiped third.23 The steal proved pivotal when Dawson blooped a ball past Moreland that was fielded on one hop by second baseman Ryne Sandberg.24 Nobody covered first, so Sandberg had no play and Raines scampered home with the game’s only run.

Schatzeder finished with a four-hit shutout, walking just one batter and striking out 11 in 10 innings, giving him a Game Score of 94.25  “Dan was absolutely superb,” said Dawson. “That was the best effort that we have gotten from one of our starters all season.”26

On closer inspection, it turned out to be an understatement. As measured by Game Score, it was the best start from an Expos hurler since Bill Stoneman tossed a one-hit shutout and struck out 14 San Diego Padres in June 1971.27 When the Expos moved to Washington after the 2004 season, Schatzeder’s outing remained tied for the second highest Game Score in team history.28

Schatzeder’s impressive shutout kicked off a brief 2-6 tailspin for the Cubs, which allowed the Mets to pull within just a game and a half of first. But it was as close as New York got; the Cubs rebounded to win 26 of their final 40 contests and claim the division title by a healthy 6½ games.29

The Expos’ upheaval continued for the remainder of 1984. One week after Schatzeder’s gem, Montreal pulled the plug on the failed Pete Rose experiment and traded him to the Cincinnati Reds.30 On August 29 Virdon was relieved of his managerial duties,31 and a few days later John McHale stepped down as general manager – a position he had held since October 1978.32 He was replaced by Murray Cook.

The Expos finished in fifth place with a 78-83 record, their first losing season since 1978. Perhaps more concerning was the dramatic 31 percent reduction in turnout at Stade Olympique, which dropped the team from second in NL attendance to eighth.33

But the coup de grâce in the transformation of the Expos came in December when they traded Carter, their best player and the face of the franchise, to the New York Mets for a basket of four lesser players.34 For the first time in team history, the Expos cited financial concerns as the overriding reason for not retaining an elite player.35 It would not be the last.36  

The Expos continued to use Schatzeder primarily as a starter through the end of the 1985 season. But the team, citing his recurring shoulder issues, shifted him to the bullpen in 1986.37 When the Expos became desperate for help in the middle infield in July, they dealt him to the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade that netted them Tom Foley.38

Schatzeder was used almost exclusively as a reliever for the remainder of his career, which wrapped up in 1991 after stints with six other organizations.39 His greatest team success came in 1987, when he won a World Series with the Minnesota Twins, but the most productive parts of his career came with Montreal. In Schatzeder’s eight seasons with the Expos, he posted a 3.09 ERA (116 ERA+) in 75 starts and 166 relief appearances.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org. Unless otherwise noted, all play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Raines Steals Extra-Inning Victory from Cubs” in the August 10, 1984, edition of the Montreal Gazette.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON198408090.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1984/B08090MON1984.htm

Photo credit

Photo of Dan Schatzeder courtesy the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 The Expos went 413-341 (.548) from 1979 to 1983, tops in the NL. In 1979 Montreal was eliminated on the final day of the regular season, finishing two games behind the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. The conclusion of Montreal’s 1980 season was just as bitter. The Philadelphia Phillies and Expos entered the final weekend of the regular season tied for first place with a three-game showdown between the two teams in Montreal. After the Expos lost a close game in the series opener, Mike Schmidt clinched the division the next day by slamming an 11th-inning home run, and the Phillies went on to win their first-ever World Series championship. The Expos made their first playoff appearance in franchise history when they won the second-half title in 1981. They defeated the Phillies in the NLDS before falling one extra-base hit short of the World Series on Blue Monday. The Expos were the consensus pick to win the NL East in 1982, but they spent only four days in first place all season and finished six games behind the division-winning St. Louis Cardinals, who went on to win the World Series. The Expos were contenders again in 1983 and they were in first place as late as September 13. But they won only eight of their final 20 games and finished eight games behind the division-winning Phillies. Jonah Keri, Up, Up & Away: The Kid, The Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, Le Grand Orange, Youppi!, The Crazy Business of Baseball, & the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2014), 189.

2 Cromartie and White left to play in Japan after the 1983 season ended. The Expos dealt away Sanderson and Al Newman in a three-team trade with the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres in December 1983. The Expos acquired reliever Gary Lucas in the transaction. Sanderson helped the Cubs win division titles in 1984 and 1989. Montreal traded Burris to the Oakland Athletics for cash and minor-league speedster Rusty McNealy in December 1983. Oliver was traded to the San Francisco Giants in February 1984 for Max Venable, Fred Breining, and a player to be named later, Andy McGaffigan. Fryman retired after suffering an elbow injury in late July 1983.

3 At the time of Francona’s injury, he was hitting .346, second best in the NL behind Tony Gwynn, and leading the majors with 19 doubles. It was the second major knee injury for Francona.

4 The Expos sent Speier and cash to the Cardinals in return for weak-hitting middle infielder Mike Ramsey.

5 Rogers went 6-15 with a 4.31 ERA in 1984, only two seasons after winning the NL ERA title. As usual, he was Montreal’s Opening Day starter in 1985. After Rogers got off to a slow start with a 2-4 record and a 5.68 ERA, he was unceremoniously released in late May. As of the end of the 2023 season, Rogers was still the franchise leader in a slew of statistical categories, including wins (158), shutouts (37), innings pitched (2,837⅔), starts (393), and complete games (129). Ian MacDonald and Brian Kappler, “Season Was ‘A Month-Long Lie,’ Says Rogers,” Montreal Gazette, May 22, 1985: H1.  

6 Brian Kappler, “Flynn Hitting Hero as Expos Rally,” Montreal Gazette, July 27, 1984: C1. Rogers pitched well out of the bullpen, and he returned to the rotation on August 7. He went 3-4 with a 2.54 ERA for the remainder of the season.

7 In his first two major-league seasons, Schatzeder went 9-8 with a 2.99 ERA in 21 starts and 14 relief appearances for the Expos.

8 Schatzeder was instrumental in the Expos’ pennant run in 1979. He tossed a four-inning save on May 19 against the Phillies and in August he went 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts. With the Expos in first place – 3 percentage points ahead of the Pirates – Schatzeder tossed 10 innings of six-hit ball in the first game of a September 15 doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. Montreal eventually won the game, 2-1, in the 11th inning. The Expos were in first place as late as September 24.

9 LeFlore swiped 97 bases in 1980, becoming the first player to win the AL and NL stolen-base crown. The Expos went from sixth in the NL in 1979 with 121 stolen bases to second with a whopping 237 steals. The Pirates stole 180 bases in 1979 and 209 in 1980.

10 John Hillyer, “Giants Need Security Blankets,” San Francisco Examiner, June 5, 1982: C1.

11 John Hillyer, “Evans Makes Best of a Bad Situation,” San Francisco Examiner, June 16, 1982: F1.

12 “Schatzeder Returning to Expos,” Montreal Gazette, June 16, 1982: G1.

13 Schatzeder received a spot start on June 15 with Bryn Smith sidelined with a relatively minor hamstring injury. Schatzeder received another one on July 6, as the Expos played their ninth game in eight days. On July 16 he started in place of David Palmer, who was out with shoulder stiffness. Palmer returned to the mound on July 21. Ian MacDonald, “Expos’ Schatzeder Hurls First Win,” Montreal Gazette, June 11, 1984: C1; Ian MacDonald, “Little-Used Schatzeder Shines,” Montreal Gazette, July 17, 1984: B1.

14 Schatzeder was fortunate to not give up any more earned runs in his August 4 outing at Wrigley Field. He was pulled in the fourth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. Rogers came in and retired Gary Matthews on a fly ball to get out of the inning.

15 Chicago traded first baseman Bill Buckner to Boston for Eckersley and infielder Mike Brumley. Eckersley had posted a 5.01 ERA in nine starts with Boston before the trade. He went 10-8 with a 3.03 ERA with the Cubs over the remainder of the 1984 season. Eckersley was converted into a closer after the Cubs traded him to the Oakland Athletics in the spring of 1987.

16 The Cubs were led by second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who had a breakout season. The 24-year-old hit .314, scored a league-leading 114 runs, and played outstanding defense, earning him the NL MVP Award. His 74 extra-base hits were second in the NL behind Dale Murphy (76). The Cubs also got a huge boost with the acquisition of Rick Sutcliffe in a June 13 trade with the Cleveland Indians. Sutcliffe went 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA after joining the Cubs. The performance garnered him the NL Cy Young Award.

17 Ian MacDonald, “Raines Steals Extra-Inning Victory from Cubs,” Montreal Gazette, August 10, 1984: C1.

18 It was the second error in as many innings for Moreland. He was filling in at first base for Leon Durham, who was nursing a hamstring injury. Bill Buckner began the season as Chicago’s starting first baseman; he was traded to the Red Sox in the Dennis Eckersley deal in late May.

19 Rose pinch-hit for Montreal’s offensively challenged shortstop Mike Ramsey. The struggles of Flynn and Ramsey in this game were not out of the ordinary for the 1984 Expos. A big reason why the Expos finished 11th (of 12 teams) in the NL in runs scored was that they got little production out of their middle infielders. Montreal’s shortstops and second basemen combined to hit a paltry .227 with no homers, 58 RBIs, and 5 stolen bases in 1,136 at-bats. 

20 The two pinch-hitters in the bottom of the ninth forced the Expos to use a makeshift infield. The only other middle infielder on the bench, Derrel Thomas, was nursing a groin injury. Although Raines had been a second baseman in the minor leagues, he was playing there for the first time since August 2, 1983. He played the keystone position for the final time of his career on September 9, 1984. In the 10th inning, Wallach played shortstop for the only time in his 17-year big-league career and Jim Wohlford played third base for the second of nine times in his 15-year major-league career. Canadian Press, “Raines ‘Steals’ Win for Expos,” Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard, August 10, 1984: 15.

21 Fred Mitchell, “Expos Win on Dawson’s Hit in 10th,” Chicago Tribune, August 10, 1984: 41.

22 Canadian Press, “Raines ‘Steals’ Win for Expos.”

23 The steals gave Raines 42 stolen bases for the season. He finished with a league-leading 75 steals. It was the fourth consecutive season in which he led the NL in steals. From 1981 to ’84 he stole 314 bases with an outstanding 86 percent success rate.

24 Mitchell, “Expos Win on Dawson’s Hit in 10th.”

25 Bill James introduced the Game Score metric in 1988. It is referenced in this article because of its widespread acceptance in the early part of the twenty-first century. The author acknowledges that it may not be the most accurate performance measurement for starting pitchers. A starter’s Game Score is calculated by starting with 50 points, adding one point for each out recorded, adding two points for each inning completed after the fourth, adding one point for every strikeout, removing two points for each hit allowed, removing four points for each earned run allowed, removing two points for each unearned run allowed, and removing one point for each walk allowed.

26 United Press Canada, “Schatzeder Pitches Expos to Win,” Ottawa Citizen, August 10, 1984: 20.

27 Stoneman’s Game Score of 98 came on June 16, 1971, against the San Diego Padres at Parc Jarry. In his nine shutout innings he allowed one hit and one walk while striking out 14 batters. The only hit against him was a one-out single in the seventh inning by Cito Gaston. Stoneman threw two no-hitters for the Expos, registering a Game Score of 90 against the Phillies on April 17, 1969 and a Game Score of 89 against the New York Mets on October 2, 1972.

28 Three other Expos hurlers matched Schatzeder’s Game Score of 94 before the team moved to Washington for the 2005 season. Pedro Martínez lost a perfect game in the 10th inning against the San Diego Padres on June 3, 1995. In nine-plus shutout innings he struck out nine batters and allowed only a single by Bip Roberts leading off the 10th. Jeff Fassero shut out the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0, on June 29, 1996. He allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out 11 batters in nine innings. Javier Vázquez shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 14, 1999. In nine innings he allowed one hit and one walk and struck out 10 batters.

29 After Chicago won the first two games of the best-of-five NLCS, the Padres came roaring back to secure their first World Series berth in franchise history.

30 The Expos had signed Rose as a free agent in January 1984, hoping he would help their offense and provide veteran leadership. Rose recorded the 4,000th hit of his career in Montreal’s home opener, but his stint with the Expos went downhill from there. In Rose’s 278 at-bats for Montreal, the 43-year-old hit .259 with no homers and 23 RBIs. His on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) was an anemic .629.

31 Jim Fanning took over from Virdon as interim manager. Virdon compiled a 146-147 record as Expos manager. Terry Scott, “Fanning Called In to Relieve Virdon,” Ottawa Citizen, August 31, 1984: 19.

32 “Work a 3-Letter Word for Expos’ New GM,” Montreal Gazette, September 6, 1984: 1.

33 The Expos set a team record with 2.32 million in attendance in 1983. That figure plummeted to 1.6 million in 1984.

34 Carter posted the highest number of Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (bWAR) for all major-league catchers in 1980, ’82, ’83, and ’84. The future Hall of Famer also led all NL catchers in bWAR in 1977, ’78, ’79, and ’81. (Both Carter and Gene Tenace of the San Diego Padres had 6.0 bWAR in 1979.) In 1984 Carter batted .294 with 27 homers and he tied Mike Schmidt for the league lead with 106 RBIs. Carter was traded to the Mets for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham, and Floyd Youmans.

35 Keri, 207-09.

36 Other impact players who left the Expos for financial reasons included Larry Walker (1995), Ken Hill (1995), Marquis Grissom (1995), Pedro Martínez (1997), Javier Vázquez (2003), and Vladimir Guerrero (2004).

37 Brian Kappler, “Spring Training Rerun: Schatzeder Unhappy with Bullpen Job,” Montreal Gazette, March 10, 1986: C1.

38 Brian Kappler, “Expos Do the Murray Shuffle: Schatz Shipped to Phillies,” Montreal Gazette, July 25, 1986: D1.

39 Schatzeder made 198 relief appearances and three starts after his final stint with Montreal.