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Despite suffering through a miserable 55-107 campaign the prior year, the 1977 Montreal Expos approached the coming season with a new sense of optimism. Most significantly, the team was finally slated to move into its new ballpark, the massive Olympic Stadium, after spending the first eight years of their existence in tiny Jarry Park, capacity […]

“What it was was not baseball at Derks Field Monday night,” a Salt Lake City, Utah, sportswriter summarized in May 1975, in a phrase that channeled Gertrude Stein1 while expressing more than a little annoyance.2 On the rainy night of May 19, the Hawaii Islanders and Salt Lake City Gulls of the Triple-A Pacific Coast […]

Montreal Expos manager Jim Fanning returned to the dugout on September 22, 1982, after missing five games with severe migraines. But it was Expos shortstop Chris Speier who gave the visiting Philadelphia Phillies headaches that night, driving in eight runs in an 11-4 Expos win. Expectations for the Expos ran high at the beginning of […]

It was April 1964. The top five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were by the Beatles. The Ford Mustang was introduced to consumers.1 The New York Yankees were the Kings of American League Baseball. A perennial power throughout the ’50s and beyond, the Yankees were the only American League champions thus far in the […]

When Dave LaPoint of the St. Louis Cardinals walked to the pitcher’s mound at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati on May 24, 1983, to make the 35th start of his major-league career, the left-hander had yet to walk off any mound with a complete game. Against the Reds, LaPoint finally finished something he started, going the […]

The 1978 Montreal Expos were hoping to finish above .500 and had assembled a cast of hitters that included future Hall of Famers Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, and Tony Perez. Ross Grimsley and Steve Rogers headed their pitching staff, and manager Dick Williams was in his second year at the helm. As late as May […]

The first game of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader between the New York Mets and Houston Astros at Shea Stadium on the last weekend of July 1985 was one of those wonderfully quirky games beloved by those who like unusual statistics. A cavalcade of errors by the Astros led to 16 unearned runs for the Mets […]

The Montreal Expos broke camp in the spring of 1978 with the strongest team in their 10-year history, raising expectations for the team’s first winning season. The dynamic trio of Andre Dawson, Ellis Valentine, and Warren Cromartie were generally considered the best young outfield in baseball, and with five of their eight starting position players […]

Before the 1986 NLCS started, many observers pointed to the greatest mutual strength of the teams: pitching. Games One through Four surpassed those expectations. “I didn’t think it would be that great a pitching series,” said Mets batting coach Bill Robinson.1 In Game Five, it got even better. Nolan Ryan pitched nine innings for the […]

“What, me worry?” was the famous catchphrase of Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-toothed boy who regularly graced the cover of Mad Magazine.1 The motto could also have been adopted by Montreal Expos rookie infielder Al D. Newman after his 19th-inning at-bat against the Houston Astros in a game that began on the evening of July […]

Bill Gullickson arrived in the National League with a record-setting splash in 1980. On September 10, the 21-year-old Montreal Expo became the first rookie pitcher to strike out 18 hitters in a game when he beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2. On April 10, 1982, Gullickson – by then an established member of the Expos’ rotation […]

John (Jack) Burwell Reed played the outfield in the regular and post-season for the fabled 1961 New York Yankees, and contributed to their pennant-winning efforts in 1962 and 1963. He was Mickey Mantle’s defensive replacement for most of these three seasons.  Jack was a terrific high school/college athlete in Mississippi, winning the state quarter-mile run […]

Matt “The Scat” Alexander holds an odd distinction: He is the foremost pinch-running specialist in major-league history. Over parts of nine seasons (1973-81), he played in 374 games — yet amassed only 195 plate appearances. A favorite of manager Chuck Tanner, Alexander won a World Series ring with the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates. Along with his […]

Gary Waslewski woke in his Peabody, Massachusetts apartment on the morning of October 11, 1967 as the starting pitcher in Game Six of the World Series. “I was reading the papers that morning, and one guy wrote that Gary Waslewski has as much chance of winning as Custer had of beating the Indians,” Waslewski said. […]

Every little boy wants to follow in his big brother’s footsteps, especially when it comes to sports. One of Gary Rajsich’s three older brothers, lefty pitcher Dave Rajsich, made it to the big leagues for parts of three seasons (1978-80). In the end, Gary outdid Dave, playing one full season in the majors and parts […]

Who was the first major-league pitcher in the modern era to throw a no-hitter in his first start? The answer is the St. Louis Browns’ big right-hander, Alva Lee “Bobo” Holloman. “Improbable” was the adjective most often used to describe Holloman’s gem of May 6, 1953 — and its odd distinction would come to stand […]

The mere mention of Edgar “Blue” Washington evokes thought and a curious smile, as he is undoubtedly one of the rarest of all Negro League treasures. During the early part of the twentieth century, Edgar flaunted his athleticism as a gallant young prizefighter in open-air boxing arenas in Southern California and on weekend afternoons could […]

A catcher who always seemed to be trying to win a starting spot, Barry Lyons showed occasional signs of power and a solid presence behind the plate. Described once by reporters as “quiet, conservative and even contemplative in appearance,” Lyons often found himself overlooked but still had a major-league career that spanned seven years between […]

Babe Ruth called him “Broadway” because Lyn Lary loved the theater in New York, and Lary’s obituary in The Sporting News said he “tried his best to live up to the nickname the Babe hung on him. He was one of the best dressers in the majors and drove a big eight-cylinder car that had […]

Jerry Moses aspired to become a major-league ballplayer, and declined football scholarships at Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities to pursue his dream. A 1970 American League All-Star, Jerry became the youngest Red Sox to hit a home run, at age 18 and 289 days, with a pinch-hit rocket off Jim “Mudcat” Grant on May 25, 1965. […]

Jim Johnson may have second thoughts if he grew up in today’s era of millionaire ball players. However, the southpaw who pitched for one season with the 1970 San Francisco Giants, valued family and a desire to become an educator as more important values than remaining in the big leagues. Just as he did by […]

When Gordie Sundin turned down numerous college football scholarships to pursue a career in professional baseball, it seemed the sky was the limit for the 6-foot-4 right-hander with an overpowering fastball. Instead, when injuries forced him out of the game at age 23, he went down in history with the dubious distinction of an infinite […]

On October 28, 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals prepared to play Game Seven of the World Series against the Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium. The organization asked Whitey Herzog, the manager of the last Cardinals team to play a World Series Game Seven at home, to throw the ceremonial first pitch. He had fallen ill, […]

Here is a recap of the SABR Quebec Chapter meeting on May 5, 2012 at the Irish Embassy Pub in Montreal: Present: Jack Anderson; Jack Beausoleil; Jacques Doucet; Alain Dumas; Robert Duval; Norm King; Daniel Papillon; Bill Young (presiding) Guests: Johnny Elias (Guest speaker); Marlene Elias; Charles “Chuck” Poxon – a friend of Johnny’s and […]