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The 1994 Montreal Expos season was the 26th season of the franchise. They had the best record in Major League Baseball (74–40), when the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike ended the season and the team's postseason aspirations. From June 1 forward, Montreal transformed into the dominant club in the league, going 46−18 until the strike. In turn, they also produced the most successful season in franchise history in terms of winning percentage (.649, which would have been 105-57 in a full season). Five Expos represented the National League at the All-Star Game held in Pittsburgh, including Moisés Alou, who had the game-winning hit for the National League.
| 1994 Montreal Expos | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |
| Division | East | |
| Ballpark | Olympic Stadium | |
| City | Montreal | |
| Record | 74–40 | |
| Divisional place | 1st | |
| Owners | Claude Brochu | |
| General managers | Kevin Malone | |
| Managers | Felipe Alou | |
| Television | The Sports Network (Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton) SRC (Claude Raymond, Camille Dube) RDS Network (Denis Casavant, Alain Chantelois) | |
| Radio | CIQC (English) (Dave Van Horne, Rich Griffin, Ken Singleton, Elliott Price) CKAC (French) (Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte, Alain Chantelois) | |
| ||
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- November 19, 1993: Delino DeShields was traded by the Expos to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pedro Martínez.[1]
- December 13, 1993: The Expos traded a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for Randy Milligan. The Expos completed the deal by sending Brian Barnes to the Indians on December 17.[2]
- March 31, 1994: John Vander Wal was purchased from the Expos by the Colorado Rockies.[3]
The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves. It was their 18th season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981.
Opening Day starters
Summary
On April 13, 1994, Pedro Martínez took a perfect game through 71⁄3 innings versus the Cincinnati Reds until throwing a brushback pitch at Reggie Sanders led Sanders to immediately charge the mound, starting a bench-clearing brawl. Martínez ended up with a no-decision in the game, which the Expos eventually won 3–2.[5]
One amusing moment occurred on April 24 while playing the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. With one out in the third inning, right fielder Larry Walker caught a Mike Piazza fly ball and innocently handed it to young fan, six year old Sebastian Napier, thinking it was the third out of the inning. He noticed that José Offerman, already on base, was running at full speed. Walker managed to retrieve the ball from Napier, and held Offerman to third base. Embarrassed, Walker remarked that he "told the little kid that maybe next time I'll give him a ball when there are three outs instead of two. Everybody around him was laughing." Where Offerman was stationed made little difference as Tim Wallach homered on the next pitch, from Martínez, for two runs. True to his word, when the Expos assumed the field in the bottom half of the fourth inning, Walker gave Napier a signed ball, inducing a standing ovation.[6]
The National League suspended Walker four games starting June 24 for inciting a bench-clearing brawl by charging the mound in a game against Pittsburgh.[7]
The Expos team appeared to be reaching its potential in 1994. After June 1, Montreal transformed into the dominant club in the National League, going 46−18 until the players' strike halted the season on August 11.[8] In turn, they produced the most successful season in franchise history as they attained a major league best 74−40 record.[9][10][11] on pace for a 106-win season
Led by an ensemble of rising young stars including Martínez, Walker, Moisés Alou, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lansing and Jeff Fassero, the Expos scored 585 runs (5.13 per game) and allowed 454 runs (3.98 per game) through 114 games by Friday, August 12.[12] Their 1994 pitching staff was very nearly as good as that of their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves, as the Expos finished the strike-shortened season with an MLB-best 3.56 ERA, an MLB-high 46 saves and just 288 walks, the fewest in the Majors.[13]
Walker, with 86 RBIs, was well on his way to his first 100-RBI year; Ken Hill was on pace to win 23 games while Pedro Martínez was on pace to strike out more than 200 batters. Moisés Alou was hitting .339 and on pace to collect more than 200 hits for the first time in his career. Marquis Grissom was on pace to score 137 runs. Two other Expos, namely Alou and Walker, were also on pace to score more than 100 runs. The team was also drawing well at home: through 52 home games in 1994, 1,276,250 fans had attended Expos games, for an average of 24,543 per game. At that pace, the Expos would have had a good chance of drawing two million fans for the first time since 1983.[14] The season, however, was stopped due to the 1994 players' strike. The World Series, for which the Expos appeared to be destined, was never played and Montreal lost many of its players during the next season due to free agency and salary constraints and the team never recovered. The 1994 Montreal Expos team that could have been remains one of baseball's hot discussion points. The franchise would never reach the playoffs as the Expos again. The collapse of the Expos would eventually lead to the franchise's move to Washington, D.C., for the 2005 season to become the Washington Nationals.
When baseball returned for an exhibition series in Olympic Stadium in March 2014, the team was honored during a pregame ceremony, along with a banner with the words On se souvient Édition 1994 (We remember the 1994 season).
Game log
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April (13–10) (Home: 6–4; Road: 7–6)
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May (15–12) (Home: 8–5; Road: 7–7)
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June (19–8) (Home: 9–6; Road: 10–2)
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July (18–8) (Home: 6–4; Road: 12–4)
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August (9–2) (Home: 3–1; Road: 6–1)
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Games cancelled
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August
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September
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| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Expos win | Expos loss | All-Star Game | Game postponed |
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Expos | 74 | 40 | .649 | — | 32–20 | 42–20 |
| Atlanta Braves | 68 | 46 | .596 | 6 | 31–24 | 37–22 |
| New York Mets | 55 | 58 | .487 | 18½ | 23–30 | 32–28 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 54 | 61 | .470 | 20½ | 34–26 | 20–35 |
| Florida Marlins | 51 | 64 | .443 | 23½ | 25–34 | 26–30 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Expos | 74 | 40 | .649 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 48 | .579 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 58 | 56 | .509 |
| Wild Card team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 68 | 46 | 0.597 | — |
| Houston Astros | 66 | 49 | 0.574 | 21⁄2 |
| New York Mets | 55 | 58 | 0.487 | 121⁄2 |
| San Francisco Giants | 55 | 60 | 0.478 | 131⁄2 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 54 | 61 | 0.470 | 141⁄2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 53 | 61 | 0.465 | 15 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 53 | 61 | 0.465 | 15 |
| Colorado Rockies | 53 | 64 | 0.453 | 161⁄2 |
| Florida Marlins | 51 | 64 | 0.444 | 171⁄2 |
| Chicago Cubs | 49 | 64 | 0.434 | 181⁄2 |
| San Diego Padres | 47 | 70 | 0.402 | 221⁄2 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||
| Atlanta | — | 4–2 | 5–5 | 8–2 | 8–4 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 6–1 | 5–1 | 5–7 | |||
| Chicago | 2–4 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 4–8 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 1–6 | 5–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 5–5 | |||
| Cincinnati | 5–5 | 7–5 | — | 4–4 | 7–5 | 4–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 9–3 | 8–2 | 7–2 | 2–2–1 | |||
| Colorado | 2–8 | 6–6 | 4–4 | — | 3–9 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 2–3 | 5–5 | 3–7 | 8–4 | |||
| Florida | 4–8 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 1–6 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 3–7 | |||
| Houston | 3–3 | 8–4 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 4–2 | — | 1–8 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 8–4 | 5–5 | 8–2 | 8–4 | |||
| Los Angeles | 0–6 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 8–1 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 2–4 | |||
| Montreal | 5–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 7–2 | 4–2 | 9–3 | — | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–2 | 12–0 | 5–7 | 7–3 | |||
| New York | 4–5 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 3–4 | — | 4–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–3 | |||
| Philadelphia | 3-6 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 6–4 | 1–5 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–4 | — | 5–4 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–3 | |||
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 5–5 | 3–9 | 3–2 | 6–1 | 4–8 | 3–3 | 2–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | — | 3–3 | 1–5 | 5–5 | |||
| San Diego | 1–6 | 3–6 | 2–8 | 5–5 | 1–5 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 0–12 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 3–3 | — | 5–2 | 4–2 | |||
| San Francisco | 1–5 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 7–3 | 4–2 | 2–8 | 5–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 5–1 | 2–5 | — | 2–4 | |||
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 5–5 | 2–2–1 | 4–8 | 7–3 | 4–8 | 4–2 | 3–7 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 5–5 | 2–4 | 4–2 | — | |||
Notable transactions
Major League debuts
- Pitchers:
- Joey Eischen (Jun 19)
- Heath Haynes (Jun 1)
- Rod Henderson (Apr 19)
- Gabe White (May 27) [16]
Roster
| 1994 Montreal Expos | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Darrin Fletcher | 94 | 285 | 74 | .260 | 10 | 57 |
| 1B | Cliff Floyd | 100 | 334 | 94 | .281 | 4 | 41 |
| 2B | Mike Lansing | 106 | 394 | 105 | .266 | 5 | 35 |
| 3B | Sean Berry | 103 | 320 | 89 | .278 | 11 | 41 |
| SS | Wil Cordero | 110 | 415 | 122 | .294 | 15 | 63 |
| CF | Marquis Grissom | 110 | 475 | 137 | .288 | 11 | 45 |
| LF | Moisés Alou | 107 | 422 | 143 | .339 | 22 | 78 |
| RF | Larry Walker | 103 | 395 | 127 | .322 | 19 | 86 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenny Webster | 57 | 143 | 39 | .273 | 5 | 23 |
| Lou Frazier | 76 | 140 | 38 | .271 | 0 | 14 |
| Juan Bell | 38 | 97 | 27 | .278 | 2 | 10 |
| Rondell White | 40 | 97 | 27 | .278 | 2 | 13 |
| Freddie Benavides | 47 | 85 | 16 | .188 | 0 | 6 |
| Randy Milligan | 47 | 82 | 19 | .232 | 2 | 12 |
| Tim Spehr | 52 | 36 | 9 | .250 | 0 | 5 |
| Jeff Gardner | 18 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 1 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; BB = Walks allowed
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Hill | 23 | 154.2 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 3.32 | 85 | 44 |
| Pedro Martínez | 24 | 144.2 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 3.42 | 142 | 45 |
| Jeff Fassero | 21 | 138.2 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2.99 | 119 | 40 |
| Kirk Rueter | 20 | 92.1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5.17 | 50 | 23 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; BB = Walks allowed
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butch Henry | 24 | 107.1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2.43 | 70 | 20 |
| Gabe White | 7 | 23.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.08 | 17 | 11 |
| Denis Boucher | 10 | 18.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.75 | 17 | 7 |
| Rod Henderson | 3 | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.45 | 3 | 7 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; BB = Walks allowed
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Wetteland | 52 | 63.2 | 4 | 6 | 25 | 2.83 | 68 | 21 |
| Mel Rojas | 58 | 84.0 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 3.32 | 84 | 21 |
| Gil Heredia | 39 | 75.1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3.46 | 62 | 13 |
| Jeff Shaw | 46 | 67.1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3.88 | 47 | 15 |
| Tim Scott | 40 | 53.1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2.70 | 37 | 18 |
| Heath Haynes | 4 | 3.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 3 |
| Brian Looney | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.50 | 2 | 0 |
| Joey Eischen | 1 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 1 | 0 |
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- Felipe Alou, Associated Press Manager of the Year
- Felipe Alou, The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award
- Moisés Alou, National League outfield, reserve
- Wil Cordero, National League shortstop, reserve
- Darrin Fletcher, National League catcher, reserve
- Marquis Grissom, National League outfield, reserve
- Ken Hill, National League pitcher, reserve
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