1989 Montreal Expos season

Last updated

1989  Montreal Expos
League National League
Division East
Ballpark Olympic Stadium
City Montreal
Record81–81
Divisional place4th
Owners Charles Bronfman
General managers Dave Dombrowski
Managers Buck Rodgers
Television CBC Television
(Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton)
The Sports Network
(Ken Singleton, Jim Hughson)
Télévision de Radio-Canada
(Claude Raymond, Raymond Lebrun)
Radio CJAD (English)
(Dave Van Horne, Bobby Winkles, Jerry Trupiano)
CKAC (French)
(Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte)
  1988 Seasons 1990  

The 1989 Montreal Expos season was the 21st season of the baseball franchise. With owner Charles Bronfman thinking of selling the team he founded, he contemplated taking one last shot at a playoff berth. Bronfman gave young general manager Dave Dombrowski a clear mandate to win now, reportedly telling him he would provided all the money needed in the quest to bring a championship to Montreal in 1989. Dombrowski pulled off a massive trade on May 25, acquiring star left-handed pitcher – and pending free agent – Mark Langston from the Seattle Mariners. While the move was viewed as a coup at the time, it came at a heavy cost as a young, very tall and very raw Randy Johnson was the key part of the package going to the Pacific Northwest. Johnson would eventually harness his fantastic stuff and became one of the game's most dominant left-handed pitchers for well over a decade. Langston pitched 4 months for the club and left as a free agent. Still, it seemed like a worthy gamble at the time for the Expos. That year, there was no dominant team in the National League. The team seemed poised to compete for the NL East crown with a loaded starting pitching staff that featured Langston, Dennis Martínez, Bryn Smith, Pascual Perez and Kevin Gross.

Contents

The team peaked on August 2 with an National League best record of 63–44, holding a 3-game lead in the National League East and everything running along smoothly. What followed would go down as the greatest collapse in franchise history. The next night, a Benny Distefano pinch hit single in the 12th inning dealt the Expos a 1–0 loss in Pittsburgh. It was the start of a 7-game losing streak. The club limped through the rest of August but remained in the race in early September, with the team being only 2 games back of first place on September 6. Regardless, the downward spiral continued as the Expos inexplicably ended up losing 37 of their final 55 games to finish the season a disappointing 81–81, well out of the playoff picture. The easiest analysis of what caused the collapse is to point to the offense, which struggled after August 2, scoring an MLB worst 3.23 runs per game. For long-time Expos fans, the collapse is viewed as the beginning of the end of the franchise. If the club had won the NL East title that year and then beaten the Giants in the NLCS, clinching a World Series berth in the process, Bronfman may have changed his mind about selling the team. Instead, the late season collapse only added to the owner's frustration.

Offseason

Spring training

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 13th season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981.

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 93690.57448–3345–36
New York Mets 87750.537651–3036–45
St. Louis Cardinals 86760.531746–3540–41
Montreal Expos 81810.5001244–3737–44
Pittsburgh Pirates 74880.4571939–4235–46
Philadelphia Phillies 67950.4142638–4229–53

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamATLCHCCINHOULADMONNYMPHIPITSDSFSTL
Atlanta 5–78–108–106–106–62–108–44–87–116–123–9
Chicago 7–57–55–77–510–810–810–812–68–46–611–7
Cincinnati 10–85–78–108–104–84–84–87–59–98–108–4
Houston 10–87–510–810–84–86–69–37–58–108–107–5
Los Angeles 10–65–710–88–107–55–76–67–56–1210–83–9
Montreal 6–68–108–48–45–79–99–911–75–77–55–13
New York 10–28–108–46–67–59–912–69–95–73–910–8
Philadelphia 4–88–108–43–96–69–96–1210–82–104–87–11
Pittsburgh 8–46–125–75–75–77–119–98–103–95–713–5
San Diego 11–74–89–910–812–67–57–510–29–38–102–10
San Francisco 12–66–610–810–88–105–79–38–47–510–87–5
St. Louis 9–37–114–85–79–313–58–1011–75–1310–25–7

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Major League debuts

Roster

1989 Montreal Expos
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersOther battersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= 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; SB = Stolen bases

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBISB
C Nelson Santovenia 9730476.2505312
1B Andrés Galarraga 152572147.257238512
2B Tom Foley 12237586.2297392
3B Tim Wallach 154573159.27713773
SS Spike Owen 142437102.2336413
LF Tim Raines 145517148.28696041
CF Dave Martinez 12636199.27432723
RF Hubie Brooks 148542145.26814706

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBISB
Mike Fitzgerald 10029069.2387423
Otis Nixon 12625856.21702137
Dámaso García 8020355.2713185
Rex Hudler 9215538.24561315
Mike Aldrete 7613630.2211121
Wallace Johnson 8511431.2722171
Marquis Grissom 267419.257121
Jeff Huson 327412.162023
Larry Walker 20478.170041
Junior Noboa 214410.227010
Marty Pevey 13419.220030
Jim Dwyer 13103.300020
Gilberto Reyes 451.200010

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dennis Martínez 34232.01673.18142
Bryn Smith 33215.210112.84129
Kevin Gross 31201.111124.38158
Pascual Pérez 33198.19133.31152
Mark Langston 24176.21292.39175

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Brian Holman 1031.2124.8323
Randy Johnson 729.2046.6726
Mark Gardner 726.1035.1321

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Tim Burke 6893282.5554
Andy McGaffigan 573524.6840
Joe Hesketh 436435.7744
Zane Smith 310121.5035
Steve Frey 203205.4815
Rich Thompson 190202.1815
John Candelaria 120203.3114
Gene Harris 111104.9511
Brett Gideon 40001.932
Urbano Lugo 30006.753
Tim Wallach 10009.000
Tom Foley 100027.000

Award winners

1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Tom Runnells
AA Jacksonville Expos Southern League Alan Bannister
A West Palm Beach Expos Florida State League Felipe Alou
A Rockford Expos Midwest League Mike Quade
A-Short Season Jamestown Expos New York–Penn League Don Werner
Rookie GCL Expos Gulf Coast League Jerry Weinstein

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis, Jamestown [10]

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References

  1. Mike Aldrete at Baseball-Reference
  2. Spike Owen at Baseball-Reference
  3. Mark Langston at Baseball-Reference
  4. Zane Smith at Baseball-Reference
  5. Doug Piatt at Baseball-Reference
  6. John Candelaria at Baseball-Reference
  7. Charles Johnson at Baseball-Reference
  8. Doug Bochtler at Baseball-Reference
  9. "The Baseball Cube - Research Site for Pro + College Stats + draft".
  10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007