1989 Montreal Expos | ||
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League | National League | |
Division | East | |
Ballpark | Olympic Stadium | |
City | Montreal | |
Record | 81–81 | |
Divisional place | 4th | |
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) | |
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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.
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.
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.
NL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago Cubs | 93 | 69 | 0.574 | — | 48–33 | 45–36 |
New York Mets | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 6 | 51–30 | 36–45 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | 0.531 | 7 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
Montreal Expos | 81 | 81 | 0.500 | 12 | 44–37 | 37–44 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 74 | 88 | 0.457 | 19 | 39–42 | 35–46 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 67 | 95 | 0.414 | 26 | 38–42 | 29–53 |
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–10 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 3–9 | |||||
Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | |||||
Cincinnati | 10–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–4 | |||||
Houston | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 | |||||
Los Angeles | 10–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 3–9 | |||||
Montreal | 6–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — | 9–9 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–13 | |||||
New York | 10–2 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | |||||
Philadelphia | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 7–11 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | |||||
San Diego | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 2–10 | |||||
San Francisco | 12–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | |||||
St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 10–2 | 5–7 | — |
1989 Montreal Expos | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers Infielders
| Outfielders
| Other batters | Manager
Coaches
| |||||
= Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Nelson Santovenia | 97 | 304 | 76 | .250 | 5 | 31 | 2 |
1B | Andrés Galarraga | 152 | 572 | 147 | .257 | 23 | 85 | 12 |
2B | Tom Foley | 122 | 375 | 86 | .229 | 7 | 39 | 2 |
3B | Tim Wallach | 154 | 573 | 159 | .277 | 13 | 77 | 3 |
SS | Spike Owen | 142 | 437 | 102 | .233 | 6 | 41 | 3 |
LF | Tim Raines | 145 | 517 | 148 | .286 | 9 | 60 | 41 |
CF | Dave Martinez | 126 | 361 | 99 | .274 | 3 | 27 | 23 |
RF | Hubie Brooks | 148 | 542 | 145 | .268 | 14 | 70 | 6 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Fitzgerald | 100 | 290 | 69 | .238 | 7 | 42 | 3 |
Otis Nixon | 126 | 258 | 56 | .217 | 0 | 21 | 37 |
Dámaso García | 80 | 203 | 55 | .271 | 3 | 18 | 5 |
Rex Hudler | 92 | 155 | 38 | .245 | 6 | 13 | 15 |
Mike Aldrete | 76 | 136 | 30 | .221 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
Wallace Johnson | 85 | 114 | 31 | .272 | 2 | 17 | 1 |
Marquis Grissom | 26 | 74 | 19 | .257 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Jeff Huson | 32 | 74 | 12 | .162 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Larry Walker | 20 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
Junior Noboa | 21 | 44 | 10 | .227 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Marty Pevey | 13 | 41 | 9 | .220 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Jim Dwyer | 13 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Gilberto Reyes | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dennis Martínez | 34 | 232.0 | 16 | 7 | 3.18 | 142 |
Bryn Smith | 33 | 215.2 | 10 | 11 | 2.84 | 129 |
Kevin Gross | 31 | 201.1 | 11 | 12 | 4.38 | 158 |
Pascual Pérez | 33 | 198.1 | 9 | 13 | 3.31 | 152 |
Mark Langston | 24 | 176.2 | 12 | 9 | 2.39 | 175 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brian Holman | 10 | 31.2 | 1 | 2 | 4.83 | 23 |
Randy Johnson | 7 | 29.2 | 0 | 4 | 6.67 | 26 |
Mark Gardner | 7 | 26.1 | 0 | 3 | 5.13 | 21 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tim Burke | 68 | 9 | 3 | 28 | 2.55 | 54 |
Andy McGaffigan | 57 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4.68 | 40 |
Joe Hesketh | 43 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5.77 | 44 |
Zane Smith | 31 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1.50 | 35 |
Steve Frey | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5.48 | 15 |
Rich Thompson | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.18 | 15 |
John Candelaria | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.31 | 14 |
Gene Harris | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.95 | 11 |
Brett Gideon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.93 | 2 |
Urbano Lugo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |
Tim Wallach | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
Tom Foley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 0 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis, Jamestown [10]
The Montreal Expos were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (NL) East division from 1969 until 2004. Following the 2004 season, the franchise relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Nationals.
Pedro Jaime Martínez is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992 to 2009, for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from 1998 to 2004.
José Dennis Martínez Ortiz, nicknamed "El Presidente", is a Nicaraguan former professional baseball pitcher. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and Atlanta Braves from 1976 to 1998. He threw a perfect game in 1991, and was a four-time MLB All-Star. He was the first Nicaraguan to play in the majors.
Mark Edward Langston is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners (1984–1989), Montreal Expos (1989), California / Anaheim Angels (1990–1997), San Diego Padres (1998), and Cleveland Indians (1999). During a 16-year baseball career, Langston compiled 179 wins, 2,464 strikeouts, and a 3.97 earned run average (ERA).
Timothy James Leary is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher.
The 1981 Minnesota Twins finished a combined 41–68, seventh in the American League West. In the strike split season, the Twins were 17–39, seventh place in the first half and 24–29, fourth place in the second half. 469,090 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was also their 21st and final season at Metropolitan Stadium, before moving their home games to the Metrodome the next season. The franchise would not play another outdoor home game until 2010, when Target Field opened.
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The 1989 Los Angeles Dodgers season marked the 100th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, having joined the National League in 1890 after six seasons in the American Association. It also marked their 32nd season in Los Angeles, California.
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The 1981 Montreal Expos season was the 13th season in franchise history. They made it to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Their playoff run ended in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Rick Monday hitting a ninth-inning solo home run in game 5, subsequently referred to as "Blue Monday" by Expos fans. This was the closest the Expos ever got to a World Series appearance while in Montreal.
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The 1989 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 107th season in Major League Baseball, their 32nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 30th at Candlestick Park. The Giants finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. It was their second division title in three years. The Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs in five games in the NLCS. However, they were swept by their cross-Bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics, in an earthquake-marred World Series.
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