What Could Have Been?- Part 3

[Little Jerry Lawler]

The Montreal Expos and The 1994 World Series

In 1994, there was a work stoppage that led to the cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904. The best team in baseball that year were the Montreal Expos who were 74-40 at the time. The talent they had that year was one of the all-around best in the last thirty years. The 1994 Expos included Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, and Will Cordero among others. They were on pace to win 105 games but the stoppage occured and damaged their campaign.

Their local ownership chose not to invest in their best players. Larry Walker left for free agency, Moises Alou left after the 1996 season, and Pedro Martinez won the Cy Young Award in 1997 and was traded soon after. The Expos didn't make the playoffs and were relocated to Washington D.C. in 2004. Their playoff drought stands at 27 years which is the current longest in baseball.

So what would have happened if the 1994 stoppage had not occured? Would the Expos have won the World Series and kept their players long-term to possibly win more? Would this have subsequently led to their stay in Montreal and not their relocation to Washington D.C.?




Part 4: Barry Sanders and the Detroit Lions
Part 5: Woody Hayes Place in College Football History

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

I see one team being an obstacle for the Expos in '94. With 70 wins, they were the second best team in baseball. The New York Yankees were well ahead of everyone else in their division. They had a high-powered offense, with five playing hitting over .300 and 139 team home runs. They had 670 runs scored, 85 more than the Expos. The Expos, offensively, were about playing small ball. They stole a lot of bases and liked to advance the runners already on base. Still, The Yankees had the better offense. But, on the mound, The Expos clearly had the best rotation in baseball. The Yankees had an ace in Jimmy Key, who already had 17 wins, but four of the Expos starting five had an ERA under. 345 and they had a great bullpen to boot. Now, I'm a Yankees fan. I've watched us fail time and again due to lackluster pitching, regardless of how strong an offense we have. Thus, if things played out like I assume they would, the Expos would indeed have had a World Series victory over the Yankees to celebrate in 1994. Would it have saved the franchise? I doubt it. Bad ownership/management doesn't change with winning.

 

[Stormtrooper]

Unfortunately, just look at the Florida Marlins. In 1997, they win the world series in 7 games over the Cleveland Indians. a year later, and the entire team is dismantled (via free angency or trades). They were the cellar dwellers in the NL East again every year until 2003, when they win the Wild Card, and ultimately the World Series (beating, ironically, the Yankees in 6). Now Now in 2009 they have nobody left from the World Series winning team, because of free agency and trades again. ironically, 6 years after their last world series, they find themselves in playoff contention right now (albeit it is still July).

How does this pertain to the Expo's? Well, the Expo's (if they won the series in 1994) would most likely still trade everybody away, because the ownership just doesn't all of a sudden find the extra $50 Million to sign all their players. And unfortunately, the trades they did make obviously didn't pan out, because, unline the Marlins, they still haven't made the playoffs.

The only thing that could have happened for the Expo's to keep their players would be if the owners decided to sell high, and sell the team after the World Series, and the new owners would put the money back into the franchise (which is rare for most owners in their first year).

One thing that most likely would have happened still is the move to DC. The team was moved in 2004 for 2 reasons. If the owners didn't sell high, they would have eventually just abandoned the team like they ultimately did (for a while, the team was controlled by MLB). Also, the fans would still not be showing up to the games in Montreal because of their poor play, which was another reason they moved the team. If the fans don't show up to the games, you run the risk of losing your team. It just recently happened in Seattle with their NBA team (granted the new owners wanted to move the team, but the lack of support by the fans led to the sale of the team/move to Oklahoma City)..

All in all, the Expo's fate was sealed not by their inability to win, but by ownerships inability to put money back into the product; so I do not believe that history would be any different if Montreal won the 1994 World Series.