Oh so Close, Canada! Lamenting Some of the Missed Championships In Canadian Sports History: Lamenting Some of the Missed Championships In Canadian Sports History

By KP Wee

This book looks at some of the Canadian sports teams from the last thirty years that nearly won championships.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257345366

Book preview

Wee

1979 & 1980 Montreal Expos: Eliminated on the final weekend in back-to-back years

In 1979, the Montreal Expos finished 95-65, but it was only good enough for second place, two games behind the NL East-winning Pittsburgh Pirates, who went on to win the World Series.

The following season, the Expos went 90-72, but finished one game behind the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies in the Eastern Division.

The Expos joined the National League in 1969, and endured 10 consecutive losing seasons. Finally, in 1979, the team had its best record ever with 95 victories, and looked to be a serious contender for years to come. (The rise of the Expos looked similar to that of the New York Mets; however, the Mets were able to win the World Series in 1969—and make it back there in 1973 despite a weak record—after years of mediocrity upon joining the majors in 1962.)

The 1979 season was arguably the greatest year in franchise history due to the fact it was their first great team. The Expos were led by 25-year-old catcher Gary The Kid Carter, who belted 22 home runs and batted .283, and 25-year-old third baseman Larry Parrish, who hit .307 with 30 homers. Youngsters Warren Cromartie (.275), Ellis Valentine (.276, 21 HR), and Andre Dawson (.275, 25 HR) made up the outfield. Veteran pitchers Steve Rogers (13-12, 3.00 ERA) and Bill Lee (16-10, 3.04 ERA) anchored the rotation, with 22-year-old Scott Sanderson (9-8, 3.43 ERA) also making a contribution.

The Expos actually spent 81 days in first place, including for two whole months from May 27th to July 27th. The biggest lead Montreal had was 6 1/2 games, the last time being on July 6th, when Philadelphia, St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh were all tied for second in the NL East.

The Expos would fall out of first place after August 5th, but would remain in second place the rest of the month, never falling more than 3 1/2 games off the pace.

Following a four-game sweep over the Mets in New York on September 20th, the Expos (91-59) found themselves back in first place, owning a half-game lead over the Pirates (91-60). (All the other Eastern Division teams were well out of contention by then, with third-place St. Louis 11 1/2 games back.)

On September 24th, the Expos had to face the Pirates at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium in a key four-game series (which was the second-last series of the regular season). Going in, Montreal still had a half-game lead over the Pirates. Pittsburgh, however, won three of four, including a 10-1 romp in the finale that pushed Montreal 1 1/2 games back.

But did the Expos have a chance in the Pittsburgh series? Absolutely.

In the opener, the Expos exploded for four straight one-out singles off Bert Blyleven, with Carter’s hit driving in two runs for a 2-0 lead in the very first inning. Valentine, however, hit into a double play to end the threat. The lead stayed in tact until the sixth, when the Pirates exploded for three runs for a 3-2 lead. Pittsburgh then added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings for a 5-2 victory. The Expos committed three errors in the contest.

After the Pittsburgh series, the Expos returned to home to Olympic Stadium and dropped two of three to the Phillies. In the opener of that series, Montreal led 2-0 before the Phillies tied it in the sixth and won it in the 11th inning.

The winning run was unearned, and came after Expos reliever Woodie Fryman had retired the first two batters in the inning. Greg Gross reached base when third baseman Parrish muffed his grounder and moved to third on left fielder Cromartie’s error. Gross then came around to score on a single.

The Expos went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to end the contest.

What if the Expos were able to win that first game in Pittsburgh? And the first game against the Phillies?

In 1980, the Expos had rookie Bill Gullickson (10-5, 3.00) in their starting rotation, and Rogers (16-11, 2.98) and Sanderson (16-11, 3.11) came through with big seasons.

Montreal spent much of September—22 days—in first place, but it came down to the final series at Olympic Stadium against the Phillies.

Following David Palmer’s six-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals on October 1st, Montreal (89-70) was a half-game ahead of Philadelphia (88-70) for the NL East lead.

Philadelphia beat the Cubs the next day, while the Expos were idle, and both the Phillies and Expos were tied atop the division.

And then the first-place showdown in Montreal.

The Phillies took a 2-0 lead into the last of the sixth off Scott Sanderson—with Mike Schmidt belting a homer and hitting a sacrifice fly—before the Expos responded.

Dawson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Montreal’s first run, but Cromartie grounded out to strand two runners on base.

The Expos would squander another opportunity the next inning when they couldn’t cash in the tying run despite having a two-on, one-out situation.

The Expos lost, 2-1, and dropped out of first place.

In the second game, the Expos led 2-0 behind Steve Rogers. The Phillies, however, took a 3-2 lead in the seventh before the Expos rallied in the bottom half to retake a 4-3 advantage.

The Expos were three outs away but Pete Rose walked to lead off the ninth. Two groundouts later, Bob Boone drove in the tying run with a single off closer Fryman.

In the 11th, Rose was at it again with a single to lead off against Stan Bahnsen. One out later, Schmidt again haunted the Expos with a two-run home run to give Philadelphia a division-clinching 6-4 victory.

Oh yes, Schmidt went on to win the National League MVP that season, the first of three he would claim in his Hall of Fame career.

Yes, Mike Schmidt would be Expos fans’ worst enemy, but who knew a year later another visiting player would be forever remembered as the reason the Expos never won a championship?

1981 Montreal Expos: Blue Monday

All Expos fans know about 1981 and Blue Monday.

After two straight near-misses in 1979 and 1980, the Expos finally made it into the postseason in 1981.

The Expos welcomed two future All-Stars, Tim Raines and Tim Wallach, who were regulars for the first time after making their major league debuts in previous seasons. Jeff Reardon (2-0, 6 SV, 1.30 ERA with Expos), a young reliever, was also acquired in a trade from the New York Mets on May 29th for Ellis Valentine.

Bill Gullickson led the Expos in ERA with a fine 2.80 mark, but went only 7-9. Steve Rogers, the staff ace, was 12-7 with a 3.42 ERA. Scott Sanderson (2.95 ERA) and Ray Burris (3.05) also pitched well, each picking up nine wins. The team had an excellent pitching staff that ranked fourth in the National League in ERA (3.30).

Offensively, the Expos had Andre Dawson, who batted .302 with 24 home runs. Catcher Gary Carter slugged 16 homers, while Raines (.304) and Warren Cromartie (.304) both batted over .300.

Thanks to a strike during the 1981 season, Major League Baseball decided to split the year into two halves, and the Expos capitalized by taking the second-half NL East title with a 30-23 record after the strike.

The Expos faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the division series, and gained a measure of revenge against the team that knocked them out the last two seasons. Montreal won the first two games of the best-of-five, and then Steve Rogers pitched a six-hitter at Veterans Stadium to clinch the series for the Expos. This time, they held Mike Schmidt (who also went on to win the 1981 NL MVP) to just a .250 batting average.

Meanwhile, Rogers was clearly the difference maker in the series, going 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA in his two starts, beating future Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton twice. Gullickson was also brilliant in winning his Game Two start. Reardon saved two ball games, though he was charged with the loss in the fourth game. Catcher Carter led the Expos offensively with two home runs, three doubles, six RBIs, and a .421 average.

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The Expos’ Jeff Reardon (left), Warren Cromartie, and Gary Carter (right) celebrate their 1981 Division Series win over the Phillies. (Andy Clark/CP PHOTO/ Canadian Press Images)

The series victory over the Phillies pushed Montreal into the National League Championship Series, where the Expos took on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers were kind of a disappointment, as they made it to the World Series three times in the 1970s (1974, 1977, and 1978) but lost each time.

The 1981 postseason was looking like another disappointing year for the Dodgers, as the Expos split the first two games of the NLCS at Dodgers Stadium.

That meant Montreal needed to win just two out of the last three games—all at Olympic Stadium—and the Expos would be going to the World Series!

Rogers, the Expos ace, did his part in Game Three with a complete-game seven-hitter, as Montreal beat Jerry Reuss and the Dodgers 4-1.

With Gullickson going in Game Four, the Expos had a great shot to wrap up the series. The score was tied 1-1 going into the eighth, but Dusty Baker singled and Steve Garvey then homered on the next pitch to give the Dodgers a stunning 3-1 lead. The Expos put two men on in the last of the eighth, but reliever Bob Welch, famous for striking out the Yankees’ Reggie Jackson in the World Series a few years earlier, was brought in and got the last two outs.

In the ninth, the Dodgers would batter Fryman, who had replaced Gullickson an inning earlier. The Dodgers plated four more runs to make the final score 7-1.

In Game Five, it was a battle of Los Angeles pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela (who went on to win