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Monday, September 11, 2017

Les Expos de Montréal sont des champions du monde

The 1982 Expos won over 100 games and upset the Cardinals by winning the NL East.  They had to survive a tough 5 game NLCS vs the Dodgers (where have we heard that before) in order to even make it to the world series.  I started managing the Expos back in 1976.  I envisioned winning the Series in either 1979 or 1981 when I had the "horses".  Without a post season under my belt and in my 7th season as the Expos skipper I saw the window of opportunity closing on us.  How many more good seasons would underrated (not anymore) ace Steve Rogers have?  Would the Hawk's knees hold up?  Would ownership trade "The Kid" to a contender?  All questions we pondered as the season started.  The Expos had a magical ride during this '82 campaign.  A late surge by the Cardinals made it a bit interesting, but the Expos had a nice lead to fall back on and won the division.  I've always wondered why they didn't win a string of championships in real life.  With 3 HOF'ers in their lineup:  Raines, Dawson & Carter the Expos were perennial contenders from the late 70's through the mid 80's.  Jeff Reardon was a premier reliever and Steve Rogers was definitely an ace.  Supporting players like Warren Cromartie, Chris Speier and Jerry White were rock solid.  Acquiring a borderline HOF'er like Al Oliver didn't hurt either.  When Lou Whitaker made the final out I was able to breathe a sign of relief, because the long suffering Expo fans, who were robbed of their team, finally had something to cheer about.  The headline in the Montreal Gazettee would have read:  Les Expos de Montréal sont des champions du monde !

5 Expo All-Stars pictured at the '82 ASG @ Stade' Olympique
 

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