1994 Montreal Expos Dream Season Ends With A World Series Nightmare

My 1994 Montreal Expos enjoyed the most successful season in team history cruising to a 101-61 regular season record. The Expos finished 7 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the new National League East Division (this record for Atlanta was produced by simulating games, minus games vs. the Expos, on whatifsports.com) clinching at home against Atlanta with 12 games left to play.

The Expos met the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Divisional Series where the Expos trailed 2 games to 1 and 4 – 0 after 2 innings in game 4 before rallying for a 10 – 5 victory. The Expos would win the series 3 -2. The N.L.C.S. put the Expos against division rivals the Atlanta Braves. The series was never in question as the Expos swept the Braves with a thrilling game 4 clincher which saw the Expos down 3-1 to Greg Maddux going into the top of the 9th. Larry Walker led off with a solo homerun to draw to 1 at 3-2. Maddux then retired the next 2 batters before the Expos would rally for 4 two-out runs off of Maddux and the Braves bullpen with the winning runs driven in by a Marquis Grissom double.

This set up a World Series between 2 long suffering franchise, the Montreal Expos and the wildcard Cleveland Indians (imagine the network uproar for this match-up!!!). The series opened with 2 classics with back – to – back extra inning affairs. Game 1 saw the Expos leading 7 – 0 behind Pedro Martinez after 3 innings of play only to see the Indians battle back to tie the game against Mel Rojas in the top of the 8th inning. The game remained tied at 7 until Sandy Alomar led off the top of the 13th with a solo homerun that would prove to be the game winner.

Game 2 was another extra inning affair as the bullpen failed to hold a strong performance from Jeff Fassero (8.0 IP, 1 er, 11 k’s, 1 bb) and Larry Walker (3-6, 3 3 2bh’s) as Gil Heredia surrendered 5 runs in .2 IP as the Indians win in 12, 6-1. Game 3 saw the Expos offense come back to life with a dominant 15-2 victory behind the complete game pitching from Butch Henry (9.0IP, 2 er, 7 k’s, 2bb) while Sean Berry lit up the scoreboard by going 5 -6, 3 r, 2 HR, 6 RBI , 1 SB. Larry Walker also added a homerun and 3 RBI’s while going 3 – 5 with 2 doubles.

Game 4 saw the Expos offense suddenly disappear. One game after scoring 15 runs the offense was tripped up by Cleveland starter Mark Clark who allowed 2 runs on just 5 hits. Game 5 offered another poor offensive showing by the Expos as Charles Nagy allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits. The lone highlight was an 8th inning homerun by Marquis Grissom as the Indians ended years of struggle by defeating the Expos in 5 games, 4 – 1.

* To determine division champs I went with teams who were in 1st place when play stopped in August of 1994. Wild card winners were determined the same way. To help complete playoff series, I enlisted the help from members of my Bridesburg Summer League. Braves/Reds, CWS/Rangers L.D.S. were played by Gary Brown. Yankees/Indians L.D.S was played by Dave Hummel (Yankees)and Ian McArdle (Indians). A.L.C.S games were played by Gary Brown (CWS) and Ian McArdle (Indians). World Series was played by myself (Expos) and Ian McArdle (Indians)

 

World Series: Montreal Expos vs. Cleveland Indians

game 1: Indians 8 EXPOS 7 (13 innings) WP:Plunk LP: Scott SV: Jackson

game 2: Indians 6 EXPOS 1 (12 innings) WP:Mesa LP: Heredia

game 3: Expos 15 INDIANS 2 WP: Henry LP: Hershiser

game 4: INDIANS 5 Expos 2 WP: Clark LP: Hill SV: Jackson

game 5: INDIANS 4 Expos 2 WP: Nagy LP: Martinez

Hits: Moises Alou 221

Abs: Marquis Grissom 641

AVG.: Alou .361

HR: Alou 26

RBI: Larry Walker 126

2B: Walker 56

3B: Alou 8

SB: Grissom 44

R: Alou 129

W- Pedro Martinez 19

L- Ken Hill 9

SV- John Wetteland 39

IP- Jeff Fassero 231.1

E.R.A.- Hill 2.81

K’s – Martinez 223

Season Highlights

Pedro Martinez throws no-hitter vs. Phillies, 3 players (Alou 26, Walker 24, Darren Fletcher 20) 20 + HR’s, 6 players (Alou, Walker, Fletcher, Wil Cordero 19, Grissom 18, Sean Berry 14) 10+ HR’s, 5 players (Grissom 44, Cordero 27, Berry 24, Mike Lansing 22, Walker 21) 20 + SB’s, 3 players (Walker 126, Alou 121, Berry 101) 100+ RBI’s, 3 players (Alou 129, Grissom 123. Walker 110) 100 + runs, 4 starting pitchers (Ken Hill 14, Pedro Martinez 19, Jeff Fassero 16, Butch Henry 17) 10+ wins, 2 starting pitchers (Hill 2.81, Fassero 2.96) sub 3.00 ERA’s, 2 starting pitchers (Martinez 223, Fassero 212) 200+ K’s.

*All stats were pencil and paper