|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 7, 2010 10:47:21 GMT -5
... on his induction to Cooperstown. Thanks for the memories Andre.  This brings back excellent triggers to a once-excellent Expos team. Stuff like:  ... and anyone remember this?  |
|
|
|
Post by ValkyrieNS on Jan 7, 2010 11:00:54 GMT -5
... and anyone remember this? No! Where was I that day  Andre is Mr. Val's favourite Expo. Gary is mine. Also heard last night that Gary is trying to get in as a Met and whoever presides over these things told him no, he had to go in as an Expo... Anyhow, congrats to Andre! It's about time  |
|
|
|
Post by CrocRob on Jan 7, 2010 11:28:34 GMT -5
I don't understand the baseball HOF elections. How does a Roberto Alomar not get in by a landslide? He missed the cut by 8 votes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 7, 2010 11:35:25 GMT -5
Andre is Mr. Val's favourite Expo. Gary is mine. Also heard last night that Gary is trying to get in as a Met and whoever presides over these things told him no, he had to go in as an Expo... Anyhow, congrats to Andre! It's about time I wasn't sure who's my favourite Expo, Val. But, I either read or heard the Gary Carter reference on the TSN website. It sort of brought me down a bit to be honest. I'm glad he went into the Hall as an Expo, but I wish it was his choice as well. Favourite players? I liked a lot of the original Expos; Bob Bailey, Ron Hunt, Mac Jones, Rusty Staub, Bill Stoneman, Carl Morton, Steve Renko, John Bateman, Coco Laboy. When Staub was traded I also became an instant Ken Singleton fan. I feel bad for those 70's/80's teams. You'd think they could have won more than they did with the lineups they had. Carter, Dawson, Oliver, Raines, Parrish, Wallach, Rogers. And the 94 team was probably the best team in baseball (in my biased opinion anyway) when the lockout was called. The Blue Jays had won the previous two years and it was the Expos turn. Some conspiracy theorists will have you believe that MLB just wouldn't allow a third-straight championship go north into Canada. I don't know if that was the case or not, but the Expos never came close again. I'm on Wikipedia right now because I'm lazy and don't want to use my memory for this lineup, but here's a few of the names from that lineup in '94: Larry Walker, Pedro Martínez, Kenny Hill, John Wetteland, Kirk Rueter, Moisés Alou, Cliff Floyd, Mike Lansing and Jeff Fassero. ... the ones that got away ... Cheers. |
|
|
|
Post by Polarice on Jan 7, 2010 11:42:03 GMT -5
I was never a fan of the Expos....Philly fan here!!
But I always liked Andre...I remember before he left the Expos there were rumours that he was gonna be dealt to Philly...but it never happened.
|
|
|
|
Post by franko on Jan 7, 2010 11:49:48 GMT -5
I don't understand the baseball HOF elections. How does a Roberto Alomar not get in by a landslide? He missed the cut by 8 votes. It's what you get for spitting on an umpire. Next year . . . |
|
|
|
Post by franko on Jan 7, 2010 11:50:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 7, 2010 12:15:12 GMT -5
I was never a fan of the Expos....Philly fan here!! But I always liked Andre...I remember before he left the Expos there were rumours that he was gonna be dealt to Philly...but it never happened. My only trip to the Big Oh was to see the Phillies and Expos. Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski were hitting 3 and 4 respectively and they were the premier one-two punch in the NL at the time. It's in the middle innings and I get up to get some beer. I hear two loud "OOOOOOHHHH's" from the crowd. I get back to my seat to find out I missed back-to-back homers from Schmidt and Luzinski ... quel bummer ... However, I did see Gary Carter crank one to right field later in the game, so it wasn't a total disaster. Final Philly 7 Montreal 4. I saw one other Expos game before that. It was in Jerry Park and I got lucky because Steve Rogers was pitching. Didn't miss any of that game though. I remember homers from Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgenson (pinch-hitting) and the Expos beat up on the Cubs 10-2. Cheers. |
|
|
|
Post by Skilly on Jan 7, 2010 12:29:33 GMT -5
Congrats to "the Hawk" ... one of my all-time favs. He injured his leg in high school and played his entire career practically on one leg. There are stories of how he spend more time in trainers rooms, than on the ball field. After every game he had to have his knee looked after. Consider that, and make no wonder he couldn't wait to leave Montreal and the worst playing field in all of baseball. I wasn't sure who's my favourite Expo, Val. Mine was Tim Wallach, by far and away. I used to like Carter. To this day my favourite numbers are 8 (Gary carter) and 15 (Bobby Smith). Although when I was a goalie I use to insist on #29, people would see my Habs stuff and assume it was for Ken Dryden ... nuh uh .... Interesting tidbit on Carter. His first season as an Expo he played right field. As a rookie, he was voted to the NL all-star game as a right fielder and was the replacement for Pete Rose. When the Expos drafted Dawson, they had Cromartie and Valentine in the outfield .... so the Expos traded Barry Foote and made carter the full time replacement ... Carter was also the inagural "punt, kick, pass" champion. Like I said, I used to like Carter. But during the later Expos years I found him to have a sense of entitlement and an ego. Not sure why, but it really irked me .... but that being said, Gary gets a bad-rap for wanting to enter the Hall as a Met. He has made it quite clear why he wants the Mets cap on his bust (now that sounds funny) ; because he considers winning the World Series his greatest accomplishment as a player. He wants people, when they look at his display, to remember he was a World Champion. An Expo cap, doesn't do that ..... by the way, Dawson has suggested the same thing, that he'd prefer to go in as a Cub, because that's the team he won his NL MVP for (on a last place team!) Ryan Sandberg in his induction speech to the Hall of Fame said " "No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson," Sandberg said of the rifle-armed outfielder. Sandberg continued, "He's the best I've ever seen. I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987, and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball." Sandberg concluded, "He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."
He deserves to be there .... the major impediment these past nine years has been his woeful 0.323 career on base percentage (I believe thats the worst of any Hall member), especially seeing how he played in a hitter friendly Wrigley Field. I was on the verge of tears when the season was cancelled. I was a huge baseball fan, and I watched every Expo game. I haven't watched a full baseball game since ... I may watch an inning here or there .... but could care less about MLB now. Have a read: Baseball's Greatest Team |
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 7, 2010 12:55:06 GMT -5
Congrats to "the Hawk" ... one of my all-time favs. He injured his leg in high school and played his entire career practically on one leg. There are stories of how he spend more time in trainers rooms, than on the ball field. After every game he had to have his knee looked after. Consider that, and make no wonder he couldn't wait to leave Montreal and the worst playing field in all of baseball. I remember the leg injury but totally forgot about it. I wasn't sure who's my favourite Expo, Val. Mine was Tim Wallach, by far and away.[/quote] I really have to think about this one, Skilly. There were so many good players I watched over the years that I just can't single out one. I guess I might have had favourite players in different decades. Still, Tim Wallach is a good choice. I'll be the first to tell you that I was a bandwagon Jay's fan. I never really followed them all the closely until their two Championship runs in the early 90's. I was elated when they took those two World Series' but for me it was all Expos all the time. What stuck out for me was the payroll. The Expos had the third-lowest payroll in the majors. That, in itself, says something right there. I can't remember the year, but I remember hearing on tv that at one time the Atlanta Braves pitching staff had a higher combined salary than the entire Expos roster. Son of a gun. |
|
|
|
Post by CentreHice on Jan 7, 2010 17:48:10 GMT -5
Congrats to Andre.
Lots of talk on Toronto radio today about Tim Raines being voted in someday. Don't remember all the numbers they spouted....but quite impressive. Very comparable to Lou Brock, they said.
In terms of lead-off hitters, there were few better...so the talk went.
------------------------
RE: Alomar. Heard a baseball writer who voted against him (on OTR last night) and he said that he considers the spitting incident unforgivable....(even though the umpire forgave him). When Landsberg pressed him on why he would vote for Mark McGuire in light of the steroids...the writer responded: "I consider what players do to their own bodies as being their business. Steroid use doesn't bother me. I'd vote for McGuire, Bonds, and Clemens. Spitting speaks to the "character" of a player. And that's why I'll never vote for Alomar."
Steroid use doesn't speak to "character"? Cheating/breaking the rules and lying under oath doesn't speak to character?
==============================
Another note on first-time ballots denied. Joe Dimaggio missed out his first three years of eligibility.....with the explanation that the Hall was fairly new and they were "catching up" on inducting all the older players first.
|
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 7, 2010 19:32:05 GMT -5
Congrats to Andre. Lots of talk on Toronto radio today about Tim Raines being voted in someday. Don't remember all the numbers they spouted....but quite impressive. Very comparable to Lou Brock, they said. In terms of lead-off hitters, there were few better...so the talk went. Tim Raines was one of the fastest I've seen on the basepaths, CH. I've even seen him successfully steal on pick-off attempts. It might have been MacLean's magazine where I saw an article that showed just how quick Raines was, frame by frame. One thing about the steroid use; by his own admission, Raines would sometimes go from the dugout to the locker room and do some lines between innings. He even admitted to diving into second base with a bag of blow in his back pocket. Still, he sought help afterward and beat his addiction. I don't have a link but I seem to remember he named one of his kids after Andre Dawson. They were that close. I hope Tim gets in eventually. A very explosive baserunner. Cheers. |
|
