Misconduct | Who was your favorite Montreal Expos player?

The section where journalists from the Sports team The Press answer a question with pleasure.

Richard Labbé

Gary Carter. It’s been 20 years since the Expos died, but in my mind as a young fan, in fact, they died 20 years before that, in December 1984. On December 10, 1984, more precisely, and two weeks before Christmas, the Expos carried out the worst transaction in their cursed history: Gary Carter traded to the New York Mets for no one. Well, that’s not true: the Expos got four players in return, but none could match the good Gary. The worst part is that this transaction was a foretaste of the hurried sale of 1995, because once again, we had just given a player to a rival just to save money. A disaster all round, since two years later, Carter would help make the Mets a powerhouse, with a World Series title in 1986, while the Expos would spend the rest of the 1980s trying to catch up with the Mets, this which they will never do. You really had to love pain to love this team.

Simon-Olivier Lorange

We all went crazy, rightly so, following Shohei Ohtani’s 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. Through my meager knowledge of baseball, however, I have a clear memory of Vladimir Guerrero’s 40-40 run in 2002. He ultimately only needed one long ball to get there, but that doesn’t matter. For a Montreal sports fan of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Guerrero was probably the biggest star in town, as the Canadiens hit rock bottom and the Expos languished in indifference. He literally had everything going for him: great arm in right field, speed on the paths, consistency and power at the bat… His posture alone when he came to the plate had us on the edge of our seats. Suddenly it seemed like anything could happen. We were not going to shy away from this rare breath of fresh air, at a time when nothing good awaited this moribund club.

Mathias Brunet

In 1982, I was 14 years old. I finally enjoyed a certain autonomy, and the freedom for me consisted of taking the 80 bus then the metro on the green line to Pie-IX to go to the Olympic Stadium with my friend Labrèche, who must have already been 6 ft 6 in, but that has nothing to do with the story. I obviously wasn’t rolling in gold, but tickets were $1 in the popular stands and you could get a hot dog for the same price. Even though home plate was very far away, the important thing was to be in the stadium. There was popular star Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Charlie Lea, Al Oliver and Tim Wallach, but in my eyes, and those of many, Tim Raines was the best player on that team. In his first season, in 1981, he hit .304 and broke the record for stolen bases for a first-year player with 71. Raines also had a bit of a delinquent side. He had a habit of sliding onto his stomach when stealing bases because, he later admitted, he hid his bags of cocaine in the back pocket of his pants. We obviously don’t encourage consumption in these pages, but this vulnerability added to this indefinable aura. As manager of the softball team The PressI had uniforms made in homage to the Expos last spring. I obviously proudly wear Tim Raines’ number 30…

Guillaume Lefrançois

Strangely, the first image of Marquis Grissom that comes to mind is that of him catching a ball from Chris Gwynn at the warning track to confirm Dennis Martinez’s perfect game. However, even though he won the Gold Glove four times, it was much more for his work on the trails that Grissom had an impact on me. For my generation of fans, the Expos of the early 1990s symbolized a renaissance, and the identity of this young, emerging team was speed. Grissom has had two straight seasons of over 70 stolen bases. As soon as he went to first base, we knew he would quickly be at second base, if not third. He even stole the marble at least once! He is also the first Expos player I was able to meet, during an Expos winter caravan. He gave me an autograph and seemed very nice. I then learned from my fellow journalists who covered him that it wasn’t a facade: he was a real nice guy.

Alexander Pratt

Claude Raymond, Denis Boucher and Derek Aucoin. Not so much for their performances on the field – I’m too young to have seen Frenchie play – only for their contribution to the development of Quebec baseball. Raymond is our Mr. Baseball. A man with a heart on his sleeve, who organized camps for young people and who still today, at 87 years old, participates in matches for good causes. Denis Boucher was involved in local baseball, particularly in Lachine, where he led the association and coached several teams. I have often seen it at work against my children’s training. A coach attentive and generous with his advice. Derek Aucoin, who left too quickly, was also keen to grow the sport here, with his baseball schools and his participation in numerous charity events. Three great ambassadors, for whom I have the greatest respect.

Simon Drouin

Vladimir Guerrero without a shadow of a doubt, but I also have excellent memories of Tim Wallach. For the fluidity of the swing, the doubles, the composure at third base and the nickname inspired by the gangster in The good, the bad and the uglyan absolute classic of cinema.

Jean-François Tremblay

The 1994 Expos awakened in me an interest in the club and baseball in general. This interest only grew in the following years, notably under the leadership of my grandfather Jacques, an eternal supporter and eternally complaining about the Expos next to his radio with a 50 in his hands during dinners. family. I rarely followed the Expos as much as during the 1996-1997 seasons, and from that era, I liked few players (other than Pedro Martinez obviously) as much as Henry Rodriguez. Already a left-handed hitter, that’s exciting. Then, his seasons of 26 and 36 home runs (and 103 RBIs) aren’t bad at all. Add to all that this habit of throwing Oh Henry! on the field after his home runs, and we have a teenage memory that refuses to disappear.