Name a forgotten player in Expos history.
Posted at 7:45 a.m.
Posting this message on Twitter recently, I did not expect to receive so many responses. More than 800. Several names struck me as a Proust madeleine. Casey Candaele, Archi Cianfrocco and Pascual Perez reminded me of the smell of Olympic Stadium hot dogs. Razor Shines, Spike Owen and Rowland Office have revived the bubblegum flavor in O-Pee-Chee card packs. Trace Coquillette, Peter Bergeron and Chris Widger took me back to my early years of sports coverage at The Press.
For a few days, I also found several exotic names with pleasure. Coco Laboy. Boots Day. Bombo Rivera. John Boccabellaaaaaaa. Then the wave calmed down. Just when I thought the Twitter algorithm had swallowed up the conversation for good, Olivier Racette sent me the most amazing response of all.
“Pepe Mangual, whose face I have tattooed on my left arm. »
***
An Expos logo tattoo? OK.
Of Vladimir Guerrero? It goes.
From Youppi! ? Ultimately, I can understand.
But of Pepe Mangual? At first I thought it was a joke. Mangual was neither a star nor even a key Expos player. He stayed here for five seasons, from 1972 to 1976. Four in a reserve role. One as holder. He was running fast. He was hitting hard in the minor leagues – but not the majors. The only season he played more than 70 games with the Expos, he was the fourth-most-strikeout batter in the entire National League. On defense, he was among the worst outfielders, with nine errors.
But it was not a hoax. The tattoo does exist. It covers about twenty centimeters, on the left triceps of Olivier Racette. We recognize the face of Pepe Mangual, who is wearing the pretty Expos tricolor cap. “The funny thing, explains Olivier, lowering his sleeve, is that I was born eight years after he left the Expos. I never saw him play! »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Olivier Racette proudly shows off his Pepe Mangual tattoo.
So how did this obscure reservist’s face end up permanently drawn on his skin?
It is above all a family story. That of the Racettes. Here, we have been supporters of the Canadiens for several generations. Olivier’s great-grandfather was a die-hard Howie Morenz fan. His grandfather, by Maurice Richard. “Me, from Guy Lafleur,” says his father, Richard.
And Expos?
Okay. Medium.
“In the 1970s, I went there from time to time, says Richard Racette. I enjoyed baseball, without being a big fan. But I liked the Latin American players. I thought their names sounded flamboyant. Coco Laboy, it was beautiful. Pepe Mangual was spectacular. »
When Olivier was born in 1984, Richard was looking for a little love name for him. My Chick ? My kitty ? Gougoune? No. The one that came to mind, spontaneously, was… Pepe Mangual.
” Why ? I do not know. He’s not a player I admired. It would have been difficult, because he hardly played [rires]. I think I just liked his name. »
It has become Olivier’s common nickname. “When it was supper time, my father would say, ‘Pepe Mangual, come and eat.’ I was a child. I found it funny. I had never really wondered about the origin of the nickname. »
He discovers it at the age of 16, when his father calls him Pepe Mangual in front of a man who has come to have supper at home. “Did you say Pepe Mangual? “Launches the guest to his host.
” Yes. »
The young Olivier grabs the ball on the leap and throws the man back.
“What does that mean, Pepe Mangual?
– Well there! He’s a former Expos player! »
Ah! So ! The mystery was solved.
PHOTO PIERRE CÔTÉ, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Pepe Mangual with the Expos in 1973
For the next two decades, Olivier Racette somewhat forgot this story of Pepe Mangual. Until five years ago, his brother Simon posted a photo of the outfielder in an Expos uniform on his Facebook wall.
“It could be my next tattoo,” replied Olivier, jokingly.
“You’re not game. »
” Nope. In fact, I’m not a gamer. »
Except that after reflection, stung by the challenge, Olivier changed his mind. The pain didn’t scare him. He had already had the letters CH tattooed, to underline his love of the Canadiens. On the heart. Literally. He asked his tattoo artist to draw the outline of Pepe Mangual, with the tricolor cap, on his arm. Proud of the result, he showed the tattoo to his father.
“How did he react?
— Hmmm. My father is a man of his generation. Not always comfortable with his feelings. As far as I remember, he didn’t say anything. He just made a face, as if to say: “So you and your brother are very stupid” [rires]. It is certain that a tattoo of an Expos player, it is not really his style. But I think that inside of him, it touched him. »
Richard confirmed it to me afterwards: “Yes, it made me very happy. I thought it was a nice token of affection. »
“Sport, explains Olivier, has always been the link between my brother, my father and me. I remember very well when we watched the Canadiens games together on television, on Saturday evenings, in our brown basement in Repentigny. After his divorce, my father moved to the Laurentians. I saw him less often. But I loved going back and forth by car. We talked about music, cinema, and a lot of sport. Especially hockey. »
Today, Olivier is mainly interested in the Canadiens and the Minnesota Vikings. He proudly wears a tattoo of wide receiver Randy Moss, pulling down his pants after a touchdown against the Green Bay Packets. “My sons and I now have slightly different sporting tastes,” says Richard. You see, basketball is none of my business. But we still have good conversations. Because sport, after all, remains a breeding ground for communication. »