1989 Montreal Expos season

March 2026 November 2013 Montreal Expos 1989 National League East Olympic Stadium Montreal Charles Bronfman Dave Dombrowski Buck Rodgers CBC Television(Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton)The Sports Network(Ken Singleton, Jim Hughson)Télévision de Radio-Canada(Claude Raymond, Raymond Lebrun) CJAD (English)(Dave Van Horne, Bobby Winkles, Jerry Trupiano) CKAC (French)(Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte) 81–81 4th The 1989 Montreal Expos season was the 21st season of the baseball franchise. With owner Charles Bronfman thinking of selling the team he founded, he contemplated taking one last shot at a playoff berth. Bronfman gave young general manager Dave Dombrowski a clear mandate to win now, reportedly telling him he would provided all the money needed in the quest to bring a championship to Montreal in 1989. Dombrowski pulled off a massive trade on May 25, acquiring star left-handed pitcher – and pending free agent – Mark Langston from the Seattle Mariners. While the move was viewed as a coup at the time, it came at a heavy cost as a young, very tall and very raw Randy Johnson was the key part of the package going to the Pacific Northwest. Johnson would eventually harness his fantastic stuff and became one of the game's most dominant left-handed pitchers for well over a decade. Langston pitched 4 months for the club and left as a free agent. Still, it seemed like a worthy gamble at the time for the Expos. That year, there was no dominant team in the National League. The team seemed poised to compete for the NL East crown with a loaded starting pitching staff that featured Langston, Dennis Martínez, Bryn Smith, Pascual Perez and Kevin Gross. The team peaked on August 2 with an National League best record of 63–44, holding a 3-game lead in the National League East and everything running along smoothly. What followed would go down as the greatest collapse in franchise history. The next night, a Benny Distefano pinch hit single in the 12th inning dealt the Expos a 1–0 loss in Pittsburgh. It was the start of a 7-game losing streak. The club limped through the rest of August but remained in the race in early September, with the team being only 2 games back of first place on September 6. Regardless, the downward spiral continued as the Expos inexplicably ended up losing 37 of their final 55 games to finish the season a disappointing 81–81, well out of the playoff picture. The easiest analysis of what caused the collapse is to point to the offense, which struggled after August 2, scoring an MLB worst 3.23 runs per game. For long-time Expos fans, the collapse is viewed as the beginning of the end of the franchise. If the club had won the NL East title that year and then beaten the Giants in the NLCS, clinching a World Series berth in the process, Bronfman may have changed his mind about selling the team. Instead, the late season collapse only added to the owner's frustration. Offseason December 8, 1988: Tracy Jones was traded by the Expos to the San Francisco Giants for Mike Aldrete.Mike Aldrete at Baseball-Reference December 8, 1988: John Dopson and Luis Rivera were traded by the Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Spike Owen and Dan Gakeler.Spike Owen at Baseball-Reference Spring training The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves. It was their 13th season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981. Regular season August 23, 1989: The Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers engage in a 22-inning marathon, the longest game in Expos history. It eventually ended when Rick Dempsey homered for the Dodgers in the top half of the 22nd inning off Dennis Martínez in a very rare relief performance. Rex Hudler was caught stealing second in the bottom half of the 22nd to end the game. The game would have ended earlier when an Expo scored from third on a sacrifice fly. The Dodgers' appeal, that the runner left the base too soon, was recognized by the third base umpire and the third out was recorded. The game also marked the first time that a mascot was ejected by an umpire. Youppi!, dressed in a nightgown and nightcap, pretended to sleep on top of the Dodgers' dugout, and Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and umpire Bob Davidson ejected Youppi! from the game. In the end, the game took over 6 hours to finish and ended close to 2:00 am. August 15, 1989: San Francisco Giants pitcher Dave Dravecky pitched three no-hit innings, but in the fifth inning, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm. In the sixth inning he started off shaky, allowing a home run to the lead off batter and then hitting the second batter. Then, on his first pitch to Tim Raines, his humerus bone snapped, ending his career. Opening Day starters Hubie Brooks Tom Foley Andrés Galarraga Dave Martinez Dennis Martínez Spike Owen Tim Raines Nelson Santovenia Tim Wallach Season standings Montreal Expos Record vs. opponents MON Notable transactions May 25, 1989: Randy Johnson, Brian Holman, and Gene Harris were traded by the Expos to the Seattle Mariners for Mark Langston and a player to be named later. The Mariners completed the deal by sending Mike Campbell to the Expos on July 31.Mark Langston at Baseball-Reference July 2, 1989: Sergio Valdez, Nate Minchey, and Kevin Dean (minors) were traded by the Expos to the Atlanta Braves for Zane Smith.Zane Smith at Baseball-Reference July 27, 1989: Rick Carriger (minors) was traded by the Expos to the Cleveland Indians for Doug Piatt.Doug Piatt at Baseball-Reference August 29, 1989: Mike Blowers was traded by the Expos to the New York Yankees for John Candelaria.John Candelaria at Baseball-Reference Draft picks June 5, 1989: 1989 Major League Baseball draft Charles Johnson was drafted by the Expos in the 1st round (10th pick), but did not sign.Charles Johnson at Baseball-Reference Doug Bochtler was drafted by the Expos in the 9th round. Player signed June 26, 1989.Doug Bochtler at Baseball-Reference Major League debuts Batters: Marquis Grissom (Aug 22) Marty Pevey (May 16) Larry Walker (Aug 16) Pitchers: Steve Frey (May 10) Mark Gardner (May 16) Gene Harris (Apr 5) http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/1989/18.shtml The Baseball Cube - Research Site for Pro + College Stats + draft Roster 1989 Montreal Expos Roster Pitchers 44 Tim Burke 45 John Candelaria 41 Steve Frey 40 Mark Gardner 26 Brett Gideon 46 Kevin Gross 43,61 Gene Harris 38 Joe Hesketh 59 Brian Holman 51 Randy Johnson 12 Mark Langston 43 Urbano Lugo 32 Dennis Martínez 27 Andy McGaffigan 34 Pascual Pérez 28 Bryn Smith 23 Zane Smith 48 Rich Thompson Catchers 20 Mike Fitzgerald 49 Marty Pevey  2 Gilberto Reyes 22 Nelson Santovenia Infielders 16 Tom Foley 14 Andrés Galarraga  4 Dámaso García 25 Rex Hudler 15 Jeff Huson  6 Wallace Johnson  3 Junior Noboa 11 Spike Owen 29 Tim Wallach Outfielders 24 Mike Aldrete  7 Hubie Brooks  9 Marquis Grissom  1 Dave Martinez 35 Otis Nixon 30 Tim Raines 33 Larry Walker Other batters 5 Jim Dwyer Manager 37 Buck Rodgers Coaches 36 Larry Bearnarth (Pitching) 18 Ron Hansen (Bench) 17 Rafael Landestoy (First Base) 31 Ken Macha (Bullpen) 42 Jackie Moore (Third Base) 19 Joe Sparks (Hitting) Player stats = Indicates team leader Batting Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C Nelson Santovenia 97 304 76 .250 5 31 2 1B Andrés Galarraga 152 572 147 .257 23 85 12 2B Tom Foley Tom Foley (infielder) 122 375 86 .229 7 39 2 3B Tim Wallach 154 573 159 .277 13 77 3 SS Spike Owen 142 437 102 .233 6 41 3 LF Tim Raines 145 517 148 .286 9 60 41 CF Dave Martinez 126 361 99 .274 3 27 23 RF Hubie Brooks 148 542 145 .268 14 70 6 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB Mike Fitzgerald 100 290 69 .238 7 42 3 Otis Nixon 126 258 56 .217 0 21 37 Dámaso García 80 203 55 .271 3 18 5 Rex Hudler 92 155 38 .245 6 13 15 Mike Aldrete 76 136 30 .221 1 12 1 Wallace Johnson 85 114 31 .272 2 17 1 Marquis Grissom 26 74 19 .257 1 2 1 Jeff Huson 32 74 12 .162 0 2 3 Larry Walker 20 47 8 .170 0 4 1 Junior Noboa 21 44 10 .227 0 1 0 Marty Pevey 13 41 9 .220 0 3 0 Jim Dwyer 13 10 3 .300 0 2 0 Gilberto Reyes 4 5 1 .200 0 1 0 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Dennis Martínez 34 232.0 16 7 3.18 142 Bryn Smith 33 215.2 10 11 2.84 129 Kevin Gross 31 201.1 11 12 4.38 158 Pascual Pérez 33 198.1 9 13 3.31 152 Mark Langston 24 176.2 12 9 2.39 175 Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Brian Holman 10 31.2 1 2 4.83 23 Randy Johnson 7 29.2 0 4 6.67 26 Mark Gardner 7 26.1 0 3 5.13 21 Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Tim Burke 68 9 3 28 2.55 54 Andy McGaffigan 57 3 5 2 4.68 40 Joe Hesketh 43 6 4 3 5.77 44 Zane Smith 31 0 1 2 1.50 35 Steve Frey 20 3 2 0 5.48 15 Rich Thompson 19 0 2 0 2.18 15 John Candelaria 12 0 2 0 3.31 14 Gene Harris Gene Harris (baseball) 11 1 1 0 4.95 11 Brett Gideon 4 0 0 0 1.93 2 Urbano Lugo 3 0 0 0 6.75 3 Tim Wallach 1 0 0 0 9.00 0 Tom Foley 1 0 0 0 27.00 0 Award winners Mark Langston, National League Pitcher of the Month, July 1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Tim Burke, Pitcher, Reserve Tim Wallach, Third Base, Reserve Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Tom Runnells AA Jacksonville Expos Southern League Alan Bannister A West Palm Beach Expos Florida State League Felipe Alou A Rockford Expos Midwest League Mike Quade A-Short Season Jamestown Expos New York–Penn League Don Werner Rookie GCL Expos Gulf Coast League Jerry WeinsteinLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis, JamestownJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References External links 1989 Montreal Expos team at Baseball-Reference 1989 Montreal Expos team at baseball-almanac.com Category:Montreal Expos seasons Montreal Expos season Category:1989 in Montreal Category:1989 in sports in Quebec