Let's get this straight... I'm an Oakland Athletics & San Diego Padres fan... not a Montreal Expos or Washington Nationals fan.
Now that I've cleared the air... it's time for a little explanation on why I chose to start up a small, yet special Expos PC a few months back. It's actually pretty simple. I like their logo, colors, and history.
The Montreal Expos have one of the coolest logos in MLB history and is one of my personal favorites. The giant M with the little E imbedded into it is iconic. Throw in the bright blue, white, and red colors and you it's about as classic as you can get.
The team's history is also intriguing... filled with twists and turns that ultimately led them to becoming the Washington Nationals. I've always been a supporter of underdogs and the Expos were often just that.
During their 36 year tenure in Montreal, the Expos went to the playoffs once... where they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship series three games to two.
They finished in first place once in their team's history. The year was 1994. Yep... the same year as the dreaded MLB Strike. Not only were they in first place at the time of the strike... they also had the best record in baseball at the time.
And although they've had their share of downs... they've also had some amazing players suit up in the bleu, blanc, et rouge.
Gary Carter was the first player to be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expos player. He played in seven all star games during his tenure with the Expos and ranks in the top 5 of almost every offensive category for the franchise.
In 2010, Andre Dawson became the second player to sport the Expos logo on his plaque in Cooperstown. The Hawk won the 1977 NL ROY Award and was played in three all star games as an Expos player. Like Carter... he's ranks in the top 5 in almost every offensive category for the Montreal Expos.
My favorite Expos era was definitely the 80's... especially the early 80's. That's when Carter, Dawson, and Tim Raines all played together. The Rock spent 13 seasons as an Expos left fielder. During that time... he made the all star team seven times and is the all-time leader in runs, triples, walks, and of course stolen bases in franchise history. Hopefully one of these days Tim Raines will join Carter and Dawson in Cooperstown... and if and when he does... there's no doubt in my mind that he'll go in wearing the blue, white, and red.
In the later part of the 90's... long after Carter, Dawson, and Raines left Montreal... along came Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero has the most home runs in Expos' history and represented them in the all-star game four times. Charles over at Hoopography once wrote a post about whether or not Vlad the Impaler is a first ballot HOF... I think a better question is whether or not he'll choose to enter the HOF as an Expos player.
Rounding out the rest of my Expos PC are a few rookies, a couple of memorabilia cards, some more autographs, and even my favorite Expos base card. Hope you enjoy:
Expos Rookie Cards
Expos Memorabilia Cards
Additional Expos Autographs
My Favorite Expos Base Card
I love this card... you always see the Hit King in his Phillies or Reds uniform... but rarely his Expos.
By the way... stay tuned... I'll be posting my next Sports Card Trifecta in the next few days. Can you guess who it is? Here's a hint... he's one of the players featured above, but don't worry... all three cards in the trifecta have been saved for the upcoming post... no double posting here.
So today's question is...
When Vladimir Guerrero is elected into Baseball's HOF... what cap will he be wearing?
Happy Saturday everyone... and Sayonara!
Oh... almost forgot... one day to kickoff... Go Pack Go!
Added on 3/24/11:
Added on 12/21/12:
7 comments:
My mom is from Montreal, so I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Expos. Plus the uniforms were sweet!
Love that Pete Rose BTW.
I think Vladdy will go into the Hall of Fame, and I think it will be as an Expo. He had some amazing years in Anaheim, but he really made his mark as a player in Montreal.
~I'm still bitter that he ended up in Anaheim instead of LA~
I'm also an A's fan with lots of love for the 'Spos. Thanks for posting your collection...I'm thinking of starting up a small Expos collection myself but I'm not quite sure how to go about organizing it.
Vladdy goes in as an expo
I've got a great Expos card that needs to be in your collection. Shoot me an email and I'll give you the details.
dodgerbobble - yeah... those uniforms are awesome... and the rose is one of my favorite base card period. i was screwed either way when vlad came to cali. when he came to the angels he's against the a's... if he went to the dodgers, he'd play against the padres.
nathan - i'm glad to see another a's fan out there... i think they should be pretty good this year. hopefully suzuki will bounce back... as for the expos collection... collect what you like. i went over to COMC and searched for cards that were affordable. every now and then... if i see a good deal... i pick up a new addition. i'm really looking for an autograph of dennis martinez in his 'spos uni.
moremonkeys138 - ummm... you've stirred my curiosity... i'll email you right now.
I find that if I don't put specific goals on things I'll end up just collecting everything. I'd like to make a binder with something like "9 cards of each player to play at least 600 games for the expos". I'm sure I wont stick to it, but it least it wont be chaos :P
Nathan - that makes sense... when it comes to most of my PC's... i only collect memorabilia cards and autos... and occasionally rookies. however... i really like the 9 cards per page idea.
Vlad's Hat:
I'd much prefer he wear the multi-colored Expos hat, but the Expos switched the solid blue one well before he even made his mlb debut. So you have to assume it will be the solid blue one and not the multi-colored one. But I hope I'm wrong.
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