1989 Montreal Expos season

1989 Montreal Expos
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1969)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Olympic Stadium (since 1989)
Montreal (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Bronfman
General manager(s)	Dave Dombrowski
Manager(s)	Buck Rodgers
Local television	CBC Television (Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton) The Sports Network (Ken Singleton, Jim Hughson) Télévision de Radio-Canada (Claude Raymond, Raymond Lebrun)
Local radio	CJAD (English) (Dave Van Horne, Bobby Winkles, Jerry Trupiano) CKAC (French) (Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte)
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The 1989 season for the Montreal Expos was the baseball club's 21st. With owner Charles Bronfman thinking of selling the team he founded, he wanted to take one last shot at a playoff berth. Bronfman gave young general manager Dave Dombrowski a clear mandate to win now, reportedly telling him he had all the financial ressources needed in the quest to bring a championship to Montreal. 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. 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 NL best record of 63-44, holding a 3-game lead in the NL 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 1st 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 the collapse is to point to the offence, 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 team makes the playoffs, perhaps even wins the NLCS against a beatable Giants team to make it to the World Series, one can only wonder if Bronfman changes his stance about selling the team and remains the owner.

Offseason

• December 8, 1988: Tracy Jones was traded by the Expos to the San Francisco Giants for Mike Aldrete.^[1]
• December 8, 1988: John Dopson and Luis Rivera were traded by the Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Spike Owen and Dan Gakeler.^[2]

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 innings 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 go to sleep on top of the Dodgers dugout, former Montreal Royals reliever and then coach of the Dodgers Tommy Lasorda demanded that Youppi! be run 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

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	93	69	0.574	—	48–33	45–36
New York Mets	87	75	0.537	6	51–30	36–45
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	0.531	7	46–35	40–41
Montreal Expos	81	81	0.500	12	44–37	37–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	74	88	0.457	19	39–42	35–46
Philadelphia Phillies	67	95	0.414	26	38–42	29–53

Record vs. opponents

1989 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	8–10	8–10	6–10	6–6	2–10	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–12	3–9–1
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	10–8	10–8	12–6	8–4	6–6	11–7
Cincinnati	10–8	5–7	—	8–10	8–10	4–8	4–8	4–8	7–5	9–9	8–10	8–4
Houston	10–8	7–5	10–8	—	10–8	4–8	6–6	9–3	7–5	8–10	8–10	7–5
Los Angeles	10–6	5–7	10–8	8–10	—	7–5	5–7	6–6	7–5	6–12	10–8	3–9
Montreal	6–6	8–10	8–4	8–4	5–7	—	9–9	9–9	11–7	5–7	7–5	5–13
New York	10–2	8–10	8–4	6–6	7–5	9–9	—	12–6	9–9	5–7	3–9	10–8
Philadelphia	4-8	8–10	8–4	3–9	6–6	9–9	6–12	—	10–8–1	2–10	4–8	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	6–12	5–7	5–7	5–7	7–11	9–9	8–10–1	—	3–9	5–7	13–5–1
San Diego	11–7	4–8	9–9	10–8	12–6	7–5	7–5	10–2	9–3	—	8–10	2–10
San Francisco	12–6	6–6	10–8	10–8	8–10	5–7	9–3	8–4	7–5	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3–1	7–11	4–8	5–7	9–3	13–5	8–10	11–7	5–13–1	10–2	5–7	—

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.^[3]
• July 2, 1989: Sergio Valdez, Nate Minchey, and Kevin Dean (minors) were traded by the Expos to the Atlanta Braves for Zane Smith.^[4]
• July 27, 1989: Rick Carriger (minors) was traded by the Expos to the Cleveland Indians for Doug Piatt.^[5]
• August 29, 1989: Mike Blowers was traded by the Expos to the New York Yankees for John Candelaria.^[6]

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.^[7]
  • Doug Bochtler was drafted by the Expos in the 9th round. Player signed June 26, 1989.^[8]

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) ^[9]

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		Manager 37 Buck Rodgers Coaches 36 Larry Bearnarth 18 Ron Hansen 17 Rafael Landestoy 31 Ken Macha (bullpen) 42 Jackie Moore (third base) 19 Joe Sparks

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	Santovenia, NelsonNelson Santovenia	97	304	76	.250	5	31	2
1B	Galarraga, AndrésAndrés Galarraga	152	572	147	.257	23	85	12
2B	Foley, TomTom Foley	122	375	86	.229	7	39	2
3B	Wallach, TimTim Wallach	154	573	159	.277	13	77	3
SS	Owen, SpikeSpike Owen	142	437	102	.233	6	41	3
LF	Raines, TimTim Raines	145	517	148	.286	9	60	41
CF	Martinez, DaveDave Martinez	126	361	99	.274	3	27	23
RF	Brooks, HubieHubie Brooks	148	542	145	.268	14	70	6

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Hudler, RexRex Hudler	92	155	38	.245	6	13
Aldrete, MikeMike Aldrete	76	136	30	.221	1	12

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Martínez, DennisDennis Martínez	34	232	16	7	3.18	142
Langston, MarkMark Langston	24	176.2	12	9	2.39	175

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Harris, GeneGene Harris	11	1	1	0	4.95	11

Award winners

• Mark Langston, National League Pitcher of the Month, July

1989 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
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 Weinstein

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis, Jamestown^[10]

References

1. Mike Aldrete at Baseball-Reference
2. Spike Owen at Baseball-Reference
3. Mark Langston at Baseball-Reference
4. Zane Smith at Baseball-Reference
5. Doug Piatt at Baseball-Reference
6. John Candelaria at Baseball-Reference
7. Charles Johnson at Baseball-Reference
8. Doug Bochtler at Baseball-Reference
9. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/1989/18.shtml
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

• 1989 Montreal Expos team at Baseball-Reference
• 1989 Montreal Expos team at baseball-almanac.com