On This Date in Sports October 3, 2004: Adieu Expos
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The Montreal Expos play their final game in the same place that they played their first game 35 years earlier, Shea Stadium against the New York Mets. The Expos after a decade of decay announced plans to move to Washington in 2005 earlier in the season. The Mets would beat the Expos 8-1, with many fans venturing down from Quebec. The final batter was Endy Chavez who grounded out to second.
It was one decade earlier that the Montreal Expos were poised for greatness, as they held a record of 74-40 when the 1994 season ended on August 11th due to a strike. When the players returned, the Expos were forced to sell off their top players, further alienating an already angry fan base. Over the next five years, things did not get better as the Expos continued to trade away their top stars, as attendance continued to dwindle. Plans for a new ballpark never got off the ground, as the money used to maintain Olympic Stadium had already strained budgets in Montreal. When a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was set to expire, the Expos became pawns, as Owners proposed contraction, to get rid of two struggling teams. After the CBA was settled, Owner Jeffrey Loria decided to buy the Florida Marlins, leaving the Expos orphaned as they were under the control of MLB. With no local ownership in Montreal, the Expos were moved to Washington, DC where they had been seeking a team since the Senators moved to Texas in 1972.
Managed by Frank Robinson, the Expos had spent nearly the entire season in last place as they entered the final day of the regular season at 67-94. Four days earlier the Expos played their final home game at Olympic Stadium, in front of an emotional home crowd of 31,395 the largest crowd of the season. The Expos would lose the final home game to the Florida Marlins 9-1 as Sun-Woo Kim got the loss. Terrmel Sledge flew out to end the game, against Rudy Saenz, as Carl Pavano got the win for Florida. Juan Rivera had the Expos final hit at home in the seventh inning, after driving in Montreal’s lone run in the fourth.
The Expos had come full circle in 36 seasons, as their first game was on April 8, 1969, a stunning 11-10 win over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. When the Expos clinched the second half of the 1981 season, they were also at Shea Stadium. So as they set to ride off into history, it seemed destined for that last game to also be at the home of the New York Mets.
The Mets 2004 season was not much better than the Expos, as they were a team in transition with David Wright making his debut at midseason. It was the final game managed by Art Howe, as the Mets already announced they would be making a switch after the season. It was also the last game in a Mets uniform for John Franco, who played 15 seasons in New York and became the team’s all-time saves leader. That afternoon, many fans of the Expos ventured down to Shea as the Mets paid tribute with a video and the words Adieu Expos. Also, bidding adieu was Todd Zeile, who was given the start behind home plate in his final game as he did when his career began in 1989.
Tom Glavine got the start for the Mets, already having the season over at 70-91, Glavine happily best, though it was a second straight disappointing season in New York for the future Hall of Famer. Glavine allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five. Montreal would get one run in the first on an RBI single by Sledge, but the Mets right away, as Jose Reyes singled, stole second and scored on a sac-fly by David Wright against Expos starter John Patterson. Wright would hit a two-run home run in the third to give the Mets the lead. In the fifth, Reyes again created havoc as he scored a second run on an RBI single by Kaz Matsui, stealing second and third in the process.
Leading 4-1 in the sixth, the Mets got singles by Eric Valent and Victor Diaz off Claudio Vargas who replaced Patterson. Next up was Todd Zeile; the Mets also were playing highlights of his career throughout the game. In what would be his final at-bat in the majors, Zeile hit a three-run homer to break the game open as members of the Mets bullpen came out to salute him while he gave a curtain call.
Val Pascucci recorded a two-out single to Heath Bell in the eighth. This paved the way for another farewell at Shea, as John Franco who at 15 seasons had the second-longest tenure with the team made his final appearance in a Mets uniform. Instead of his usual walk-up song, the Mets played “Through the Years” while showing a montage of great moments of Franco’s time with the Mets. Franco gave up a hit to Sledge, before getting Ryan Church to pop up to Zeile behind home plate.
Not wanting to spoil the home run, Daniel Garcia singled as a pinch hitter for Todd Zeile in the eighth. He would score the game’s final run on a pinch-hit by Wilson Delgado, as Francis Beltran was Montreal’s last pitcher. Bartolome Fortunato came on to pitch in the ninth as the Mets held an 8-1 lead. Joining him was catcher Joe Hietpas in his only major league game. Einar Diaz reached on an error, and Brendan Harris walked to start the inning. However, Fortunato struck out Josh Labandeira and pinch hitter Maicer Izturis to bring up Endy Chavez. Chavez would ground out to Jeff Keppinger at second ending the game and the history of the Montreal Expos.
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