Yes, there is no finer city in the full splendour of autumn anywhere in the world than Montreal. But add playoff baseball to the mix? Heavenly.
The chances aren't particularly good. The Expos, tied for the wild card thanks to a four-game brushoff of the Phillies (one fan ran onto the field waving a broom in the eighth yesterday; others threw about a dozen brooms on the field after the game) and four unlikely RBI by Jack Wilson to beat the Marlins, now have to become road warriors again... and their last long road trip was a shambolic disaster. They went 8-14 on that trip, and it touched off a swoon that left them at 50-50 shortly after the All-Star Break. They’re 21-14 (a .600 pace) since then.
If Frank Robinson, who I would think is the National League Manager of the Year (only Bobby Cox and Jim Tracy are close; or can you give Jack McKeon the award for a half-season?), can keep the team pulling evenly on the oars, there is no reason that even playing twenty-one of their last twenty-seven on the road will necessarily kill the 'Spos. They have a top-class one-two punch in Guerrero and Vidro, good complementary pieces in Wilkerson and Cabrera, and a pitching staff that has performed miracles all year, led by a rejuvenated Javier Vazquez and an unrecognizable Livan Hernandez, who is (or should be) a top contender for the NL Cy Young Award. Vazquez made a strong bid not to be forgotten for the award himself yesterday, pitching a combined shutout with Luis Ayala and recording 10 Ks against the powerful Phils lineup. He hasn’t been scored upon in 26 innings.
The first leg of the road trip remains crucial; six games in Florida and Philadelphia that can help put them some distance in front. Then there are three more with the Marlins in Puerto Rico, before three with the Chicago Cubs (also contending for the same wild-card spot and just 1.5 games behind the Expos). This is the stretch that the Expos must do well on; due to the fact that the NL Wild-Card race is so ridiculously, improbably, wonderfully close (there are an amazing eight NL teams within 1.5 games of the wild card lead as of this morning) anyone hoping to win the wild card is going to have to go on an unholy tear, because there are six other teams to beat out. The winner will have to win often down the stretch.
Omar Minaya won't be able to secure much more help (dude, FREE TERRMEL SLEDGE already...) down the stretch, although his signing of Todd Zeile to nail down the team's perpetual third-base problems was brilliant. The Expos don't need more horses, though... they just need to keep them rested and positive through a brutal run. Their biggest problem this year has been a distinctly sub-par performance from their long “tail”... the inordinately large number of players who are performing below replacement level. Mike Barrett had dragged himself out of that category and was hitting well, but then went on the DL, forcing Edwards Guzman into the backup catcher’s role - at least there Guzman’s bat isn’t harmful. Other than the Dodgers, the Expos seem to have had the most at-bats of any NL team out of poor-performing hitters this year. Mateo, Chavez, Macias, Calloway, Tatis, Guzman, and Liefer (and Barrett for much of the year) have killed the team; many of these guys have been getting time at key positions simply because no one else is available, but gradually these players are being replaced by real hitters, though Joe Vitiello has disappeared to the end of the bench again. If Zeile can recapture some of his form and turn a five-man offense (Wil Cordero has hit well) into a six-man offense, that will help immensely.
The Expos are an astounding 36-17 at the Big O (and a not-too-shabby 10-6 in San Juan). The converse is that they are 25-41 on the road, and they have to win big there. If the staff remember to bottle some of that stale air, dim lighting, and accumulated grime to take on the road with them, they might have a date with destiny in October. They drew 83,000 fans for the four-game midweek series with Philadelphia; I don’t know what the last time the Expos drew 83,000 for a midweek series was, but I’m betting it was a few years. I’m confident that for the playoffs, the team would sell out. (“We love it,” said Vazquez.)
Notice how I got through a whole Expos piece without ripping MLB for their stewardship of the team? I never thought it would be possible.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030829091457999