1994 Montreal Expos

 There is a question with 2 different answers. That question is: When were the Montreal Expos the closest ever to a World Series? Well, there are technically 3 answers if you count when the franchise became the Washington Nationals, in which case the answer is 2019...but we're talking about just the Expos.

The first answer is officially the right answer: 1981. They took the Los Angeles Dodgers to the decisive winner-take-all Game 5 of the NLCS, but fell short and never again made the postseason. The other answer is 1994.

The injustices of the 1994 season have been covered in total before. When the season was cancelled, the Expos were 74-40 and in first place in the NL East with baseballs best record, helping Felipe Alou get voted as Manager of the Year. They were 6 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, and while nothing is assured in baseball (especially when it came to fighting off the Braves for a division title in the 90s) the popular opinion is that there was something special about the 1994 Expos that said they would finish the season on top, or at least holding the Wild Card.

The World Series that season was cancelled, as well as all of the playoffs. The Expos were hosed out as they were expected to go all the way. The fantasy World Series people make up in their heads were the Expos vs the New York Yankees, who were also a suffering team (at the time...Lord knows the Yankees haven't suffered since the strike). But while the Yankees came back in 1995 and began a major resurgence, the Expos...well...

The team ownership was cheap. They had one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, which helped endear them to fans in '94. But when the strike ended and teams needed to figure themselves out for '95, the penny pinching owners realized they had a lot of stars who wanted to get paid. A fire sale ensued, and by 1996 the team was a joke again. They could barely sniff a playoff run for the next several years and before long they were packing up to move to Washington.

Alou was the star of baseballs best team. His team high 22 Home Runs and .339 Average helped get him an all star nod and a 3rd place finish for MVP. He also brought home his first Silver Slugger.

Larry Walker built a Hall of Fame career mostly on his Rockies tenure, but it all began in Canada. In '94 he led the league with 44 Doubles. He also led the Expos with 86 RBI.

The regulars as a whole didn't have the greatest charts collectively, but all those high on-bases sure helped them get the advantage enough. Cordero, Fletcher and Grissom all joined Alou at the all star game. Grissom also won a Gold Glove and his 36 Stolen Bases were just a few short of the league lead. Wil Cordero also joined Alou as a Silver Slugger winner.

Some neat future Showdown originals coming off the bench in '94. Tim Spehr sure looks weird when he doesn't have a crazy looking homer chart.

Ken Hill had a career year in 1994. He was an all star, tied for the NL lead with 16 Wins and came in 2nd place for the Cy Young award. No question why he was among the first to leave during the fire sale.

Pedro led the team with 142 Strikeouts. When the fire sale came, he had a team friendly price tag that allowed him to become the ace of the team for a few years before getting traded to somewhere he was a bit more famous at...

Fassero had the best Expos ERA at 2.99.

Wetteland slammed the door on 25 Saves in '94. The future World Series MVP found himself traded in '95 when it was decided that service time for '94 would be honored, making him too expensive for Montreal ownership to keep.

Rojas would be the full time Closer in 1995 with the departure of Wetteland, but his 16 Saves in '94 qualify him for a Closer distinction.

Bullpen arms. More Showdown originals showing hints of their future. Heredia showed signs of the future Starter he'd be...while White showed signs to why he was better off as a Reliever.