1981 Montreal Expos season

The 1981 Montreal Expos season was the 13th season in franchise history. They made it to the postseason for the first time in franchise history (the only time while the franchise was in Montreal, and the only time in franchise history until the Washington Nationals made the playoffs in 2012). However, their season would end in heartbreak at Olympic Stadium, just like in 1980. This time by the Dodgers in the NLCS, thanks to a ninth-inning solo home run in a winner-take-all Game 5 by Rick Monday to break up a tied ballgame in what has since been referred to as "Blue Monday" by Expos fans. This was the closes the Expos ever got to a World Series appearance while in Montreal.

1981 Montreal Expos
NL East Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Charles Bronfman
General manager(s)John McHale
Manager(s)Dick Williams, Jim Fanning
Local televisionCBC Television
(Dave Van Horne, Duke Snider)
Télévision de Radio-Canada
(Jean-Pierre Roy, Guy Ferron)
Local radioCFCF (English)
(Dave Van Horne, Duke Snider, Ron Reusch)
CKAC (French)
(Claude Raymond, Jacques Doucet)
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The season was separated into two halves due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike.

Offseason

Spring training

After holding spring training at City Island Ball Park in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1973 to 1980, the Expos returned to West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves – for spring training in 1981. It was their fifth season at the stadium; they also had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972. The Expos would train at Municipal Stadium through 1997.

Regular season
  • April 29, 1981: Steve Carlton struck out Tim Wallach for the 3000th strikeout of his career.[6]
  • May 10, 1981: Charlie Lea pitched a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants, defeating them 4–0 at Olympic Stadium. The last out was recorded by Andre Dawson in center field. Lea would go on to shut out the Giants again a week later on four hits in San Francisco for good measure.

First half
1981 Regular Season Game Log First Half (30–25) (Home: 21–7; Road: 9–18)

Games cancelled
1981 Games cancelled

Second half
1981 Regular Season Game Log Second Half (30–23) (Home: 17–11; Road: 13–12)
Legend
Expos win Expos loss All-Star Game Game postponed

Season standings
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 5943 0.578 — 32–21 27–22
Montreal Expos 6048 0.556 2 38–18 22–30
Philadelphia Phillies 5948 0.551 2½ 36–19 23–29
Pittsburgh Pirates 4656 0.451 13 22–28 24–28
New York Mets 4162 0.398 18½ 24–27 17–35
Chicago Cubs 3865 0.369 21½ 27–30 11–35


NL East
First Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
Philadelphia Phillies3421.618—
St. Louis Cardinals3020.600​1 1⁄2
Montreal Expos3025.5454
Pittsburgh Pirates2523.521​5 1⁄2
New York Mets1734.33315
Chicago Cubs1537.288​17 1⁄2
NL East
Second Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
Montreal Expos3023.566—
St. Louis Cardinals2923.558​1⁄2
Philadelphia Phillies2527.481​4 1⁄2
New York Mets2428.462​5 1⁄2
Chicago Cubs2328.4516
Pittsburgh Pirates2133.389​9 1⁄2

Record vs. opponents
1981 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta—3–2–16–54–87–73–73–34–52–39–65–74–3
Chicago2–3–1—1–51–66–44–75–8–12–104–103–35–55–4–1
Cincinnati5–65–1—8–48–85–47–35–24–210–29–50–5
Houston8–46–14–8—4–85–26–34–62–411–39–62–4
Los Angeles 7–74–68–88–4—5–25–13–35–16–57–55–5
Montreal7–37–44–52–52–5—9–37–410–34–22–56–9
New York3–38–5–13–73–61–53–9—7–73–6–12–52–46–5
Philadelphia5-410–22–56–43–34–77–7—7–54–24–37–6
Pittsburgh3–210–42–44–21–53–106–3–15–7—6–43–73–8
San Diego6–93–32–103–115–62–45–22–44–6—6–73–7
San Francisco7–55–55–96–95–75–24–23–47–37–6—2–3
St. Louis3–44–5–15–04–25–59–65–66–78–37–33–2—

Notable transactions

Major League debuts
  • Batters:
    • Terry Francona (Aug 19)
    • Mike Gates (May 6)
    • Dave Hostetler (Sep 15)
    • Tony Johnson (Sep 27)
    • Wallace Johnson (Sep 8)
    • Pat Rooney (Sep 9)
    • Chris Smith (May 14)
    • Tom Wieghaus (Oct 4)
  • Pitchers:
    • Rick Engle (Sep 2)
    • Tom Gorman (Sep 2)
    • Bryn Smith (Sep 8)[13]

Opening Day starters

Roster
1981 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CGary Carter10037494.2511668
1BWarren Cromartie99358109.304642
2BRodney Scott9533669.205026
3BLarry Parrish128440116.2641762
SSChris Speier9630769.225225
LFTim Raines8831395.304537
CFAndre Dawson103394119.3022464
RFTim Wallach7121250.236413

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jerry White5911926.218311
Terry Francona349526.27418
John Milner317618.23739
Ellis Valentine227616.211315
Willie Montañez266211.17705
Brad Mills17215.23801

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bill Gullickson22157.1792.80115
Steve Rogers22160.21283.4287
Scott Sanderson22137.1972.9577
Ray Burris22135.2973.0552

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Charlie Lea1664.1544.6231
Bill Lee3188.2562.9434

Relief pitchers
Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Woodie Fryman35435371.8825
Elias Sosa3239.11233.6618
Jeff Reardon2541.22061.3021
Stan Bahnsen25492114.9628
Steve Ratzer1217.11106.234
Tom Gorman9150004.2013
Grant Jackson1010.21007.594
Rick Engle1200018.002

Postseason

Game log
1981 Playoff Game Log
Legend
Expos win Expos loss Game postponed

National League Division Series
Main article: 1981 National League Division Series

Montreal Expos vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Montreal wins series, 3–2.

GameScoreDate
1Montreal 3, Philadelphia 1October 7
2Montreal 3, Philadelphia 1October 8
3Philadelphia 6, Montreal 2October 9
4Philadelphia 6, Montreal 5 (10 innings)October 10
5Montreal 3, Philadelphia 0October 11
  • October 11, 1981 – Steve Rogers defeats Steve Carlton of the Phillies 3–0 in a pitchers' duel to win the National League Division Series. Rogers drove in two of the three Expos runs to boot singling home Larry Parrish and Chris Speier in the fifth inning. The Expos advance to play the Dodgers who defeated the Astros. Rogers previously defeated Carlton in game one of the series as well.

National League Championship Series
Main article: 1981 National League Championship Series

Game 1

October 13, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team123456789RHE
Montreal000000001190
Los Angeles02000003X580
WP: Burt Hooton (1-0)   LP: Bill Gullickson (0-1)
Home runs:
MON: None
LAD: Pedro Guerrero (1), Mike Scioscia (1)
Attendance: 51,273
Notes: Pitchers: MON – Gullickson, Reardon (8)  LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)

Game 2

October 14, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team123456789RHE
Montreal0200010003101
Los Angeles000000000051
WP: Ray Burris (1-0)   LP: Fernando Valenzuela (0-1)
Home runs:
MON: None
LAD: None
Attendance: 53,463
Notes: Pitchers: MON – Burris  LAD – Valenzuela, Niedenfuer (7), Forster (7), Pena (7), Castillo (9)

Game 3

October 16, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles000100000170
Montreal00000400X471
WP: Steve Rogers (1-0)   LP: Jerry Reuss (0-1)
Home runs:
LAD: None
MON: Jerry White (1)
Attendance: 54,372
Notes: Pitchers: LAD – Reuss, Pena (8)  MON – Rogers

Game 4

October 17, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles0010000247121
Montreal000100000151
WP: Burt Hooton (2-0)   LP: Bill Gullickson (0-2)
Home runs:
LAD: Steve Garvey (1)
MON: None
Attendance: Attendance: 54,499
Notes: Pitchers: LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)  MON – Gullickson, Fryman (8), Sosa (9), Lee (9)

Game 5

October 19, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles000010001260
Montreal100000000131
WP: Fernando Valenzuela (1-1)   LP: Steve Rogers (1-1)   Sv: Bob Welch (1)
Home runs:
LAD: Rick Monday (1)
MON: None
Attendance: Attendance: 36,491
Notes: Pitchers: LAD – Valenzuela, Welch (9)  MON – Burris, Rogers (9)
  • October 19, 1981: Blue Monday. In the decisive Game 5 of their only National League Championship Series, the Expos were defeated at home, 2–1, by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tim Raines opened the bottom of the first with a double against Cy Young Award-winning rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela and scored on an Andre Dawson double play ball. Valenzuela held the Expos scoreless the rest of the way, however, and the Dodgers tied the game at 1 in the top of the fifth with two hits, a wild pitch and an RBI ground out off Expo starter Ray Burris. The teams remained tied until the top of the ninth, when Expo manager Jim Fanning made a risky decision to relieve Burris with Game 3 winner Steve Rogers. Struggling closer Jeff Reardon was throwing alongside Rogers in the bullpen at the time, but Fanning elected to summon his ace. Rogers retired Steve Garvey and Ron Cey in order, but outfielder Rick Monday homered to put Los Angeles ahead, 2–1, and crush the Expos' hopes of advancing to the World Series. Two-out walks from Gary Carter and Larry Parrish were all that the Expos could muster in the 9th, as Bob Welch preserved the one-run Dodger victory. The Expos lost the NLCS, 3–2, and never returned to the postseason again until 2012 as the Washington Nationals.

Awards and honors

52nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears American Association Felipe Alou
AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Larry Bearnarth
A West Palm Beach Expos Florida State League Bob Bailey
A-Short Season Jamestown Expos New York–Penn League Pat Daugherty
Rookie Calgary Expos Pioneer League J. R. Miner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Denver

References
  1. Jack O'Connor at Baseball-Reference
  2. Tony Bernazard at Baseball-Reference
  3. Willie Montañez at Baseball-Reference
  4. Ken Macha at Baseball-Reference
  5. Ray Burris at Baseball-Reference
  6. Steve Carlton | The Baseball Page
  7. John Tamargo at Baseball-Reference
  8. Jeff Reardon at Baseball-Reference
  9. Mike Fuentes at Baseball-Reference
  10. Mark McGwire at Baseball-Reference
  11. Marvin Freeman at Baseball-Reference
  12. Al Newman at Baseball-Reference
  13. "1981 Montreal Expos". The Baseball Cube.
  14. Stolen Bases Single Season National League Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Further reading
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
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