2004 Montreal Expos season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Montreal Expos
season = 2004
misc = Final Season in Montreal


current league = National League
y1 = 1969
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform logo =
ballpark = Olympic Stadium
y4 = 1977
city = Montreal
y5 = 1969
owners = Major League Baseball
managers = Frank Robinson
television =Réseau des sports
(Rodger Brulotte, Denis Casavant)
SCORE TV
(Sam Cosentino)
radio = CKGM (AM)
(Mitch Melnick, Elliott Price)
CKAC (AM)
(Jacques Doucet, Marc Griffin)|

In 2004, the Montreal Expos played their 36th and final season in Montreal. The team finished in fifth and last place in the National League East at 67-95, 29 games behind the Atlanta Braves. After the season, the team relocated to Washington, DC, and became the Washington Nationals, as Major League Baseball returned to Washington, after a 33-year absence.

Offseason

*December 16, 2003: Nick Johnson was traded by the New York Yankees with Randy Choate and Juan Rivera to the Montreal Expos for Javier Vazquez. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/johnsni01.shtml]
*January 13, 2004: Gregg Zaun was signed as a Free Agent with the Montreal Expos. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zaungr01.shtml Gregg Zaun Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*March 8, 2004: Gregg Zaun was released by the Montreal Expos.

Regular season

*September 29, by|2004 - Hours after the announcement of the impending move to Washington DC, the Expos played their final game in Montreal, a 9–1 loss to the Florida Marlins before 31,395 fans at Olympic Stadium. On that Day the MLB officially recognized the 1994 Expos as "The Best Team in Baseball" with a banner for the center field wall, (ironically that banner only lasted one game as it was the Last Expos game in Montreal). The game was almost forfeited in the 8th inning when Expos fans threw golf balls onto the field in hopes of making the game longer.

*October 2, by|2004 - The Expos earned their last win in franchise history, defeating the New York Mets 6–3. Brad Wilkerson hit the last home run in Expos history in the ninth inning, his 32nd of the year.

*October 3, by|2004 - The New York Mets defeated Montreal 8–1 at Shea Stadium, in the final game of the franchise's existence as the Montreal Expos. Jamey Carroll scored the last Expos run and Endy Chávez became the final Expo batter in history when he grounded out in the top of the ninth to end the game. Coincidentally, Shea Stadium was where the Expos had played their first-ever game, in by|1969.

Opening Day Starters

* Tony Batista
* Peter Bergeron
* Orlando Cabrera
* Zach Day
* Carl Everett
* Brian Schneider
* Terrmel Sledge
* Jose Vidro
* Brad Wilkerson

eason standings

Transactions

*July 31, 2004: Orlando Cabrera was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez, and Francis Beltran to the Montreal Expos. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cabreor01.shtml]
*September 16, 2004: Alex Gonzalez was sent to the San Diego Padres by the Montreal Expos as part of a conditional deal. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gonzaal01.shtml]

The Final Game in Montreal

corecard

September 29, Olympic Stadium, Montréal, Québec

Pitching

Other batters

Relief pitchers

Award Winners

* Liván Hernández, National League Leader, Complete Games, 9
* Liván Hernández, National League Leader, Innings Pitched, 255.0
* Liván Hernández, National League Leader, 3,927 pitches thrown
* Liván Hernández, Silver Slugger Award

2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Liván Hernández, Pitcher, Reserve

Relocation to Washington

After several years in a holding pattern, MLB began actively looking for a relocation site for the Expos. Some of the choices included Orlando, Florida; Dayton, Ohio; Oklahoma City; Washington D.C.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Northern Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia; and Charlotte, North Carolina. In the decision-making process, Commissioner Bud Selig added Las Vegas, Nevada to the list of potential Expos homes.

On September 29, by|2004, MLB officially announced that the Expos would move to Washington, D.C. in by|2005. The move was approved by the owners of the other teams in a 28–1 vote on December 3 (Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos cast the sole dissenting vote). In addition, on November 15, by|2004, a lawsuit by the former team owners against MLB and former majority owner Jeffrey Loria was struck down by arbitrators, ending legal moves to keep the Expos in Montreal.

Retired numbers ceremony

As a tribute to the departed Expos, on October 18, 2005, the Montreal Canadiens honoured the departed team by raising an Expos commemorative banner, which lists the retired numbers, to the rafters of the Bell Centre. Gary Carter amd Andre Dawson were at the ceremony with Youppi, who was now the Canadiens mascot. The Banner featured all of the Expos retired numbers:

* 8 Gary Carter, C, 1974-84 & 1992
* 10 Andre Dawson, OF, 1977-86 and Rusty Staub, OF, 1969-71 & 1979
* 30 Tim Raines, OF, 1979-90 & 2001
* 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball; played with the Montreal Royals in 1946)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MON/2004.shtml 2004 Montreal Expos team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2004&t=MON 2004 Montreal Expos team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]

External links

Montreal
* [http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/mtlexpos/expos.html Expos at Sports Encyclopedia]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-41-1799-12218-11/on_this_day/sports/twt Expos at CBC Archives]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Huard_Dolores1.stm Ken Hill at last Expos game]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Huard_Dolores1.stm Montreal Expos myths]

Washington
* [http://natsreport.blogspot.com The Nationals Report]
* [http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=was Official site of the Washington Nationals]
* [http://www.forums.mlb.com/ml-washington Official Washington Nationals Fan Forum]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/roster?team=was Washington Nationals Roster]
* [http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/team?statsId=20 FOX Sports - Washington Nationals Team Front]
* [http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?ID=105200&hubName=mlb Expos New Name: Nationals (TSN)]