Ladies and gentleman, now introducing the Montreal Expos.
Whoever they are.
There`s Archi Cianfrocco. And Greg Colbrunn. And Bob Natal. And Wilfredo Cordero. Need we go on?
These are real people who appear in the starting lineup of those rampaging Expos many an evening. But if one of them came to your door right now, would you know him from an insurance salesman?
Probably not. But they are bona fide members of a team that has escaped from deep in the National League East dungeon to turn itself into the talk of baseball.
On June 23, barely more than five weeks ago, the Expos lost to Philadelphia and tumbled behind the Phillies and into last place, 8 1/2 games out of first.
That wound up being the turning point for one of those teams. Unfortunately for the Phillies, that team was the Expos.
The next day, manager Felipe Alou sent out a funky lineup in which the legendary John Vander Wal batted cleanup and catcher Gary Carter played first base. But it also included one very significant twist.
Second baseman Delino DeShields-who had been hitting second behind Marquis Grissom almost all year-moved back into his old leadoff spot. He got four hits that day as the Expos blew out the Phils 8-1.
Since then, DeShields has done a better impression of Rickey Henderson than Henderson himself. Meanwhile, all DeShields` team has done is roll up the best record in baseball since then (23-12 heading into the weekend). And make up all 8 1/2 games of that deficit.
And raise the team batting average 10 points (to .253). And move into a first-place tie with the Pirates-before losing Friday-as the entire city of Montreal interrupted its perusal of the Canadiens` training-camp roster to go berserk. The Expos` average crowd last weekend against the Dodgers was 44,000- plus. And the noise and passion in Stade Olympique is unlike anything Montreal has witnessed since the `81 playoffs.
”We had some enthusiasm here in `89 after we made the trade for Mark Langston, but I haven`t seen anything like this in a long, long time,” said the Expos` 34-year-old general manager, Dan Duquette. ”And the reason is, we have more interesting and exciting everyday players than we had in `89.”
There`s right-fielder Larry Walker. Unbeknownst to most people, only one outfielder in the entire NL-Barry Bonds-has more homers and RBIs than Walker
(17 homers, 57 RBIs).
There`s Grissom, the electrifying center-fielder who is well on his way to his second straight NL stolen-base title.
There`s the manager`s son, Moises Alou, a .302-hitting Rookie-of-the-Year contender. There`s thrill-a-minute closer John Wetteland (2-0, 10 saves, 0.57 ERA in July).
And there`s DeShields, who has gone from being an erratic, unhappy player under old manager Tom Runnells to a major force under Alou. Since Alou returned him to the leadoff hole June 24, DeShields has hit .388, stolen 17 bases and gotten on base 66 times in 33 games.
”They`ve all got great physical ability,” Duquette said. ”And in the past, all of them at times have shown flashes of brilliance-in certain situations, for specific periods of time. But this year, they`re putting it all together for what we hope is the entire season.”
You also can`t overlook a highly underrated rotation that has held the NL to a .234 batting average-same as Atlanta`s staff.
Nor can you ignore the great production this team has gotten from young role players such as Cianfrocco, Vander Wal and Darren Reed. And any time a Spike Owen or Ivan Calderon has gone down, the Expos have reached into their farm system to pull out talents like Cordero and Colbrunn, both of whom have come up and hit over .300.
But that`s no accident. The Expos have long been a team that outscouted and outdeveloped virtually every other club in baseball. By necessity. They`ve traditionally had trouble signing free agents and holding on to stars. Now they have 16 players on the roster who came up through their system, and nearly every one is a player.
”I don`t know if we`ve put more emphasis on scouting and the farm system than other teams,” said Duquette, ”but it`s been money well spent. The basis of this team is our farm system.”
Duquette filled out the mix with two tremendous off-season deals-getting Wetteland from the Dodgers (via the Reds) for a package headed by Dave Martinez, and picking up dominant right-hander Ken Hill (12-4, 2.80 ERA) from the Cardinals for Andres Galarraga.
But the man who has made it all work is Felipe Alou.
After being passed over for the manager`s job three times in seven years, Alou finally got his chance when the Expos canned Runnels on May 22. Since then, the Expos have gone 37-28. And Alou has been exactly the sort of calm, patient leader this fuzzy-faced club needed.
”These guys have really responded to Felipe`s leadership,” Duquette said. ”He`s put guys in situations they can handle. He`s gotten contributions from just about everybody on the roster. And he`s been around. He`s played and managed for 30 years, counting winter ball. So he knows what it takes, and these players have responded to him.”
When you think about where this team was a year ago-in last place, its stadium crumbling, morale at an all-time low-it`s hard to believe it has come so far so fast.
But while the Expos may have the third-lowest payroll in baseball and they may lead the league in anonymity, they`re no one-month illusion. This is the NL East`s next powerhouse. So even if they don`t win this year, people will know they`re around for a long time to come.
Said Duquette: ”They`re just going out, doing the job and having fun.”
And if they keep this up, maybe one of these days somebody will even figure out who the heck they are.
