SABR's Expos book charms the heart

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

There is nothing like nuggets in a book to charm one’s heart.

That’s what you get in Au Jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos published by the U.S.-based Society for American Baseball Research and edited by Norm King of Ottawa.

Check out the early stages of the book when the hero of Jonesville, Mack Jones, got back to his hotel room to find his phone ringing off the hook.

“When I got back to the hotel, I had something like 150 phone calls from 12 until 6 the next morning,’’ Jones told reporters. “And it was all females. I think I got the record for that.''

There is fascinating information all through the book which features a Foreword by fabled Expos’ play-by-play man Dave Van Horne. This is a book that deals only with wins. There are no losses as King wanted to dwell on the positives, not losing games like Blue Monday Oct. 19, 1981, the most heartbreaking setback in the history of the Expos’ franchise.

Something I didn’t know is that Bill Stoneman of the Expos is the only pitcher in major-league history to fire no-hitters in his first and last career complete games. A remarkable piece of trivia. The first no-no took place April 17, 1969, the second Oct. 2, 1972.

Then there was the chapter on Charlie Lea, who spun a no-hit gem May 10, 1981. He was the first French-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the big leagues. It’s sad that Lea died way too young at 54 on Nov. 12, 2011, apparently of a massive heart attack.

We revisit that wonderful game played on Canada Day in 1997 at the SkyDome, a battle between largely unknown Jeff Juden and the iconic Roger Clemens. On this day, Juden was the winner, striking out 14 as the Expos won 2-1.

What made it such a nice-feel story was that Juden’s father Fred was in the crowd of 50,436. Although Jeff was born in Salem, Mass., Fred was born in historic Kingston, Ont.

When Juden was replaced later in the game, he received what some people called the loudest ovation for a visiting player at the SkyDome.

Something I didn’t know until I read it in the book written by close to 20 contributors was the fact Jim Fanning missed five consecutive games as Expos manager in September, 1982 because of migraines. He returned to the dugout Sept. 22, the night Chris Speier collected eight RBI in a win over the Phillies.

“Jim had been having migraines since the age of 6,’’ his wife Maria told me recently.“His Mom was also a migraine sufferer. Stress didn't help, but his migraines were an inherited condition.’’

On May 12, 1996, former Expos catcher Jerry Goff appeared in his last major-league game, this time with the Astros in a 7-6 Montreal win. Not only did Goff go 2-for-4 but he committed a National League record six passed balls that accounted for five unearned Montreal runs.

Gary Carter’s last game in the majors was Sept. 27, 1992 when he doubled in his last at-bat over the head of former teammate and Cubs right fielder Andre Dawson. Tim Laker pinch-ran for Carter at second and it seemed to be a symbolic moment: Laker was being groomed as an Expos catching prospect but he never panned out.

Expos starter Kent Bottenfield was Carter’s battery mate for most of the game and wouldn’t you know it, he replaced the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Cooperstown member as baseball coach at Florida’s Palm Beach Atlantic University after the Kid died of brain cancer.

We could go on and on. We have to leave something to the imagination.

Au Jeu/Play Ball can be obtained from sabr.org, either in print form or e-book fashion.