March 3, 2020

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

As we go to press and get the printing and publishing phase of my new Expos book Always Remembered near completion, there is some information you can dwell on.

The book's subtitle is: new revelations and old tales about those fabulous Expos.

It contains 51 chapters and about 30 sidebars and charts of memories from 1969-2004.

Accompanying the 88,000 words of text are 92 photos or illustrations so the book is lavishly full of art.
In the course of writing and researching the book, I conducted 94 interviews sandwiched around promotion of my last book Genius about Rick Mauran, the founder of Swiss Chalet and Harvey's restaurants.

The content of my new book is in the form of vignettes, some long, some short, a style that readers will see has been prominent in most of the books I have written since 1997.

This is my 10th book, sixth about the Expos franchise. Since 1988, I've written hundreds of articles and all of these books about the Expos. Why did I write this book? It's simple: to keep the Expos legacy alive. The book brings memories of the past to the present, allowing readers to enjoy these memories now.

The book bridges the gap for readers and fans until Major League Baseball returns to Montreal.

The book is available through pre-order at indigo.ca and people can also obtain an autographed copy by postal mail by placing orders at 365-881-2389. Always Remembered will be released slowly into Chapters/Indigo stores and some other stores.

Chapter 1 details how Jack Billingham almost became an Expo after being claimed in the 1968 expansion draft. His brother Richie volunteered to drive Jack's new yellow Chevy station wagon, carrying his belongings to Montreal.

When Richie reached upstate New York, he pulled over into a motel and heard on the radio that Jack had been traded to Houston to complete the Rusty Staub deal made several months earlier. Richie turned around and drove to Houston.

Chapter 51 deals with how Expos fans have dealt with the loss of their team to Washington and the reaction of fans about the Nationals winning the 2019 World Series.

And in between Chapters 1 and 51, there are many other memories that will make you smile, laugh or maybe even shed a tear or two.

There are special chapters on Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Steve Rogers, Vladimir Guerrero, Larry Walker, Brad Wilkerson and many others. There is also a chapter based on my interview with former commissioner Bud Selig.

If you are looking for nuggets and stories you have never heard before about the Expos, the book has a bunch of them. Read about the conspiracy that surrounded Walker, who was called out for tagging up too early in the 22-inning game against the Dodgers Aug. 22-23, 1989.

One of the joys affiliated with a project of this magnitude is writing postal letters, emails, even text messages, to let people know about the book. Once such letter to 1974-75 Expos first-base coach Walt Hriniak of the Boston area prompted a reply a few days ago from him along with a cheque for a book.

In the book, I talked about the long connection between Hriniak and Fanning going back to their time together in Eau Claire, Wis. in the early 1950s and how Fanning kept Hriniak in mind for employment in the Expos' organization down the road. Before and after his time in the majors with the Expos, Hriniak was a coach in the Montreal system in Quebec City and Lethbridge, Alberta, among other venues.

"Jim Fanning was a great man,'' Hriniak said in his letter. "Gene Mauch was a great manager. Calvin McLish was a great pitching coach and a great friend.

"Jim Fanning gave me my second chance in baseball after I was let go by the Braves in 1971. Thanks to him, I spent another 24 years in the game. God bless him.''

Hriniak is best known for his tenure in helping out hitters with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, gaining a reputation as a foremost hitting guru for the last two decades of the 20th century. But as he said, Fanning was instrumental in his career. When I read Hriniak's letter, my eyes got a little misty.

On Saturday, March 7, I am launching my book and signing copies at Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay St., Toronto from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The same day, I will be signing copies in the Sports section at my hometown Oshawa Centre Indigo during an informal session from 3-4.

I will be conducting a number of other book signings this year, including at Exposfest at the Embassy Plaza in Laval, Quebec on March 22 from 2-6 p.m.