May 5, 2024

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Two books about the Montreal Expos in one year?

Who would anyone complain, especially since these tomes help keep the dormant franchise's legacy alive.

Terry Mosher and I have done just that, with books celebrating the Expos in this a special year.

This is the 20th anniversary of the franchise's relocation to Washington, the 30th anniversary of the team that was screwed by a strike and cancellation of the season and it's the 55th anniversary of the first season for the Expos.

Mosher's spectacular 8x8 publication of 336 glossy pages with plenty of colour inside is called Aislin's Montreal Expos: A Cartoonist's Love Affair.

My 6x9 book of 264 pages is titled Explosion, my 10th iteration about the Expos.

What we did was out of the ordinary. We were not competing with each other per se because we helped each other out in the compilation of our works.

I gave information and phone numbers and comments to Mosher for his book and he mentioned me a few times in his book. In return, he permitted me to use a number of his cartoons in my book and I gave him a full-page plug for his book in mine.

It was a real pleasure dealing with an institution such as him. I was always eager to assist him because he was helping to keep the Expos memories intact.

He ran a cartoon in the book of Steve Rogers looking up in the air and lamenting a home run by Rick Monday on Oct. 19, 1981. The caption coming out of Rogers' mouth was 'Oh shit.' Although the gracious Rogers didn't sign the cartoon in time for the book, he did later on for Mosher.

The 80-ish cartoonist is a master of words in the book, not just with cartoons and photos. His book is a chronological history of the Expos from 1969 to 2004, much like most of my books. He spins many tales, some of which were supplied by whom he calls "virtuoso sports reporters.''

Mosher brings up serious moments that occurred in the course of the franchise's 36 seasons but throws in a lot of humour. He regales the story of 6-foot-5 pitcher Wayne Twitchell carrying an inebriated French reporter off a plane in the 1970s.

Mosher talks freely about his own problems with alcohol and that he quit many years ago. He wasn't averse to talking about the drug/booze problems of many Expos players such as Ellis Valentine, Tim Raines and Dennis Martinez.

His cartoons of Andre Dawson flying like a hawk, Jerry White with a sparkplug and Valentine with a cannon are treasures in the annals of Expos' history.

Dick Williams is walking around the field with a cigarette dangling from his mouth or in his right hand.

Slick fielding Tim Wallach is diving for a ball with a dog-track betting sheet in his back pocket.

Bill Lee, a very close friend of Mosher’s, is featured in various versions from the master’s sketch pad. 

Mosher has produced close to 55 books and this is his first about the Expos.

Bill Brownstein, a long-time writer for the Montreal Gazette, graciously mentioned me in a recent story about Mosher and Expos Fest. He said Explosion was my "latest opus.''

I had a rough idea of what Brownstein meant but I Googled 'opus' to achieve a better understanding. What he was getting at was that I had produced the latest in a series of books about the Expos, this one being the fifth year in a row I had written an Expos book.

So, if you are looking for Expos nostalgia, check out our books. You’ll have a few laughs and maybe shed a few tears.