To put it briefly, the Expos, a team formed in 1969 for the National League, was having a great season in 1994. They 5 All Stars on the roster: Mosies Alou, Ken Hill, Wil Cordero, Marquis Grissom and Darrin Fletcher. Montreal also had a dangerous Larry Walker, contributing in all facets of the game. Post All-Star break, the Expos were beginning to increase their lead in the division over the Greg Maddux-led Atlanta Braves when the strike struck.
There was to be no World Series for the 1994 expos. Nor were there to be revenue sharing, which was proposed during the strike. After future Supreme Court Justice's Sonia Sotomayor's ruling, the Expos were bleeding money. Leader of the owners Claude Brochu ordered manager Kevin Malone to implement a fire sale including Hill, John Wetteland, Alou and Walker. Brochu claims that considering the other owners were not willing to give money, all of the players had to go, which they did. Malone did not offer any salary arbitration to the players, meaning they left and the Expos got little in the way of compensation.
The Expos lost swaths of their fan base due to trading away stars. The penny pinching continued by trading away Pedro Martinez after his 1997 Cy Young season. The Expos kept losing fans, and ownership demanded another stadium due to Olympic Stadium being less than satisfactory. Brochu issued an ultimatum: new stadium or no team. Fans stayed away even more, which made sense as their one good (admittedly great) player was Vlad Guerrero.
In 1999, Brochu's ability to lead was questioned and leadership was eventually turned over to Jeffrey Loria, a completely qualified and totally not hated owner. Eventually the MLB bought the team, Loria got Marlins and the Expos moved to Washington.
May your pennants fly forever.
-Prentiss
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