Bruce Chen, Again

About a year ago, while researching for How the Red Sox Explain New England I commented to former Expo Bill “Spaceman” Lee that lefties could pitch until they are 50. To which he replied, “Yeah, if you are lefty you can pitch until you are 50 unless you are Bill Lee.” At age 36, Bruce Chen is hoping that adage is true. This past weekend, Chen appeared in his 368th game. It should be noted 15 came as a member of the 2002 Montreal Expos. The Panamanian started 91 games for the Kansas City Royals from 2009 to 2012, but has appeared only out of the bullpen this season. Over fifteen seasons, Chen has a 74-72 record…that 3-0 record out of the pen so far this season vaulted him back over the .500 mark. The former Expos has two blown saves and two holds on the season, as the once again hapless Royals do their best to keep Ned Yost employed. Along with the Expos and Royals, Chen has also played for the Braves, Phillies, Mets, Reds, Astros, Red Sox, Orioles, and Rangers. Watch out Octavio Dotel!

Batteries Running Low

 Former Expos battery mates Livan Hernandez and Brian Schneider hung around for one more season each. Schneider appeared in 98 games for the Philadelphia Phillies batting .225 with two home runs while serving as a back up for all-star Carlos Ruiz. Livan Hernandez started the season with the Atlanta Braves, but the former all-star and World Series MVP moved onto the Milwaukee Brewers and went 3-0. The three victories pushed his all-time mark to 178-177 over 17 seasons with nine teams.

Last Expo Standing!

Youpii, the Mona Lisa of Mascots!

Soon after the turn of the century it became clear that the Montreal Expos were on the endangered species list. With time winding down a trip to Olympic Stadium seemed necessary. Finding an opportunity to visit while my team, the Brewers, were in town was fortunate. It was 2001, Vlad was still with the Spos so it seemed like a good way to kill a few days by driving straight up from our suburbs of NYC to Montreal in less than seven hours. The stadium was ours! My memory seems to recollect that the entire section behind home where we sat was empty which made running to see Youpii in leftfield that much easier. I’ve always had an affinity for the Montreal club, maybe it was their underdog status, near misses (’81), star players (The Kid, The Rock, The Hawk, Ellis Valentine!), or 19 bleepin 94. By 2005, D.C. came calling and the Expos were no longer. The roster moved south with the color scheme and as times passes the Nats are slowly erasing any shred of Expos history. However, on this site we will count down to the Last Expo Standing in Major League Baseball history. Right now there are close to two dozen spread across the league, but as the seasons wane on only one will survive!