A Game of Superstition

More than any other sport Baseball has its share of superstitions. We’ve all heard about The Curse of the Bambino and the Curse of the Billy Goat and over the years you’ve heard of countless players and their pregame rituals. There are also certain things to hold sacred as well. Being in the Hall of Fame is the greatest honor you can receive in the game. Having your number retired by your team is sacred too.

From 1969-2004 the city of Montreal had major league baseball. They enjoyed a legion of fans through the 70s and the 80s and even the early 90s and finally in 1994 they were in first place and had the best team they ever assembled. They were destined to go to the World Series. The strike came in August and cancelled the rest of the season. The fans never forgave them.

In 2004 there was speculation that the Expos would be moving to Washington. Having never seen the ballpark in Montreal I traveled to the park to see it before it was too late. This was the Expos last home stand. Apparently 2 guys wearing Red Sox caps and telling the border patrol we were there to see an Expos game seemed suspicious. “Aren’t the Red Sox playing the Yankees this weekend?” one would say. Attendance was so bad at the stadium, they piped in crowd noise over the loudspeaker.

It was announced at seasons end that the Expos would indeed move to Washington and become the Nationals. A new beginning and major league baseball is back in the nation’s capital. There is still something sacred about the retired numbers of Gary Carter (8) Andre Dawson (10) and Tim Raines (30). The Nationals put these numbers back into circulation and that is why The Nationals have to make the gesture of re-retiring these numbers.

Don’t get me wrong they don’t have to display them they should just have never put them back into circulation. It’s fantastic to start new with a new identity but the Montreal Expos are still part of the teams past and in Baseball more than any other sport you respect the past. Until this is done, the Nationals will never contend. Is it a coincidence Strasburg got hurt around the same time as Andre Dawson’s Hall of Fame induction?