Editing Montreal Expos (section)

===The Big O and Blue Monday (1977–1981)===
For the {{mlby|1977}} season, the Expos moved into their new ballpark, [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]], six years later than originally scheduled.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=103}}</ref> For a time in the 1976–77 offseason, however, it appeared that the Expos would have to play at least the early part of the season at Jarry Park due to delays in securing a lease for Olympic Stadium. The team broke off negotiations not long after the PQ's landslide victory in the 1976 provincial election. Negotiations dragged out through the winter, leading the Expos to begin selling 1977 season tickets under the assumption they would have to play at Jarry. However, an agreement was finally reached in early 1977.<ref name=SABROlympicStadium>Costello, Rory. [http://sabr.org/bioproj/park/477659 Olympic Stadium (Montreal)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222133934/http://sabr.org/bioproj/park/477659 |date=December 22, 2015 }}. [[Society for American Baseball Research]], 2013.</ref> A total of 57,592 fans attended Montreal's [[opening day]] 7–2 loss to Philadelphia.<ref>{{Citation |last=Gilbert |first=Doug |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BpUuAAAAIBAJ&pg=2679%2C6822 |title=New park a winner for Expos |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1977-04-16 |access-date=2015-05-29 |page=1 |archive-date=November 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114054425/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BpUuAAAAIBAJ&pg=2679%2C6822 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The new facility was a significant upgrade, although weather-related issues created by Montreal's harsh climate persisted until the stadium's roof was installed in 1987. Over the years, the stadium became notorious for its poor playing conditions. Players were frequently at risk for injury due to thin padding on the outfield fences, as well as the original [[artificial turf]] that remained in place for over two decades. Ultimately, the park became viewed as a [[white elephant]].<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=107–109}}</ref> On the field, the Expos continued to fare poorly; the team won 75 games in 1977, and 76 in {{mlby|1978}}.<ref name="BRSeasonbySeason" />

Though the losing seasons mounted, the Expos built a solid core of players, led by [[Gary Carter]], who went on to become one of baseball's best hitting catchers,<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=76}}</ref> pitcher [[Steve Rogers (baseball)|Steve Rogers]] and outfielders [[Andre Dawson]] and [[Tim Raines]].<ref name="Humber123" /> They supplemented their young roster with veteran acquisitions such as future [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Famer]] [[Tony Pérez]],<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=115}}</ref> and in 1977, the Expos also hired [[Dick Williams]] as the team's manager. Williams had developed a reputation for nurturing young talent; he had managed a young [[Boston Red Sox]] team to the American League pennant in {{mlby|1967}} and the [[Oakland Athletics]] to back-to-back [[World Series]] titles in 1972 and 1973.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=109–111}}</ref> In {{mlby|1979}}, Montreal had its first winning season in franchise history; in mid-July, the Expos led the NL East by 6.5 games,<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=129}}</ref> before finishing second to the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] by two games with a 95–65 record.<ref name="BRSeasonbySeason" /> The fans responded: Montreal drew two million fans for the first time in franchise history and it was the first of five consecutive seasons that the team was in the top-four of National League attendance.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=130}}</ref> Though they won five fewer games in {{mlby|1980}} than the previous season, the Expos finished merely one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the division lead.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1980.shtml |title=1980 National League Team Statistics and Standings |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=2015-05-31 |archive-date=August 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814150607/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1980.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> In both seasons, the Expos were in the hunt for the division title into the last weekend of the season before losing to the ultimate World Series champion.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=150}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| footer    = Baseball hat and home jersey worn by the Montreal Expos players from 1969 to 1991.
| image1    = Montreal Expos baseball cap 1969-1991.jpg
| width1    = 250
| image2    = Montreal Expos baseball jersey 1969-1991.jpg
| width2    = 188
}}
In {{mlby|1981}}, [[Charlie Lea]] pitched the third no-hitter in franchise history. He defeated the [[San Francisco Giants]] by a 4–0 score on May 10, 1981.<ref name="LeaNoHitter">{{citation |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DYsxAAAAIBAJ&pg=1819%2C8508 |title=Giants blanked 4–0 |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1981-05-11 |access-date=2015-07-25 |page=A1}}</ref> The Expos were in third place in the NL East with a 30–25 record when the season was halted for two months by a [[1981 Major League Baseball strike|players' strike]]. By the time the strike ended, 713 games had been lost and could not possibly be made up. Major League Baseball chose to adopt a split-season schedule, which gave the Expos a fresh start in the second half of the season.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=157–158}}</ref> With the team languishing near the .500 mark in post-strike play, the club fired Williams and replaced him with scouting director [[Jim Fanning]]. The team continued to struggle, though, and had a 19–19 record with 15 games left to play.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=161–162}}</ref> Montreal won 11 of the remaining games and finished in first place, a {{frac|1|2}} game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, thereby qualifying for the franchise's first post-season berth.<ref name="Keri168">{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=168}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1981.shtml |title=1981 National League Team Statistics and Standings |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=2015-05-31 |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014175211/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1981.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Terry Francona]] caught the final out – a fly ball hit by [[Dave Kingman]] – to seal a 5–4 victory over the New York Mets in the clinching game.<ref name="Keri168" />

In the [[1981 National League Division Series]], the Expos faced the first-half winners, the defending world champion Phillies. Montreal won the first two games, at Olympic Stadium, by identical 3–1 scores before dropping the following two games in Philadelphia. In the deciding fifth game, Montreal's Steve Rogers faced [[Steve Carlton]] in a pitchers' duel. Rogers pitched a complete-game shutout as Montreal advanced to the [[1981 National League Championship Series]] with a 3–0 win.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=169–170}}</ref> Facing the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]], Montreal split the first two games of the best-of-five series in Los Angeles before returning home for the final three games. Montreal won game three, but failed in their first attempt to close out the series by losing game four and set up a deciding fifth game.<ref name="Keri173">{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=173}}</ref> The deciding game, postponed by a day due to rain, was played October 19, 1981, in near-freezing temperatures.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=175}}</ref> The game was tied at 1 entering the ninth inning when Fanning opted to have his top starter, Steve Rogers, come out of the [[bullpen]] to pitch. Rogers retired the first two batters before facing [[Rick Monday]].<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=178}}</ref> What followed was the defining moment in Expos history: on a 3–1 count, Rogers hung a [[Sinker (baseball)|sinking fastball]] that Monday hit over the centrefield fence for the game-winning and series-clinching home run.<ref name="FailedDynasty">{{citation |last=Keri |first=Jonah |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=dynasties/expos/080226 |title=1980 Expos: The team of the '80s |publisher=ESPN |date=2008-04-04 |access-date=2015-06-03 |archive-date=June 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603162954/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=dynasties/expos/080226 |url-status=live }}</ref> The moment, and game, became known to Expos fans as "Blue Monday".<ref>{{citation |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |title=Blue Monday: Dodger broke Expos fans' hearts with homer Series |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1999-11-28 |page=B6}}</ref> The dramatic loss was a bitter defeat for a franchise who by that time had been adopted as Canada's most popular baseball team.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Gallagher |first1=Danny |last2=Young |first2=Bill |title=The Curse of Blue Monday Series: Remembering the Montreal Expos |work=National Post |date=2006-04-04 |page=A18}}</ref>