Sep 9, 2021

It has been 27 years since the new Hall of Famer played his last game for Nos Amours. Author of the article: Article content It has been 17 years since the Expos played their last game, losing 8-1 to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium on Oct. 3, 2004. Advertisement Article content Four days before that, the Expos played their last game in Montreal, losing 9-1 to the Florida Marlins in front of 31,395 fans at Olympic Stadium. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or Cowan: Larry Walker's big day brings back bittersweet Expos memories Back to video It has been 27 years since Larry Walker played his last game for the Expos, who had the best record in baseball in 1994 (74-40) and held a six-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East when a players’ strike wiped out the rest of the season. Walker had a .322 batting average that year with 19 homers and 86 RBIs, but left as a free agent during the off-season, signing a four-year, US$22.5-million contract with the Colorado Rockies. Advertisement Article content In 2005, the Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals after spending 36 years in Montreal and only advancing to the playoffs once, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers on “Blue Monday ” in the 1981 National League Championship Series following a strike-shortened season. On Wednesday, Walker was officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., while wearing a Rockies cap on his plaque. Watching live coverage of the ceremony on the MLB website brought back both good and bad memories of Nos Amours. Advertisement Article content Walker, from Maple Ridge, B.C., becomes only the second Canadian inducted into the Hall of Fame, following pitcher Ferguson Jenkins of Chatham, Ont., who entered in 1991 as a Chicago Cub. There are only three players in the Hall of Fame wearing Expos caps — Tim Raines, Andre Dawson and Gary Carter — and Walker was a final chance to make it four. It makes total sense for Walker to wear a Rockies cap since he spent only five full seasons in Montreal and 10 in Colorado, where he won the 1997 National League MVP award along with three batting titles, but it’s just another bittersweet memory for Montreal baseball fans. “I’ll always be grateful that the Montreal Expos took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity to play baseball professionally,” Walker said during his induction speech Wednesday afternoon. “To all the Expos fans and people of Montreal, it was a great honour to put on the Expo uniform and represent my home country. Advertisement Article content “I enjoyed many years in Montreal, none of them as good as that 1994 team,” he added. “We all lost out that year from the work stoppage and nobody knows what would have happened that year. But I still imagine what it would have been like to bring a World Series to Quebec. To the fans hoping for their team to return to Montreal, I join you in hoping before long that Major League Baseball returns to your beautiful city.” Walker said his favourite memory of his time with the Expos was his first major-league game on Aug. 16, 1989, when he went 1-for-1 with three walks in a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at the Big O. “I might have had other better games and things like that,” Walker said in a Zoom conference after his induction speech. “But that No. 1 game, No. 1 at-bat, the whole feeling of stepping into a major-league batter’s box and to play in a major-league game against major-league players … it’s never forgotten.” Advertisement Article content Walker thanked former Expos teammates Tom Foley, Spike Owen, Mike Fitzgerald, Dave Martinez and especially Tim Wallach for helping him during his early days with the team. Walker grew up dreaming of becoming a goalie in the NHL, but after getting cut twice by the junior Regina Pats the Expos signed him to a $1,500 contract after watching him play at the 1984 World Youth Baseball Championships in Kindersley, Sask. The late Jim Fanning, who was then the Expos’ director of scouting, was impressed by Walker’s swing even though he didn’t have a lot of experience playing baseball. “Montreal was where it all started and I had many great times up there,” Walker said during his Zoom conference. “Like any team that doesn’t win you wish it could have been that way to where we could have won. You wish that ’94 season didn’t end and, who knows, baseball might still exist in Montreal to this day. I’ve said that time and time again. “It was my big-league team, it was the team I signed with, the team that gave me that $1,500 bonus so I was loyal to them until the deal was over,” Walker added. “But, unfortunately, it’s a business and we all understand that. I had to move on from there eventually, but it was a great time up there.” It’s too bad Walker’s time in Montreal couldn’t have lasted longer — just like the Expos. Memories. Share this Story: Cowan: Larry Walker's big day brings back bittersweet Expos memories