The 1991 Montreal Expos season was the 23rd season in franchise history. After several winning seasons, the Expos faltered in 1991, winning only 20 of its first 49 games. Manager Buck Rodgers was replaced as manager by Tom Runnells. The team ultimately finished 71–90. The highlight of the season was Dennis Martinez pitching a perfect game at Dodger Stadium on July 28, 1991.

Offseason November 15, 1990: Scott Service was signed as a free agent by the Expos. December 3, 1990: Rolando Roomes was released by the Expos. December 23, 1990: Tim Raines, Jeff Carter, and a player to be named later were traded by the Expos to the Chicago White Sox for Iván Calderón and Barry Jones. The Expos completed the deal by sending Mario Brito to the White Sox on February 15, 1991. February 15, 1991: Ron Hassey signed as a free agent by the Expos. February 27, 1991: Rick Mahler signed as a free agent by the Expos. March 30, 1991: Mike Aldrete was released by the Expos.

Spring training The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves. It was their 15th season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981.

Regular season

On May 23, 1991, the Expos were no-hit by the Phillies' Tommy Greene. Greene was starting for only the second time in the season and 15th time in his major league career, and was pitching in place of Danny Cox who had suffered a pulled groin in his last start. Greene became the first visiting pitcher to hurl a no-hitter in Montreal's history as the Phillies defeated the Expos, 2–0 before an Olympic Stadium crowd of 8,833.

July 26, 1991: Mark Gardner pitched 9 innings of no-hit baseball against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. It was tied at 0–0 in the tenth; however, versatile utility man Lenny Harris singled for the Dodgers breaking it up. July 28, 1991: In a 2–0 victory, Dennis Martínez pitched a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The final out was recorded by Marquis Grissom in center field off a lazy fly ball off the bat of Chris Gwynn. Dennis shut out the Dodgers in his previous meeting with them on April 30, 1991, the perfect game marked the 25th straight inning the Dodgers failed to score a run off him. September 8, 1991: The Expos had to play their last 13 home games on the road, due to a concrete beam from Olympic Stadium's roof collapsing on September 13.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day starters Oil Can Boyd Iván Calderón Delino DeShields Andrés Galarraga Dave Martinez Spike Owen Gilberto Reyes Larry Walker Tim Wallach

Notable transactions April 1, 1991: Otis Nixon and Boi Rodriguez (minors) were traded by the Expos to the Atlanta Braves for Jimmy Kremers and a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Keith Morrison to the Expos on June 3. June 3: 1991 Major League Baseball draft Cliff Floyd was drafted by the Expos in the 1st round (14th pick). He signed on June 15. Kirk Rueter was drafted by the Expos in the 18th round. He signed on June 21.Kirk Rueter page at Baseball Reference June 4: Kenny Williams was selected off waivers by the Expos from the Toronto Blue Jays. June 10: Rick Mahler was released by the Expos. July 15: Tim Burke was traded by the Expos to the New York Mets for Ron Darling and Mike Thomas. July 19: Scott Service was purchased from the Expos by the Chunichi Dragons. July 21: Oil Can Boyd was traded by the Expos to the Texas Rangers for Jonathan Hurst, Joey Eischen, and a player to be named later. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Travis Buckley to the Expos on September 1. July 31, 1991: Ron Darling was traded by the Expos to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Grott and Russell Cormier (minors).

The Perfect Game

On July 28, 1991, Dennis Martínez became the first Latin-born pitcher to throw a perfect game, the 13th in major league history, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scorecard July 28, Dodger Stadium, Chávez Ravine, California Team123456789RHE Montreal000000200240Los Angeles000000000002W: Dennis Martínez  L: Mike MorganHRs: None, Attendance: 45,560Length of game: 2:14. Umpires: HP: Larry Poncino, 1B: Bruce Froemming, 2B: Dana DeMuth, 3B: Greg Bonin Source

Roster 1991 Montreal Expos Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager (Fired on June 2, 1991) (Promoted on June 2, 1991) Coaches (Pitching) (First Base) (Bench) (Bullpen) (Third Base) (Hired on June 2, 1991) (Hitting) (Fired on June 2, 1991) (Third Base) (Promoted to Manager on June 2, 1991) (Hitting) (Hired on June 2, 1991)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C 83 207 45 .217 0 13 1B 107 375 82 .219 9 33 2B 151 563 134 .238 10 51 3B 151 577 130 .225 13 73 SS 139 424 108 .255 3 26 LF 134 470 141 .300 19 75 CF 148 558 149 .267 6 39 RF 137 487 141 .290 16 64

Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Dave Martinez 124 396 117 .295 7 42 Mike Fitzgerald 71 198 40 .202 4 28 86 168 35 .208 0 15 Bret Barberie 57 136 48 .353 2 18 Ron Hassey 52 119 27 .227 1 14 Nelson Santovenia 41 96 24 .250 2 14 Junior Noboa 67 95 23 .242 1 2 Eric Bullock 73 72 16 .222 1 6 Kenny Williams 34 70 19 .271 0 1 John Vander Wal 21 61 13 .213 1 8 Nikco Riesgo 4 7 1 .143 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Dennis Martínez 31 222.0 14 11 2.39 123 Mark Gardner 27 168.1 9 11 3.85 107 Brian Barnes 28 160.0 5 8 4.22 117 Chris Nabholz 24 153.2 8 7 3.63 99 Oil Can Boyd 19 120.1 6 8 3.52 82 Chris Haney 16 84.2 3 7 4.04 51 Ron Darling 3 17.0 0 2 7.41 11

Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G IP W L ERA SO Bill Sampen 43 92.1 9 5 4.00 52 Rick Mahler 10 37.1 1 3 3.62 17

Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Barry Jones 77 4 9 13 3.35 46 Scott Ruskin 64 4 4 6 4.24 46 Jeff Fassero 51 2 5 8 2.44 42 Mel Rojas 37 3 3 6 3.75 37 Tim Burke 37 3 4 5 4.11 25 Steve Frey 31 0 1 1 4.99 21 21 0 0 0 2.60 29 Dave Schmidt 4 0 1 0 10.38 3 Bill Long 3 0 0 0 10.80 0 Dave Wainhouse 2 0 1 0 6.75 1

Award winners Marquis Grissom, National League Stolen Base Leader, 76 Dennis Martínez, National League ERA Champion, 2.39 Dennis Martínez, Pitcher of the Month, July

All-Stars 1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Iván Calderón, outfield, starter Dennis Martínez, reserve

Farm system

League Champions: West Palm Beach, Jamestown, GCL ExposJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1991 Montreal Expos team page at Baseball Reference 1991 Montreal Expos team page at Baseball Almanac