Author Topic: Fed Baseball > Reflections from an Expos fan on Expos in WAS Ring of Honor  (Read 2954 times)

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Offline _sturt_

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http://www.federalbaseball.com/2015/5/15/8609981/montreal-expos-in-nationals-parks-ring-of-honor-carter-dawson-and-robinson



Quote
..."I'm just overwhelmed," Carter said of the unexpected honor.

"To now be recognized with Andre Dawson and all the great Washington Senators' players, I'm speechless basically, and that's tough for me to do, you know."

"There will always be a remembrance here at Nationals Park, and I'm very honored and very proud."

"For me, any time someone extends that effort and pays homage to my career, it's very gratifying...I never played here [in D.C.], but I understand the history and connection." -Andre Dawson upon being added to Nats Park's Ring of Honor

It was clear that it meant something to Carter, who passed away two years later after a battle with brain cancer.

"I just don't have enough words to express my feelings," he said that night, "because I'm just overwhelmed. I really had no idea that this was transpiring. I thought they were just going to honor Andre and I was going to catch the first pitch, that's all I knew, so, now that the name will be up there on that ring it's something that I'm really proud of."

"The Kid" was touched by the Nationals gesture, by their willingness to acknowledge that the franchise those like me grew up watching might be gone, but there was still a connection worth recognizing.

"For me," Dawson told reporters, "any time someone extends that effort and pays homage to my career, it's very gratifying...I never played here [in D.C.], but I understand the history and connection, and I'm most grateful."

"I went in [the Hall of Fame] as an Expo...and I understand what tonight is about and just want to say that I'm very grateful."

Five years later, during the last homestand, the Nationals added another name with ties to the franchise's Montreal past to the Ring of Honor.

Frank Robinson, who had a more direct connection to Washington, having managed the Nationals in 2005-2006 after managing the Expos from 2002-2004, had his name placed on the facade below the second deck as well, a permanent reminder of his role in the Nats' history.

Robinson too was touched by the gesture, as he explained to reporters.

"It's important to me because it makes me feel ...wanted a little bit," Robinson said. "Appreciated."

"I'll always have a special place in my heart [for this team]," the Hall of Famer continued.

Offline Minty Fresh

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I can summarize how this thread will go:

Side #1 - Good!  The Expos are a part of this team's history and they SHOULD be honored!

Side #2 - Pound salt!  We have our own franchise now!  Go back to Canada!

Reasonable middle:  You know what?  Gary Carter and Andre Dawson were great baseball players.

Offline _sturt_

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Yeah, regardless of one's side, I think we all can agree it gives a warm feeling to know that Carter, in particular, got the satisfaction of seeing himself enshrined like that.

Online HalfSmokes

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Side #2 - Pound salt!  We have our own franchise now!  Go back to Canada!
Sign me up
Quote
Reasonable middle:  You know what?  Gary Carter and Andre Dawson were great baseball players.

So was ty cobb, should we put him up there too if that's the standard? Maybe retire Cole hammel's number; he's a great baseball player

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Side #2 - Pound salt!  We have our own franchise now!  Go back to Quebec!

FTFY

Offline Minty Fresh

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So was ty cobb, should we put him up there too if that's the standard? Maybe retire Cole hammel's number; he's a great baseball player

If their tied to the franchise in any way, yes.  If Hammels knocks out the Mets and gets us into the playoffs, put his number in there this year.

Offline spidernat

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This should be moved to another sub section of the board.

Online JCA-CrystalCity

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I think the statue of Walter Johnson should be moved to Target Field and Frank Howard to Arlington . . .

:couch:

Offline OldChelsea

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If there is room in Nats Park for honouring Edward Bennett Williams (Orioles owner who kept baseball out of DC for many years) and Thomas Boswell (tireless Orioles advocate in the 1980's), they can certainly make room for Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and other notable Expos. There is continuity of franchise and roster between the Expos and the Nationals.

Offline UMDNats

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Side #2 - Pound salt!  We have our own franchise now!  Go back to Canada!


dawson and carter were great players but they were never washington nationals/senators/etc.

AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS

Online JCA-CrystalCity

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dawson and carter were great players but they were never washington nationals/senators/etc.

AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS
I think the statue of Walter Johnson should be moved to Target Field and Frank Howard to Arlington . . .

:couch:
definitely need a dueling smiley.

Offline _sturt_

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Offline welch

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My "camp": third generation Washington Nationals / Senators / Nats fans who suffered through the '50s teams, cheered when they won, loved the 1960 season when the Nats spent most of the season in the first division, remembers hearing Arch McDonald or Bob Wolff call Harmon Killebrew's first home run, felt crushed when Calvin Griffith stole the team away to Minneapolis, suffered with an expansion team full of strangers who were not very good and were too old, cheered when they pulled the trade that got Hondo and McMullen, cheered again when they got Epstein, cheered even more when the 1969 team won 86 games, and was crushed again when Bob Short stole the team to Dallas / Fort Worth.

Therefore, I think of Washington baseball records, not Montreal records.

And...welcome Expo fans to continue following this team. I'm happy to have them aboard our bandwagon. Equally happy to have team management add Frank Robinson, an all-time great, in the Nats Park ring of fame. Along with Carter and Dawson, and Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin, Clark Griffith.

Now add Cecil Travis, the finest player never to receive a single vote for the Hall of Fame, a player who was getting better and better through the 1941 season, age 28, during which he had a higher batting average than DiMaggio and a longer hitter streak than Ted Williams. Joined the Army about a month after Pearl Harbor; injured during the Battle of the Bulge; returned for the equivalent of a season-and-a-half, then retired because he no longer had balance and speed. Lifetime .314 batting average, but hit .359 in 1941 with an OPS of .930.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/travice01.shtml

Offline mimontero88

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Sign me up
So was ty cobb, should we put him up there too if that's the standard? Maybe retire Cole hammel's number; he's a great baseball player
I can't believe you just mentioned Ty Cobb and Cole Hamels in the same statement.  Blasphemy.

Offline ¡Vamos Ramos!

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When do we induct Pedro Martinez?

Offline Minty Fresh

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When do we induct Pedro Martinez?

He's Red Sox.


BOSTON SUCKS.

Offline Galah

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I can summarize how this thread will go:

Side #1 - Good!  The Expos are a part of this team's history and they SHOULD be honored!


For what it's worth.
Maybe I don't really care because I grew up in a city that has no baseball tradition - Chicago.

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Maybe I don't really care because I grew up in a city that has no baseball tradition - Chicago.

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Offline Minty Fresh

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Maybe I don't really care because I grew up in a city that has no baseball tradition - Chicago.

:clap: