# 1988 Montreal Expos season

The 1988 Montreal Expos season was the 20th season in franchise history. The Expos finished in third place in the National League East at 81–81, 20 games behind the New York Mets.

## Offseason

* December 7, 1987: Dave Engle was signed as a free agent by the Expos.
* December 16, 1987: Bryn Smith was signed as a free agent by the Expos.
* December 18, 1987: Rex Hudler was signed as a free agent by the Expos.
* December 18, 1987: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent by the Expos.
* March 5, 1988: Otis Nixon was signed as a free agent by the Expos.
* March 24, 1988: Graig Nettles was purchased by the Expos from the Atlanta Braves.
* CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan retired from the Canadian Football League in 1988 and chased a childhood dream of professional baseball. Dunigan attended an open tryout with the Montreal Expos and was one of two players selected to sign a contract.

## 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 12th season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Hubie Brooks
* Tom Foley
* Andrés Galarraga
* Dennis Martínez
* Tim Raines
* Jeff Reed
* Luis Rivera
* Tim Wallach
* Mitch Webster
Expos pitcher Pascual Pérez threw a five-inning rain-shortened no-hitter against the Phillies on September 24, 1988. It was the first no-hitter in Veterans Stadium history. Perez allowed one walk, and another Phillies baserunner reached on an error. Umpire Harry Wendelstedt waved off the game after a 90-minute rain delay after the game was stopped by a steady rain with one out in the top of the sixth. However, due to a statistical rule change in 1991, no-hitters must last at least nine innings to count. As a result of the retroactive application of the new rule, this game and thirty-five others are no longer considered no-hitters.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Mets | 100 | 60 | .625 | — | 56‍–‍24 | 44‍–‍36 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 85 | 75 | .531 | 15 | 43‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍37 |
| Montreal Expos | 81 | 81 | .500 | 20 | 43‍–‍38 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 85 | .475 | 24 | 39‍–‍42 | 38‍–‍43 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 76 | 86 | .469 | 25 | 41‍–‍40 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 65 | 96 | .404 | 35½ | 38‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 5–13 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–5 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8–1 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 14–4 | 8–4–1 | 11–7 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 1–10 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 13–5 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 10–1 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 14–4 |
| Philadelphia | 6-6 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 1–11 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 4–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–5 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–4 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 4–14 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 13, 1988: Jeff Reed, Herm Winningham, and Randy St. Claire were traded by the Expos to the Cincinnati Reds for Tracy Jones and Pat Pacillo.
* July 14, 1988: Dave Engle was released by the Expos.
* July 14, 1988: Mitch Webster was traded by the Expos to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Martinez.
* July 23, 1988: Casey Candaele was traded by the Expos to the Houston Astros for Mark Bailey.
* September 1, 1988: The Expos traded a player to be named later to the Texas Rangers for Tom O'Malley. The Expos completed the deal by sending Jack Daugherty to the Rangers on September 13.

#### Draft picks

* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball Draft
** Marquis Grissom was drafted by the Expos in the 3rd round. Player signed June 13, 1988.
** Bret Barberie was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 7th round.

### Major League debuts

* Batters:
** Jeff Huson (Sep 2)
** Johnny Paredes (Apr 29)
* Pitchers:
** Tim Barrett (Jul 18)
** Brian Holman (Jun 25)
** Randy Johnson (Sep 15)

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Nelson Santovenia | 92 | 309 | 73 | .236 | 8 | 41 | 2 |
| 1B | Andrés Galarraga | 157 | 609 | 184 | .302 | 29 | 92 | 13 |
| 2B | Tom Foley | 127 | 377 | 100 | .265 | 5 | 43 | 2 |
| SS | Luis Rivera | 123 | 371 | 83 | .224 | 4 | 30 | 3 |
| 3B | Tim Wallach | 159 | 592 | 152 | .257 | 12 | 69 | 2 |
| LF | Tim Raines | 109 | 429 | 116 | .270 | 12 | 48 | 33 |
| CF | Mitch Webster | 81 | 259 | 66 | .255 | 2 | 13 | 12 |
| RF | Hubie Brooks | 151 | 588 | 164 | .279 | 20 | 90 | 7 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Otis Nixon | 90 | 271 | 66 | .244 | 0 | 15 | 46 |
| Rex Hudler | 77 | 216 | 59 | .273 | 4 | 14 | 29 |
| Dave Martinez | 63 | 191 | 49 | .257 | 2 | 12 | 16 |
| Mike Fitzgerald | 63 | 155 | 42 | .271 | 5 | 23 | 2 |
| Tracy Jones | 53 | 141 | 47 | .333 | 2 | 15 | 9 |
| Jeff Reed | 43 | 123 | 27 | .220 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Casey Candaele | 36 | 116 | 20 | .172 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Wallace Johnson | 86 | 94 | 29 | .309 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Graig Nettles | 80 | 93 | 16 | .172 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Johnny Paredes | 35 | 91 | 17 | .187 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| Herm Winningham | 47 | 90 | 21 | .233 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Jeff Huson | 20 | 42 | 13 | .310 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Dave Engle | 34 | 37 | 8 | .216 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom O'Malley | 14 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Wilfredo Tejada | 8 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 2 | 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 | 34 | 235.1 | 15 | 13 | 2.72 | 120 |
| Bryn Smith | 32 | 198.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.00 | 122 |
| Pascual Pérez | 27 | 188.0 | 12 | 8 | 2.44 | 131 |
| John Dopson | 26 | 168.2 | 3 | 11 | 3.04 | 101 |
| Brian Holman | 18 | 100.1 | 4 | 8 | 3.23 | 58 |
| Floyd Youmans | 14 | 84.0 | 3 | 6 | 3.21 | 54 |
| Randy Johnson | 4 | 26.0 | 4 | 0 | 2.42 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| Neal Heaton | 32 | 97.1 | 3 | 10 | 4.99 | 43 |

#### 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 |
| Tim Burke | 61 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 3.40 | 42 |
| Andy McGaffigan | 63 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2.76 | 71 |
| Jeff Parrett | 61 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2.65 | 62 |
| Joe Hesketh | 60 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2.85 | 64 |
| Bob McClure | 19 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6.16 | 12 |
| Randy St. Claire | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.14 | 6 |
| Mike Smith | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.12 | 4 |
| Tim Barrett | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.79 | 5 |
| Rich Sauveur | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 |

## Award winners

1988 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Andrés Galarraga, first base, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Joe Sparks |
| AA | Jacksonville Expos | Southern League | Tommy Thompson |
| A | West Palm Beach Expos | Florida State League | Felipe Alou |
| A | Rockford Expos | Midwest League | Alan Bannister |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Expos | New York–Penn League | Roger LaFrancois |
| Rookie | GCL Expos | Gulf Coast League | Dave Jauss |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Indianapolis