# 1971 Montreal Expos season

The 1971 Montreal Expos season was the third season in the history of the franchise. The Expos finished in fifth place in the National League East with a record of 71–90, 25+1⁄2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

## Offseason

* December 30, 1970: Dave McDonald was traded by the Expos to the San Francisco Giants for Ron Hunt.
* January 1971: Jack Scalia was selected by the Expos third overall in the January phase of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft, which the held two lotteries annually. Scalia would never play a game for the Expos, as he suffered a back injury and pursued a modeling career.
* March 31, 1971: Don Hahn was traded by the Expos to the New York Mets for Rich Hacker and Ron Swoboda.
* March 31, 1971: Jim Qualls was traded by the Expos to the Cincinnati Reds for Stan Swanson.

## 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 third season at the stadium.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 52‍–‍28 | 45‍–‍37 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 90 | 72 | .556 | 7 | 45‍–‍36 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Chicago Cubs | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 44‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍42 |
| New York Mets | 83 | 79 | .512 | 14 | 44‍–‍37 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Montreal Expos | 71 | 90 | .441 | 25½ | 36‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34‍–‍47 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 4–14 |
| New York | 5–7 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–10 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 9–3 | 3–9 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Boots Day CF
* Ron Hunt 2B
* Rusty Staub RF
* Bob Bailey 3B
* Ron Fairly 1B
* Mack Jones LF
* John Bateman C
* Bobby Wine SS
* Carl Morton P

### Notable transactions

* June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
** Future Canadian Football League star Condredge Holloway was drafted by Expos in the 1st round (4th pick).
** Steve Rogers was drafted by the Expos in the 1st round (4th pick) of the Secondary Phase.
* June 15, 1971: Bob Reynolds was traded by the Expos to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mike Torrez.
* June 16, 1971: Jimy Williams was purchased from the Expos by the New York Mets.
* June 25, 1971: Ron Swoboda was traded by the Expos to the New York Yankees for Ron Woods.

## 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 | John Bateman | 139 | 492 | 119 | .242 | 10 | 56 |
| 1B | Ron Fairly | 146 | 447 | 115 | .257 | 13 | 71 |
| 2B | Ron Hunt | 152 | 520 | 145 | .279 | 5 | 38 |
| SS | Bobby Wine | 119 | 340 | 68 | .200 | 1 | 16 |
| 3B | Bob Bailey | 157 | 545 | 137 | .251 | 14 | 83 |
| LF | Jim Fairey | 92 | 200 | 49 | .245 | 1 | 19 |
| CF | Boots Day | 127 | 371 | 105 | .283 | 4 | 33 |
| RF | Rusty Staub | 162 | 599 | 186 | .311 | 19 | 97 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Sutherland | 111 | 304 | 78 | .257 | 4 | 26 |
| John Boccabella | 74 | 177 | 39 | .220 | 3 | 15 |
| Coco Laboy | 76 | 151 | 38 | .252 | 1 | 14 |
| Ron Woods | 51 | 138 | 41 | .297 | 1 | 17 |
| Clyde Mashore | 66 | 114 | 22 | .193 | 1 | 7 |
| Stan Swanson | 49 | 106 | 26 | .245 | 2 | 11 |
| Jim Gosger | 51 | 102 | 16 | .157 | 0 | 8 |
| Mack Jones | 43 | 91 | 15 | .165 | 3 | 9 |
| Ron Swoboda | 39 | 75 | 19 | .253 | 0 | 6 |
| Ron Brand | 47 | 56 | 12 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave McDonald | 24 | 39 | 4 | .103 | 1 | 4 |
| Rich Hacker | 16 | 33 | 4 | .121 | 0 | 2 |
| Terry Humphrey | 9 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Bill Stoneman | 39 | 294.2 | 17 | 16 | 3.15 | 251 |
| Steve Renko | 40 | 275.2 | 15 | 14 | 3.75 | 129 |
| Carl Morton | 36 | 213.2 | 10 | 18 | 4.80 | 84 |
| Ernie McAnally | 31 | 177.2 | 11 | 12 | 3.90 | 98 |

#### 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 |
| John Strohmayer | 27 | 114.0 | 7 | 5 | 4.34 | 56 |
| Dan McGinn | 28 | 71.0 | 1 | 4 | 5.96 | 40 |
| Jim Britton | 16 | 45.2 | 2 | 3 | 5.72 | 23 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Marshall | 66 | 5 | 8 | 23 | 4.28 | 85 |
| Howie Reed | 43 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.29 | 25 |
| Claude Raymond | 37 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4.70 | 29 |
| John O'Donoghue | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.67 | 7 |
| Mike Torrez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |

## Award winners

1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Winnipeg Whips | International League | Clyde McCullough and Jimmy Bragan |
| AA | Québec Carnavals | Eastern League | Gus Niarhos |
| A | West Palm Beach Expos | Florida State League | Bobby Malkmus |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Falcons | New York–Penn League | Ed Sadowski |
| A-Short Season | Watertown Expos | Northern League | Bob Oldis |