2003 Montreal Expos season

The 2003 Montreal Expos season was the 35th season for the Expos in Montreal and its penultimate season in Canada. It involved the Expos attempting to win the NL East. On August 28, 2003, the Expos led the NL Wild Card, tied for first place with the Marlins, Astros, Phillies, and Cardinals, but faded away in the stretch and failed to make the postseason, finishing 18 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 8 games back of the Florida Marlins in the Wild Card. The Expos' 2003 record of 83-79 was identical to the one they finished with the previous year.

2003 Montreal Expos
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place4th
Other information
Owner(s)Major League Baseball
General manager(s)Omar Minaya
Manager(s)Frank Robinson
Local televisionRéseau des sports
(Rodger Brulotte, Denis Casavant)
Local radioCKGM (AM)
(Mitch Melnick, Elliott Price, guest minor league play-by-play broadcasters)

CKAC (AM)
(Jacques Doucet, Marc Griffin)
< Previous season     Next season >

Spring training

After holding spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, from 1998 through 2002, the Expos moved to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, for spring training in 2003. The move to Viera came about as the result of a deal in which Major League Baseball bought the Expos from Jeffrey Loria, who then purchased the Florida Marlins; as part of the deal, the Marlins traded spring training sites with the Expos, moving from Viera to Jupiter. The franchise, as the Expos in 2003 and 2004 and then from 2005 as the Washington Nationals, would hold spring training at Space Coast Stadium through 2016.

Regular season
  • June 24, 2003 – Brad Wilkerson hit for the cycle in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.[1]
  • August 26, 2003 – The Expos rallied from being down 8-0 and 10-3 to claim a 14-10 win against the Philadelphia Phillies and be within two games of the National League Wild Card. It was the second biggest comeback in Expos history. [2]
  • September 14, 2003 – Vladimir Guerrero hits for the cycle against the New York Mets.[3]

On August 30, 2002, MLB signed a collective bargaining agreement with the players association, which prohibited contraction through the end of the agreement in 2006.[4]

Ultimately, the Expos finished 8 games behind the Wild Card (and World Series Champion) Florida Marlins.

Puerto Rico

Although their attendance increased from 7,935 per game in 2001[5] to 10,031 in 2002,[6] MLB decided that the Expos would play 22 of their home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2003. Despite being a considerably smaller facility (it seats approximately 19,000) than Montreal's Olympic Stadium, attendance in San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium averaged 14,222, compared with 12,081 in Montreal.[7] The Puerto Rican baseball fans embraced "Los Expos" (particularly Puerto Rican players José Vidro, Javier Vázquez and Wil Cordero, and other Latin players like Vladimir Guerrero and Liván Hernández) as their home team (as well as the Latin players from other teams), all the while hoping the team would make a permanent move to Puerto Rico. Thanks in part to the San Juan games, the Expos were able to draw over a million fans at home in 2003 for the first time since 1997.[7] The Expos' season in Puerto Rico was chronicled in the MLB-produced DVD Boricua Beisbol – Passion of Puerto Rico.

Opening Day lineup

Source [8]

Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Endy ChávezCenter fielder
José VidroSecond baseman
Ron CallowayRight fielder
Wil CorderoFirst baseman
Brad WilkersonLeft fielder
Orlando CabreraShortstop
Fernando TatísThird baseman
Michael BarrettCatcher
Tony Armas Jr.Starting pitcher

National League East
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 10161 0.623 — 55–26 46–35
Florida Marlins 9171 0.562 10 53–28 38–43
Philadelphia Phillies 8676 0.531 15 49–32 37–44
Montreal Expos 8379 0.512 18 52–29 31–50
New York Mets 6695 0.410 34½ 34–46 32–49

Record vs. opponents
2003 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona—2–52–47–210–92–55–110–93–34–24–24–23–39–105–143–311–4
Atlanta5–2—4–23–36–09–105–14–24–212–711–89–107–26–12–44–210–5
Chicago4–22–4—10–73–34–29–72–410–63–35–11–510–84–24–28–99–9
Cincinnati2–73–37–10—4–22–45–122–48–102–42–45–45–113–33–39–77-5
Colorado 9–100–63–32–4—4–22–47–125–13–42–52–43–612–77–124–29–6
Florida5–210–92–44–22–4—1–52–57–213–612–713–62–45–11–53–39–6
Houston1–51–57–912–54–25-1—4–29–83–32–42–410–63–32–411–711–7
Los Angeles 9–102–44–24–212–75–22–4—4–24–23–32–55–18–116–134–211–7
Milwaukee3–32–46–1010–81–52–78–92–4—0–66–34–210–75–11–53–135–7
Montreal2–47–123–34–24–36-133–32–46–0—14–58–113–34–27–01–59–9
New York2–48–111–54–25–27–124–23–33–65–14—7–124–23–34–21–55–10
Philadelphia2-410–95–14–54–26–134–25–22–411–812–7—2–44–33–34–28–7
Pittsburgh3–32–78–1011–56–34–26–101–57–103–32–44–2—4–22–47–105–7
San Diego10–91–62–43–37–121–53–311–81–52–43–33–42–4—5–142–48–10
San Francisco14–54–22–43–312–75–14–213–65–10–72–43–34–214–5—5–110–8
St. Louis3–32–49–87–92–43-37–112–413–35–15–12–410–74–21–5—10–8

Notable transactions

Roster
2003 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Game log
Legend
 Expos win
 Expos loss
 Postponement
BoldExpos team member
2003 Game Log

Attendance

Including both games played in Montreal and "home" games played in San Juan, the Expos drew 1,025,639 fans during the 2003 season, and were 16th in attendance among the 16 National League teams. Their highest attendance for the season was a game in Montreal on April 22, which attracted 36,879 fans to see them play the Arizona Diamondbacks, while their lowest was for a game in Montreal on May 7 against the San Diego Padres, which drew only 5,111 fans. For games played in San Juan, the largest crowd was 18,264 for a game against the New York Mets on April 12, and the smallest was a crowd of 10,034 that came to a game against the Anaheim Angels on June 3.

Player stats

Batting

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Complete offensive statistics are available here.

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
CBrian Schneider1083353477261946.2300
1BWil Cordero130436571212701671.2781
2BJosé Vidro144509771583601565.3103
SSOrlando Cabrera162626951864721780.29724
3BJamey Carroll1052273159101110.2605
LFBrad Wilkerson146504781353441977.26813
CFEndy Chávez14148366121255547.25118
RFVladimir Guerrero112394711302032579.3309
OFRon Calloway1263403681171952.2389
UTJosé Macías1112723165152422.2394
CMichael Barrett702263347921030.2080
3BFernando Tatís531751534650215.1942
2BHenry Mateo10015429373107.24011
3BEdwards Guzmán52146153550114.2400
3BTodd Zeile34136112922519.2571
1BJeff Liefer358861730318.1930
UTJoe Vitiello3876122660313.3420
OFMatt Cepicky58021000.2500
PLiván Hernández31742141006.1890
PJavier Vázquez32655100106.1540
PTomo Ohka33552100003.1821
PZach Day2347220002.0430
PClaudio Vargas2130100000.0000
PT. J. Tucker4419151000.2630
PTony Armas Jr.510020000.2000
PEric Knott135000000.0000
PJoey Eischen674110000.2500
PSun-woo Kim43000000.0000
PDan Smith302000000.0000
PTim Drew62100000.0000
PScott Stewart482000000.0000
PChad Cordero120000000–0
PRocky Biddle711000000.0000
PRoy Corcoran51000000.0000
PLuis Ayala621000000.0000
PBritt Reames21000000.0000
PScott Downs11000000.0000
PHéctor Almonte281000000.0000
PVic Darensbourg71000000.0000
PJulio Mañón191000000.0000
PBryan Hebson20000000–0
PJosé Mercedes50000000–0
PAnthony Ferrari20000000–0
Totals1625437711140429425144682.258100

Pitching

Note: Pos = Position; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Complete pitching statistics are available here.

Pos Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
SPLiván Hernández1513.2033330233.1928357178
SPJavier Vázquez13123.2434340230.3938357241
SPTomo Ohka10124.1634340199.01069245118
SPZach Day984.1823230131.164615961
SPClaudio Vargas684.3423200114.059554162
CLRocky Biddle584.6573034171.243374054
RPT. J. Tucker234.73457080.049422047
RPLuis Ayala1032.92650571.027231346
RPJoey Eischen223.06700153.027181340
RPScott Stewart313.98510043.022191329
Dan Smith225.26320037.222191329
Tony Armas, Jr.212.6155031.099823
Héctor Almonte116.83280029.022221726
Julio Mañón124.13230128.113131715
Eric Knott125.12131019.11211617
Sun-woo Kim018.3643014.0131385
Chad Cordero101.64120111.022312
Tim Drew0212.466108.2121283
José Mercedes000.005007.13053
Roy Corcoran001.235007.12132
Vic Darensbourg0010.806006.28814
Anthony Ferrari006.754004.03351
Scott Downs0115.001103.05534
Bryan Hebson0013.502002.03311
Britt Reames0027.002001.14421
Totals83794.01162162421437.27166404631028

Award winners

2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Edmonton Trappers Pacific Coast League Dave Huppert
AA Harrisburg Senators Eastern League Dave Machemer
A Brevard County Manatees Florida State League Doug Sisson
A Savannah Sand Gnats South Atlantic League Joey Cora
A-Short Season Vermont Expos New York–Penn League Dave Barnett
Rookie GCL Expos Gulf Coast League Bob Henley

[10]

Notes
  1. Games the Montreal Expos played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the 2003 season counted as Expos home games.
  2. The two games on May 10 were played as a single-admission doubleheader with attendance counted only for the two games combined.
  3. The two games on June 1 were played as a single-admission doubleheader with attendance counted only for the two games combined.
  4. The two games on June 18 were played as a single-admission doubleheader with attendance counted only for the two games combined.

References
  1. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats16d.shtml
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON200308260.shtml
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON200309140.shtml
  4. "Deal in place, games go on" (Press release). MLB.com. August 30, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
  5. Montreal Expos (2002). Expos Media Guide 2002.
  6. Montreal Expos (2003). Expos Media Guide 2003.
  7. Montreal Expos (2004). Expos Media Guide 2004.
  8. Montreal Expos at Atlanta Braves Box Score, March 31, 2003 at Baseball Reference
  9. Todd Zell page at Baseball Reference]
  10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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