WASHINGTON NATIONALS/MONTREAL EXPOS
华盛顿国民队/蒙特娄博览会队
Length of streak:
The longest playoff drought of any club in the
four major pro team sports, 26 years
26年没有进过季后赛，在四种职业运动里最长的纪录
Last winning season:
83-79, 2003
最近一次胜率超过五成的球季
83胜79败，2003年
General managers:
GMs
Kevin Malone 1995
Jim Beattie 1996-2001
Omar Minaya 2002-2004
Jim Bowden 2005-
Five bad moves
五个不对的决策
1. The post-strike fire sale.
Greed and stubbornness by the owners and players wiped
out the end of the 1994 season, the playoffs and the
best-in-baseball Expos' chances for a World Series run.
Rather than push forward with the best young core of talent
in the game, ownership ordered GM Kevin Malone to dump as
many star players as possible in a week's time. The end result
was a disastrous series of moves that ripped apart a loaded
team while also failing to replenish the farm system. Marquis
Grissom, Ken Hill and John Wetteland were jettisoned for
pennies on the dollar. The Expos let hugely popular Canadian
star Larry Walker walk without even offering him arbitration,
ensuring that the team received nothing in return.
1. 达成协议后的火速拍卖
老板和球的贪心及顽固彻底的消除了1994年球季的尾声，这个尾声是
进入季后赛以及博览会队在棒球界里最佳赢得世界大赛冠军的机会。
老板要求GM Kevin Malone 尽可以在一周的时间内将许多的明星球员交易出去，
而非将最棒及有天分的球员们在比赛去安排出来。 最终的结果就是一连串将
满载的球队撕裂开的灾难，同时也在补足农场系统的部分也失败了。 为了获得
些许的钱Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill和John Wetteland被像货物般的丢下船。
博览会队让广受欢迎的加拿大球星Larry Walker连提供他仲裁都没有就离开球队，
确保了球队什么都拿不到！
2. Trading Pedro Martinez for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr.
Of all the cheapskate moves engineered by Montreal's owners,
the trade of Martinez to the Red Sox ripped out the hearts
of Expos fans. Just 26 years old and coming off his first Cy
Young Award, Pedro still had the best years of his Hall of
Fame career in front of him. Instead, the team settled for
Pavano and Armas, two talented young pitchers whose careers
were derailed by constant injuries.
2. 将Pedro Martinez交易出去以得到Carl Pavano和Tony Armas Jr.
在博览会队老板所有吝啬决策中，将Pedro Martinez交易至红袜这件事
最伤博览会球迷的心了。 才26岁及刚得到他第一座赛扬奖，Pedro
Martinez仍然有着最棒的道路往著名人堂前去。 取而代之的是，球队
选择了Pavano和Armas，两个天分丰富但是投球生涯都被经常性伤痛所阻
碍的投手。
3. Jeffrey Loria engineering a blackout.
Early in the Expos' history, owner Charles Bronfman relinquished
broadcast rights in southern Ontario to the fledgling Toronto Blue
Jays, as a favor to Canada's newest team. The move would prove
disastrous, giving the Jays the platform they'd need to become a
large-market power while forever condemning the Expos to small-market
purgatory.
Heading into the 2000 season, owner Jeffrey Loria dealt a similarly
cruel blow to the franchise's fortunes, though with far less
honorable intentions. Loria supposedly shopped the team's TV
and English radio rights around that year, but found no takers
at his asking price. Rather than chalk up broadcasting rights
as marketing costs, the Expos went dark in every medium except
French radio that season, dealing a devastating blow to the
team's already teetering fortunes. Given how conveniently Loria
managed to bail on the Expos and reap huge rewards from the franchise
sale, then extort the taxpayers of Florida into a lucrative
taxpayer-funded stadium deal years later, it's easy to speculate
that Loria sabotaged the Expos' final days in Montreal, with tacit
approval from his accomplice Bud Selig.
3. Jeffrey Loria engineering a blackout
在博览会队早期的历史中，老板Charles Bronfman将在Ontario南部
转播权让给了才刚发展的多伦多蓝鸟队，当做是帮在加拿大新建立球队的一
个忙。 这个决策证明了它多糟糕，给与了蓝鸟队一个可以变成大市场球队
的平台，同时是一个永远责难著博览会队变成小市场球队的炼狱。
进入了两千年球季，老板Jeffrey Loria对于转播权做了一些不完善的处理，
虽是有着令人不尊敬的目的。 Jeffrey Loria推测能在那一年左右将电视和
英语广播转播权利买出去，但是发现没有愿意接受他开出的价钱。 在那个
球季除了法语广播之外，在其他媒体上都变黑了(就是没有转播啦)，对于球
队摇摇欲坠的财务状况更是一个灾难性的决策。 Loria所在的职位给予了他
许多的方便，Loria试着在博览会会队上汲取一些东西和从转播权利金中收集
一些金钱，在几年后，又在佛罗里达纳税人的身上及有获利的球场中取得利
益。 对于要从他的共犯来看出Loria是在破坏博览会队在蒙特娄最后的日子
是很简单的。
4. Trading Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Cliff
Lee for Bartolo Colon.
Before the 2002 season, the Expos were identified as a prime
candidate for franchise contraction. When the team surprisingly
stayed in contention for a few months, GM Omar Minaya made a
what-the-heck trade, acquiring Colon from the Indians. The go-
for-it deal was a rare, pleasant surprise for Montreal fans, used
to seeing their team trade away established stars. But the bounty
sent to Cleveland in return was considered a king's ransom at the
time, a short-sighted trade made under duress, even for an ace
like Colon. Six years later, Nationals fans can only fantasize
about Sizemore and Phillips playing alongside Ryan Zimmerman,
with Lee fronting the starting rotation.
4. 将Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips和Cliff Lee交易出去以获得Bartolo Colon
在2002年球季之前，博览会队被为是在转播权利金合约上最佳的候选人。
在球队停留在争论期间的这几个月内，GM Omar Minaya做了一个如地狱般
的交易，从笑脸人那边得到Colon。 这个呆呆向前冲的交易并未吓到博览会
的球迷，他们经常看到球队将已经形成的明星交易出去。 但是从送到笑脸人
那边所回馈回来的是一次一笔大量的赎金，一个短视近利的交易在强迫下形
成了，虽然是得到了像Colon这种Ace级的投手。 六年过后，国民队的球迷
只能幻想Sizemore及Phillips和Zimmerman一起在场上打球，有着Lee在先发
投手轮值中。
5. Failing to re-sign Vladimir Guerrero.
Another future Hall of Famer, another unceremonious departure.
The Expos supposedly offered Vlad a contract extension before
he hit free agency, though the offer came in well below market
value. The Angels snapped him up, getting a new franchise player
in the process. OK, Nats fans,now imagine an outfield of Sizemore,
Vlad and Lastings Milledge, with an infield anchored by Zimmerman
and Phillips.
5. 无法再签下Vladimir Guerrero
另外一位未来名人堂的球员，另一个突然的分离。 博览会队应该要在他去
FA试水温前就提出延长合约，虽然他们提出的合约应该比Vlad市价低很多。
天使队突然抓紧了他，得到了一个特别的球员。 是的，国民队的球迷正想
像著外野有Sizemore, Vlad 和Lastings Milledge，内野有Zimmerman和
Phillips的阵容。
Lowest moment:
Maybe you can trace the franchise's downfall to 1991,
when a 55-ton concrete beam crumbled off the façade of
Olympic Stadium and crashed onto a walkway. The Expos
played their last 13 home games on the road, failed to
reach .500 for the first time in five years, failed to
reach 1 million in attendance for the first time since
the Big O opened and added another chapter to their ill-
fated history.
球队最低潮的时候：
或许你可以回溯到转播权卖不出去的1991年，当55吨的水泥横梁
从Olympic Stadium这栋建筑物的正面崩溃并且跌落到人行道上的
时候。 博览会队最后十三场在别人家主场的比赛，在近五年内第
一次没法达五成的胜率，也在Olympic Stadium开幕后第一次不能
达成百万观众到场的纪录，同时他们在病痛般的球队历史上又新
添了一章。
Favorite whipping boys:
Bud Selig, Claude Brochu, Jeffrey Loria,
Tom Runnells, Hideki Irabu, Brad Fullmer.
最该打的小孩们：
Bud Selig, Claude Brochu, Jeffrey Loria,
Tom Runnells, Hideki Irabu, Brad Fullmer.
Notable quotable:
"This was a team that had to be moved. We knew it had to
relocate. Baseball didn't want to own it anymore. This was
a team owned by baseball that we were anxious to get rid of."