Montréal Expos, professional baseball team and one of five teams in the East Division of the National League (NL). The Expos play at Olympic Stadium in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The team takes its name from an international exposition held in Montréal in 1967 called Expo ‘67. At the end of the 2004 season Major League Baseball announced that the franchise would relocate to Washington, D.C., in 2005.

Montréal made its first playoff appearance in the strike-shortened season of 1981 with a lineup starring catcher Gary Carter and outfielders Andre Dawson and Tim Raines. Many Expos squads have been constructed around speed. Three players on the team have led the NL in stolen bases during seven separate seasons—Ron LeFlore in 1980, Raines from 1981 through 1984, and Marquis Grissom in 1991 and 1992.

The Expos became the first Canadian-based team in major league baseball in 1969 when the club joined the National League as an expansion team. First baseman Ron Fairly and outfielder Rusty Staub provided much of the offense on Montréal’s early teams.

During the 1970s the Expos acquired a number of talented players, including catcher Gary Carter, veteran first baseman Tony Perez, and outfielders Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson. Dawson won the 1977 NL rookie of the year award. Montréal made its postseason debut in 1981, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the division playoff but losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

Montréal produced its first batting champion in 1982 as veteran first baseman Al Oliver topped the NL with a .331 batting average. Oliver also tied for the league lead with 109 runs batted in (RBIs). That same year, Steve Rogers, who spent his entire 13-year pitching career with the Expos, compiled a 2.40 earned-run average (ERA), the lowest in the major leagues.

In 1993 manager Felipe Alou steered the Expos to a second-place finish in his first full season with the club. In 1994 Montréal was in first place when a players’ strike ended the season on August 11. During the remainder of the 1990s the Expos often fielded competitive teams, but the club routinely allowed young superstars such as pitcher Pedro Martinez and outfielder Larry Walker to leave because their escalating salaries did not fit into the team’s budget.

By late 2001 the team was in serious financial trouble and the focus of talks by Major League Baseball officials to contract the league (eliminate several teams). Faced with this threat and mounting losses, Expos ownership sold the club to the league in 2002. In 2003 and 2004 the team played a portion of their home games in Puerto Rico to increase international interest in the game. After much speculation, league officials announced the franchise would move to Washington, D.C., for the 2005 season.

CHAMPIONSHIPS
The team has not won a championship or pennant

TOP MANAGER
Felipe Alou managed the Expos from 1992 until he was replaced during the 2001 season. Prior to the 2001 season, Alou had posted a 670-685 record. Buck Rodgers managed from 1985-1991 and finished with a 520-499 record. Rodgers (1987) and Alou (1994) were both named NL Manager of the Year during their tenure.

MVPS
The team has no league MVPs. 

CY YOUNG
Pedro Martinez (1997) 

ROOKIE OF YEAR
Carl Morton (1970), Andre Dawson (1977)

RETIRED NUMBERS
8 - Gary Carter (C)
10 - Rusty Staub (1B-OF)
22 - Andre Dawson (OF)