One Million Expos: Things I've Run Into

Along this ride, I knew I'd find cards I didn't have, or find players I didn't know played for the Expos (and in extension, the Jays) 

Today is going to look at a few of the guys from the early 2000s that I either forgot about, or guys who didn't make an impact.. 

Endy Chavez: 

He's one I didn't know played for the Expos. He was with the team from 2002-2004 and went to Washington with them in 2005. 

Looking at his Baseball Reference page the big takeaway I get is.. The Mets Loved this guy.. 

He signed with them in 1996. He was lost in the Rule 5 draft to KC then returned. Traded  by the Mets back to the Royals, who then lost him to the Tigers. Mets selected him off waivers from the Tigers then lost him to Montreal. 

2005 he signed with the Mets again and was there until 2008.  

He's still playing.. As a member of the Somerset Patriots. 

Ron Chiavacci

He never made it out of the minors for the Expos. He was in the system until 2004, when he bounced around a bit, including a stint in Korea. 

He seems to be working at a place called Pro Staff Baseball now. 

Chad Chop

Chop was an outfielder/infielder/relief pitcher in the system from 2002-2004 and 2005 with Washington. He ended his career in 2006 after playing for the Fullerton Flyers. 

According to Wikipedia, he worked as a firefighter before getting hired by the Giants as a left-handed BP pitcher after being hired by Hunter Pence. 

Zach Day

He had some success in the Majors with Montreal, then shoulder issues cut his career short. After Montreal, he spent part of 2005 with Washington, part with Colorado. 2006 he also spent time with both teams. He tried continuing with Kansas City and Minnesota, but had to retire due to shoulder issues. 

Benji DeQuin

Another pick that never made the Majors. He played in the system from 2000-2003 then played for Brockton of the Northeast League. 

Eric Good

Another player who didn't make it out of the Minors, he only played for a couple seasons, from 1998-2001. 

Michael Hinckley

He actually had some time in the Majors with Washington in 2008-2009. 

His career ended in 2011 in Toronto's minor league system, playing for New Hampshire and Las Vegas. 

Scott Hodges

Hodges never made it out of the minors with the Expos or Nationals. His career went from 1997-2005. 

A quick look makes me think he's a baseball coach in Nebraska now. 

Sun Woo Kim

I honestly forgot he was with the team.. They actually had quite a few Asian pitchers. They ended with Seung Song, Kim, Hideki Irabu, and I know I'm forgetting someone.. 

Anyway, he was with the team from 2002-2004, and was with Washington in 2005. He was up-and-down with the Expos. After his stint in the US ended, he went back to Korea and played there until 2014. 

Tomo Ohka

Here's the guy I forgot.. I actually forgot he played for the Expos here, and in 2007 he played for the Jays.. 

He played for the Expos from 2001-2004 and spent part of 2005 in Washington. 

Tomo was also referenced on The Simpsons during his tenure as an Expo. 

Ohka ended up playing until 2014 in the minors and Japan. 

Darrell Rasner

First... I don't know if that uniform is airbrushed or not.. 

Rasner played in the Majors from 2005-2008 for Washington and the Yankees. 

His career went until 2013 when he played in Japan. 

According to Wikipedia, he became an International scout for the Rakuten Golden Eagles after his career ended. 

Britt Reames

Reames is one I don't really forget about so much as completely block from my memory as actually existing... I don't know why... 

He played for the Expos from 2001-2003. 

His career ended in 2007, and he was a pitching coach for Furman University, then The Citadel..

Seung Song

Seung Song never made it to the Majors. 

He was in the Expos system from 2002-2004 and was in the MiLB system until 2006. In 2007 he went back to Japan and played until 2017. 

Brandon Watson

He made it to the Majors with Washington and Cincinnati between 2005-2007. 

He played overall from 1999-2011, finishing with Newark in 2011.. 

Finally.. Gregg Zaun

This one surprised me.. I didn't know (or forgot) that he was in the Expos system at all. 

According to his Baseball Reference page, he was an Expo long enough to go through Spring Training with them. He signed with the Jays a month later.

After his career finished, he became a broadcast analyst for the Jays on Sportsnet. He was terminated after harassment claims came up against him.. He now has a YouTube show.

So just a few of the 2000s era Expos I forgot about, or didn't really remember. 

Adventures in Bus Driving: Indian River Reptile Zoo

It's been a while since I've done an Adventures in Bus Driving post. 

Part of it is I usually go to the same place and unless something extraordinary happens, it's generally the same thing all the time.. 

Not today though...

Today was something new for me.. 

Indian River Reptile Zoo is a non-profit zoo outside Peterborough that houses and rescues reptiles and other scaly beasts. 

This is where it is in relation to Peterborough. All you do is follow Highway 7 and it'll be on the right hand side. 

This is an overhead shot of the place. They also have a mini-putt course on the grounds now.. 

Anyway.. We had a group of kids going from a summer camp. Two buses worth went to the zoo. Because we drove them, we were allowed in for free.. (Admission for adult is $20)

I ended up taking a couple pictures. 

It was kind of weird.. I went to a couple turtle/tortoise enclosures and every time they started wandering my way when they saw me.. It was weird.. lol This one, I believe, is a horned turtle. 

One of the things they added was animatronic dinosaurs. They have more than the ones I took photos of.. There's a pterodactyl on site that flaps its wings and screeches as well. 

It's a little blurry, but those be crocodiles.. They have a few different species of crocs and of alligators. They also have a bunch of snakes in another area.. 

All in all, it was interesting to look at.. 

Now.. Because this is a Baseball Card Blog....

I'm doing Stadium Club and Finest right now, but will be doing them alongside Topps as I get into the next batch. 

Lance Parrish played for the Jays in 1995.. I kind of forgot he played in Toronto. Catcher has been kind of a black hole for the Jays, really.. Aside from Whitt/Martinez in the 80s and then Pat Borders in the late 80s/early 90s, catcher has been forgettable. Kind of hoping Danny Jansen is able to buck the trend. 

Finest is a set I'm indifferent on.. I don't know what it is that turns me against it, In a way, I feel the same about some of the later sets Topps put out like Hi Tek.. 

But with this Lansing card, I'm now up to 1770 Expos in the catalogue. 

One Million Expos: An Update

I'm just finishing up 1999 for Topps/OPC (I've just done base plus inserts. Stadium Club/Finest/etc will be separate) 

The total right now is 1690

Today I want to show the cards I have double digits of so far... 

I imagine the years won't be a surprise.. 

I have 10 Steve Frey 

I have 10 Andres Galarraga in his stretch pose..

I have 10 Dennis Martinez waiting for the ball to be thrown back..

I have 14 Joe Hesketh ready to throw the ball in anger. 

Are we surprised that they're all 1990 and 1991?

In a way, I'm surprised I don't have more 1987s on here.. 

Anyway.. I just wanted to give a quick update. 

Lots of Goodies

Well.. Over the last half of the week I received a couple packages in the mail. 

One was a nice box of Jays and Expos from a member of the Team Collectors Forum, Matt. 

The other was a nice box of Jays/Expos/and Canadians from The Collector

I took part in his Sports Card Tour and ended up accumulating enough points to win a prize. Because International Shipping can be a.... *ahem* I went with something that shouldn't be too expensive.. 

Now in both cases, these are just small samples.. Since I'm in the process of cataloguing what I've got, I'm following the same pattern with these.. I've got up to 1994 Topps done, so any Topps/OPC I received that I needed for whatever collection is being shown off.. As I get further in (and clear off my scanner) I'll be showing more. 

I had the Gold version of this but not the base.. I think the most underrepresented times for the Expos in my collection are the 70s and mid 90s.. 

This is a Tiffany card.. Nice and shiny.. 

I never knew of these existing before. I think these are kind of cool.. In general, unless it's an insert set I want to complete, these won't show on my Blog want list.. 

I thought I had two copies of this card before, but I was mistaken. I had one in the set, but was missing the Jays one. I now have it.. 

John Olerud. 

Bill Virdon was manager for the Expos in 1983 and 1984. 

And of course.. Larry Walker.. This one would be great to get a second copy of for my Canadians binder. 

The above cards came from Matt..

These are the ones I needed so far from the cards Chris sent me. 

1990 Topps, while plentiful, seems to be one that I'm having difficulty finishing. The Gaston and Cerutti are completely new to me, as I didn't have a single copy.. I still need one copy of both those mentioned for the Jays binder.

Borders and Myers are the second copies.. 

I just wanted to say Thank You to both for the wonderful batches of cards.  

A Quick Thank You

I just wanted to do a quick thank you to Curtis of First Row Collectibles

From time to time he offers giveaways on Twitter. Generally, it's a card or an autographed photo and you follow/retweet to enter. 

Well, he had a couple I was looking at this time around. I ended up winning one of them.. 

1987 Donruss Barry Bonds rookie. 

As always, there were a couple extras thrown in.. A couple of the coins were thrown in.. 1990 Joe Carter, 1989 Alan Trammell, and a 1984 Fun Foods Tim Raines pin. 

Thank you again! 

O Pee Chee Question

Well.. I've come across something I'm unsure of... So I'm putting it out there to the Blogsphere/Twitterverse.. 

As you may (or may not) know... I'm doing a One Million Expos Project.. 

I'm currently at 1989 OPC/Topps in my cataloguing. 

I've come across this: 

Now... In previous years, the Team name would be changed to the new team. For example, Wil Tejada would have "Giants" where the Expos name is. 

1989, OPC didn't have these changed. So it shows as an Expos card in the way that the Colours and name is slapping you in the face. However, the Trading Card Database has these cards listing the players on their new teams. 

So... My Question/Dilemma is this: Do they count as Expos cards, or are they cards for the respective new teams? 

Do I catalogue them as Expos cards, or do I turn my nose at them like a snobbish waiter? 

Personally, I'm leaning towards putting them as Expos, since the name is so prominent. 

But what say you??

An Update on Expos

So... I've mentioned a few times I was going to do a One Million Expos Project.. 

I've finally started counting and cataloguing my cards for this Project.

Well.. As of right now.. I just finished cataloguing Topps and Topps Traded 1986. (Still have OPC to close out 1986 until I go through Donruss, etc)

And right now my total stands at 470..

This is one of the cards that currently stands at the top of the heap for most copies of a single card. I also have four copies of the League Leaders Reardon and of Charlie Lea. 

I expect 1987 to blow those numbers out of the water.