So I completely forgot that there was no World Series in 1994. How depressing what that! That steroids era really was one big amnesia pill.

I felt great about baseball until tonight, when I revisited the 1994 Montreal Expos, who might have been the most unfortunate team in recent history -- maybe even beyond recent history. Let's forget about what a strong playoff showing and likely NL title would have done for that struggling organization in the friendly land of French-Canadians. Let's think about how much fun it would have been to watch one of the truly unique teams of an era, one of the few teams to truly build a very good team on very good young talent that was budding into MLB stars and average MLB-ers alike on that 1994 team.

1994 Montreal Expos

Let’s have some fun here – since there was no 1994 World Series, I am going to look at one of the most heartbreaking teams in MLB history, the ’94 Expos. The Expos had a lot going right for them when the strike began in 1994, and the difference between their team and just about every other World Series Champion in the decade that followed was that their team was stacked full of young players – their oldest regular was a 31-year old Jeff Fassero (compare with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, who received a notable contribution by only one player under 30 – Byung-Hyun Kim).

First, the really good stuff: contributions from young players…

Moises Alou, OF: .339/.397/.592 (.303/.369/.516 career). Alou’s first really big splash in the MLB came at age 27, and his power numbers from this season would not be matched until 1997 with Florida and surpassed with Houston in 1998. This is the first great season by one of the most overshadowed sluggers in the past 15 years.

Larry Walker, OF: .322/.394/.587 (.313/.400/.565 career). Another very good player for his career, Walker had his first great season in 1994, like Alou. Although he did not display great home run power in ’94, his bat exploded for 44 doubles, a career high. His AVG, OBP, and SLG were the best for his career to that point, and would not be matched until his monster .366/.452/.720 season for Colorado in 1997.

Wil Cordero, SS: .294/.363/.489 (.273/.330/.428 career). A 22-year old Cordero would post his best all-around career season in 1994, hitting 15 HR and 30 2B – very impressive career totals given the strike-shortened season. He also posted his career high SB (16/19). No other full season would match his 1994 production.

Pedro Martinez, SP: 3.61 runs average, 6.03 IP/G, 1.106 WHIP. (3.10 runs average, 5.98 IP/G, 1.031 WHIP). Okay, this is me cheating again. Pedro is easily the MLB’s best starter for the past 15 years. However, 1994 marked his first career contribution as a starting pitcher, and he was well-above average from the very beginning as a 22-year old. Notice that his 1994 campaign would not be fully matched until 1997’s monster season. One last thing – let’s celebrate a 22-year old’s excellent K/BB of 142/45.

Of course, the Expos also had their share of average to below-average contributions:

Darin Fletcher, C: .260/.314/.435 vs. .269/.318/.423

Cliff Floyd, 1B: .281/.332/.398 vs. .279/.359/.484

Mike Lansing, 2B: .266/.328/.368 vs. .271/.324/.401

Sean Berry, 3B: .278/.347/.453 vs. .272/.334/.445

Marquis Grissom, CF: .288/.344/.427 vs. .272/.318/.415

Kirk Rueter, SP: 5.17 ERA, 1.397 WHIP vs. 4.27 ERA, 1.394 WHIP

And, of course, how about the pitching? In addition to the ace-in-training, Pedro:

Ken Hill, SP: 3.32 ERA, 1.222 WHIP vs. 4.06 ERA, 1.414 WHIP. Best career season.

Jeff Fassero, SP: 2.99 ERA, 1.147 WHIP vs. 4.11 ERA, 1.380 WHIP. Never surpassed.

John Wetteland, RP: 2.83 ERA,1.052 WHIP vs. 2.93 ERA, 1.135 WHIP. One of many great seasons.

Of course, let’s not forget Mel Rojas or Tim Scott in the pen next to Wetteland.

This team is clearly more exciting than any of the other NL Champions from 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, and 2006. They have every angle covered. Their average-to-below-average are much closer to the "average" side of things, rather than the blatently below-average side. They have solid production at SS, and passable production at 2B and 3B. CF and C leave something to be desired, but we can say that about just about every one of these teams -- especially Juan Pierre, Devon White, and Steve Finley.

Now, the really fun parts -- Moises Alou and Larry Walker provide corner OF production that not many can match, and both covered all aspects of hitting in 1994: they hit for average, they got on base at a very good clip, and they drove the ball for a very good amount of power.

The starting pitching is a textbook example of Championship pitching -- not the rare Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux combination, but the more replicable league average mid-rotation that produces their best seasons, and a young ace in training (hindsight leads me to view 1994 Pedro Martinez in even more favorable light. Who knew in 1994 at Stade Olympique that they were watching the best pitching of the next 15 years starting games for their Expos?)

So, I put this team up against any of the World Series Champions that represented the NL after 1994.