Fans and players of the Montreal Expos look back on the tragic 1994 season

Monday marks the anniversary of one of the darkest days for Montreal Expos fans.

On August 12, 1994, the first full day of the Major League Baseball strike began.

This also ended the Expos' run in first place in the league and their potential run to the World Series.

Season cancelled?

Scott Abramovitch served as batboy on the team along with his brother Jamie.

“I think it was a bit of a shock, like, wait a minute, can this really happen?” Scott said.

Perry Giannis is a lifelong fan and collector of Expos items.

“Never, never, not even in my wildest dreams did I think the season would be canceled,” he said.

Sylvain Cantin sold peanuts at the Olympic Stadium.

“It was terrible because we will never know what would happen this year,” he said.

Full stadium

The empty, cavernous 2024 Olympic Stadium was once filled with sold-out crowds during a golden era for those who wore the Expos uniform, whether it was elite pitcher Pedro Martinez or a teenager from Côte-Saint-Luc.

“I didn't even have my driver's license for the first few months of the season,” Scott Abramovitch said. “So I had to get a ride to the stadium. In 1994, it was packed, it was a special place to watch baseball. The fans were incredible. I can still remember the sound of that place.”

Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez with bat boy Scott Abramovitch of Cote-Saint-Luc.

“It was a good feeling in the city,” said his younger brother Jamie. “When the Expos won, people talked about it. It was really great.”

After a mediocre start, the Expos took off.

“When May came, we got going and that was probably the best time I've ever spent on a baseball field,” said Jeff Fassero, who played pitcher in Montreal from 1991 to 1996.

Montreal Expos: Cliff Floyd, Jeff Fesaro, Mike Lansing 1995. (The Canadian Press)

According to the website Baseball Cube, which lists salaries by year, the Expos had the second-lowest payroll in 1994 at $18,955,000, trailing only the San Diego Padres.

For comparison, the New York Yankees' payroll this year was $44,785,334, more than double that of the Expos.

Montreal Expos pitcher Pedro Martinez throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds in Montreal on April 13, 1994. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Montreal Expos' 36-year existence is coming to an end and their last home game will be played on Wednesday night at Olympic Stadium. (Marcos Townsend, The Canadian Press)

However, the Expos' roster was filled with stars, including future Hall of Famers Martinez and Larry Walker.

Giannis has a museum of Expos items in his basement and remembers every detail of 1994: the sights, the sounds and, unfortunately, the smells.

“You try to block out the rest of the stadium because, you know, it stinks,” he said. “It was, you know, old and just not a ballpark. But if you just look at the game and the guys, it's the best.”

You may have heard Cantin's voice in the stands as he handed out peanuts to his playoff-hungry fans.

“The stadium was my second home, so I spent more time there in the summer than in my own house,” he said.

Cantin's arm may not have been as powerful as Martinez's, but it served its purpose.

“I've had good precision all these years,” Cantin said. “That high percentage of, say, 95 percent and maybe more.”

In addition to Martinez, Fassero and Walker, well-known names such as Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and Cliff Floyd were on the field.

Former Montreal Expos player Larry Walker takes a selfie with his mascot Youppi as members of the 1994 team are introduced before a Toronto Blue Jays preseason game against the New York Mets, Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Montreal. Youppi survived the Expos to become the mascot of the Montreal Canadiens. (Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press)

Fassero spent 16 years in the major leagues, but never had the talent he had in Montreal.

“I've played on some good teams like Seattle and St. Louis, but there was never that feeling like in Montreal,” he said.

From fairy tale to nightmare

The Expos achieved their goal on August 12 as the best team in baseball with a record of 74-40.

Giannis already had tickets for the playoffs and had paid almost $2,000 for them.

“We would have won the division and had a shot at the World Series and everything,” he said. “It gives me goosebumps just saying that. When they finally announced it wasn't going to happen, it felt like a slap in the face.”

Perry Giannis remembers almost every detail from 1994 as he sits in his makeshift basement museum.

1994 was the first year in MLB history that the World Series was canceled since 1904. No World Series has been canceled since then.

“We all, including the players, thought that [it would be] a short lockout and that within a month or two everything would recover and the season would resume,” said Jamie Abramovitch.

On September 14, Jamie's failure was proven and the season was officially over.

After the fairytale season, the rest of the Expos' history turned into something of a nightmare until the team finally left town a decade later, in 2004.

“If I had a machine that would allow me to go back in time and lift the lock and see what would happen, that would be my wish that I could grant, that's for sure,” Cantin said.

Sylvain Cantin was a peanut seller at Olympic Stadium the year the Montreal Expos were baseball's best team.

“The pain never goes away,” Giannis said. “Every time you talk about it, it makes you angry.”

“It's funny, I think, when you think about how many games we were on the field for as kids and then as bat boys and never felt like baseball in October is the only thing I want when we experience it again,” Scott Abramovitch said.

“I think these are just unfinished business that we never got around to dealing with,” Fassero said.