Montreal Expos: Randy Johnson debuts, turns into story of “what if”

32 years ago on this day, Randy Johnson debuted for the Montreal Expos.

At the time of his call-up, he was the tallest player in major league history, at six feet, ten inches. He didn’t have the long, flowing hair creeping out from the back of his hat, though with his wingspan and gait, was intimidating from day one. Day one was September 15th, 1988, when Randy Johnson toed the rubber for the first time as a member of the Montreal Expos.

Although his debut game ended with a win, the results were mixed. Johnson surrendered two home runs and walked three while striking out five over five innings.

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The next outing he pitched resulted in a complete game where he struck out eleven while only allowing one earned run. The Expos were given a glimpse of things to come.

Johnson would become the first Expos pitcher in history to win his first three appearances and after going 3-0 in four starts, the team should have known what they had.

And maybe they did. Though, so too did the Seattle Mariners.

Johnson struggled some in the 1989 season with his control. His WHIP was nearly 2.00 and his ERA was 6.67 when he was packaged in a deal that returned veteran Mark Langston to the Expos.

This was a bold move for the Montreal team. Sending away three young pitchers to get a Cy Young caliber pitcher in return. The Expos were bolstering for a playoff push, a last ditch effort to put a winner on the field before owner Charles Bronfman sold the team.

Mark Langston did his job for the Montreal Expos. He was 12-9 with a 2.39 ERA. Had the Expos bats not gone dormant, he would have won more games and the Expos may have gotten to the playoffs.

How it worked out, they fizzled out of contention. Langston, in a walk year, signed with the California Angels the following year. And Randy Johnson went on to win 303 games and five Cy Young Awards.

Expos fans have always wondered “what if”. What if Johnson would not have been traded? Could he have been the piece of the puzzle to get the team over the top? Would the team have won more, drawn more fans, be able to sign Johnson long term, coax other top-of-the-line free agents to sign?

Hindsight is 20/20 and second-guessing is as much a part of the game as pine tar and pitching rosin. For an Expos fan, the Randy Johnson “what if” is second only to the strike of 1994, “what if”.