Explosion

Montreal Expos historian Danny Gallagher continues his streak of Expos books to five consecutive years by diving into Explosion, which is a collection of essays related to the franchise's 36 seasons from 1969-2004. This is an anniversary book, commemorating two sad occasions that rocked the franchise: the relocation to Washington following the 2004 season and the 1994 team that was hit by the strike and cancellation of the season. The author interviews some of the people involved in the contraction vote and the relocation, especially about Sept. 28-29 of 2004. 1994 players Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and Lenny Webster are featured. Gallagher, author of 10 Expos books overall, starts his tome with a look at Gene Mauch and the Expos first season of operation in 1969, 55 years ago. Get ready for nuggets and revelations you have never heard of before. Find out why Larry Parrish nicknamed Jose Morales Yip Yaw, who was also known as Hit Man. When his father was away pitching in the majors, David Segui's mother Emily would throw him a lot of BP and hit him a lot of fungos. Read in detail about Pete Incaviglia and John Patterson, who declined to play for the Expos after being drafted. The irony in Patterson's case is that he was traded back to the Expos by the Diamondbacks. As he has done in many of his books, Gallagher continues to humanize part-time players. This is Gallagher's seventh book in consecutive years, dating back to Blue Monday in 2018. One of those seven books is not about the Expos. It's called Genius, which details the life of Rick Mauran, the founder of Canadian restaurant chains Swiss Chalet and Harvey's.