May 30, 1969, Montreal: Padres 3, Expos 2 (box score)
Long before MLB embarked upon the nasty little task of destroying its Montreal franchise, the Expos had entered the National League alongside the San Diego Padres with hope and little else. The first game between the new expansion teams saw Dick Kelley face rookie right-hander Mike Wegener at Jarry Park.
The Expos included two men — Manny Mota and Maury Wills — who are almost exclusively identified with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The offensive star, though, was left-swinging Rusty Staub. He and Mack Jones provided most of the spark for the Expos in their inaugural season.
On this occasion, the Padres drew first blood. Actually, the Expos drew blood, but it was their own. Two errors and a sacrifice bunt pushed the visiting team to an early 1-0 lead.
After a leadoff homer in the fifth by Montreal catcher John Boccabella tied the score, the Padres again pulled ahead in the eighth. Again, they did it thanks to the home team’s generosity. With nobody on and two out, Ollie Brown hit a fly ball to center. Jones clanked it, and Brown ended up on third base. Wegener then uncorked a wild pitch, and the Padres had a 2-1 lead.
The Expos tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, but it could have been much worse. Fortunately for the Padres, three hits and a wild pitch netted the home team just the one run.
The game remained tied until the top of the 10th inning. Then second baseman Jerry John Sipin homered off eventual loser Dan McGinn to give the Padres a 3-2 lead.
The Expos put a couple of runners on base in the bottom half of the frame, but couldn’t score against Jack Baldschun. The Padres won, improving their record to 19-30. Even more remarkably, Baldschun saw his record jump to 5-0.
Trivia: Staub and Nate Colbert had been teammates in Houston in 1968. They combined to hit 53 home runs in ’69.
Elsewhere in the world: Australian long-distance runner Derek Clayton broke his own world record for fastest marathon.
Can’t think about Rusty Staub, especially in Montreal, without his alt nickname coming to mind … “Le Grande Orange” … he’s got a nice page at Wikipedia … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Staub
Nice. It’s easy to forget just how good Staub was back in his heyday.