Review of "Blue Monday"

Even though this post is written during an American holiday weekend, this book about a significant day in Canadian baseball history was one that caught my eye. I always followed the Montreal Expos during their existence and this book about the most heartbreaking game in their 36 year history was a decent read.  Here is my review of "Blue Monday,"

Title/Author:

“Blue Monday: The Expos, the Dodgers and the Home Run That Changed Everything” by Danny Gallagher

Tags:

Baseball, professional, championship, Expos, Dodgers

Publish date:

October 13, 2018

Length:

256 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

In October 1981, Major League Baseball was in the midst of a postseason that went longer thanks to a players’ strike in the middle of the regular season. The National League Championship Series (NLCS) between the Montreal Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers was a tense 5 game affair (the series was a best of 5 format at that time) that the Dodgers won on the strength of a home run by outfielder Rick Monday. Because the home run denied the Expos a chance to go to their first World Series and the fact that the game was on Monday, October 19, that day has been known as “Blue Monday” in Canada. The significance and sadness of the game in Canada only grew over time as the Expos never got that close to the World Series again before leaving Montreal in 2004. That game, the main men involved and how the Expos got that that point is chronicled in this book by sportswriter Danny Gallagher.

Blue Monday actually had its beginnings at the end of the 1976 season when the Expos, coming off a season in which they lost 107 games, fired manager Karl Kuehl and hired Dick Williams. Williams was a proven winner, having won pennants and World Series titles previously in Boston and Oakland.  Between good drafts and trades by general manager John McHale and Williams changing the culture of the franchise, the team had come very close to making the postseason in 1979 and 1980, finally breaking through in 1981 thanks to the split season format enacted after the player’s strike. By winning the National League East Division in the second half, the playoff format that year had the Expos facing the first half winner, the Philadelphia Phillies. After winning that series, the Expos met the Dodgers, with the teams splitting the first four games, setting up the epic showdown for the National League pennant.

The book leads the reader up to this moment completely, from the hiring of Williams to the rise of many key Expos players such as Rogers, Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie (more in him a little later) and Gary Carter. There were surprises along the way, such as the shocking firing of Williams as manager in September 1981 and replacing him with Jim Fanning. This was not a completely popular move and it led to the biggest question asked in the history of the Expos – why did Fanning send Rogers out to pitch in the eighth inning of game 5 of the NLCS?

Gallagher asks the question and gets many responses from many people, including the main three – Fanning, Rogers and Monday.  Without giving away any spoilers, it is safe to say that the reader will have plenty of information to determine whether that decision was justified or not. There is also similar analysis with other questions, such as if the Expo starter in game 5, Ray Burris, could have stayed in the game and why Williams was fired. These not only are analyzed with serious information, there is also a bit of humor in each one. The humor may come from other sources or from Gallagher himself. For the former, try this quote from legendary Los Angeles sports writer Jim Murray, writing about Burris who played with several teams before the Expos: “…Ray Burris, one of those pitchers who has been through more towns than a steamboat trunk.”  For some humor from the author, try this for a reason that Dick Williams was fired: “ Youppi! didn’t want to be manager.”  (Note: Youppi! was the Expos’ orange furry mascot)

While the book overall is a decent read, those who were Expos fans or followed the team during its existence will want to pick this up to learn a little more about the man who broke Canada’s heart, Rick Monday. Gallagher’s interviews and writing about Monday since that home run give the reader an inside glimpse into the man that many baseball fans have never seen. For that reason alone, it is a worthy addition to any baseball library.

I wish to thank Dundurn Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

www.amazon.com/Blue-Monday-Dodgers-Changed-Everything/dp/1459741870/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=