Just a week or so ago was the 10th anniversary of the final game the Expos played in Montreal. There are many reasons the team wound up leaving town for Washington, starting with the strike/lockout of 1994 when the Expos had the best record in the Majors only to see the season shut down in mid-August and the World Series cancelled. You can throw in lack of post-season appearances (one) and a relatively fan unfriendly stadium in the wrong part of town and an ownership at the end that wasnt committed or couldnt afford to keep a very good team together. But I discovered something over the weekend that might have profoundly changed the history, and ultimately the future, of the Expos franchise: the 1971 draft. In 1971, the Chicago White Sox lead off the draft by selecting catcher Danny Goodwin, who never really panned out at the Big League level. The Expos, picking fourth overall, chose a short stop out of Tennessee by the name of Condredge Holloway. Condredge was not only an outstanding baseball player, a sport he actually preferred, but also an excellent quarterback. His parents were committed to seeing him get an education and his mother refused to sign his contract with the Expos. Condredge went on to play baseball and football at the University of Tennessee, where he excelled at both sports. He was actually the first African American to play quarterback in the Southeast Conference. Holloway ultimately chose football for his pro career and after being drafted by New England as a defencive back, opted for the CFL and landed in Ottawa. Later on, he was named Most Outstanding Player in the CFL with the Argos in 1982 and along with Joe Barnes, helped the Argos to a drought-ending Grey Cup victory in that 82 season. In 1999, he was named to the CFL Hall of Fame. On more than one occasion, Holloway spoke of what might have happened if he had chosen baseball and favourably compared himself to Brewers Hall of Fame shortstop, Robin Yount. The Expos would never know, but to compound their problems with that first round in 1971, fire-balling lefty Frank Tanana went 13th overall to the Angels and left field slugger and future Hall of Famer Jim Rice went 15th to the Boston Red Sox. So, Montreal effectively struck out in the first round. But that wasnt the end of it. In the second round of the 1971 draft, the Expos chose left hand starting pitcher Dan Warthen. His career flamed out pretty quickly. Warthen went 12-21 with a 4.31 ERA and his days in the Majors were over at 25, though he has gone on to be a successful pitching coach and his currently with the New York Mets, who may have the best flock of young arms in the business. But back to the matter at hand. Kansas City had the number five pick in that second round in 71 and chose a young shortstop who would later become a Hall of Fame 3B in George Brett, one of the greatest pure hitters the game has ever seen. Right after that selection, the Phillies chose another shortstop, who like Brett would become a Hall of Fame third baseman and Expos Killer Mike Schmidt, who had tremendous power and played gold glove defence at the hot corner. So lets recap. The Expos ended up with little or nothing in Holloway and Warthen, and could have had two of the following four; Frank Tanana, Jim Rice, George Brett or Mike Schmidt. Three of those four turned into Hall of Famers. Schmidt won a World Series over Brett and the Royals in 1980 and Brett and company beat St. Louis in the 1985 Fall Classic. You cant tell me with Rice and Brett or Rice and Schmidt, the Expos wouldnt have won at least one World Series and that could have changed the course of history for Canadas first Major League team. When you look at the current Kansas City Royals who are just two victories away from going to their second World Series, you can pinpoint a three year span of drafting as being instrumental to their success. In 2005, they took 3B Alex Gordon, now their left fielder number two overall. In 2007, 3B Mike Moustakas went number two and in 2008 1B Eric Hosmer went number three overall. Rising prospect Christian Colon went number four in Round 1 in 2010 and lefty reliever Brandon Finnegan, whos in their pen right now, was taken at number 14 this year. The Philadelphia Inquirer made an interesting point the other day. A Major League all-star game hasnt been played in a multipurpose stadium since it was held at the old Veterans Stadium in 1996. So you can basically count out Rogers Centre at least until the Argos are gone and natural grass is finally installed. This season, former Blue Jays utility outfielder Rajai Davis stole 35 bases for the Tigers. 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Catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Wild lead the Northwest Division and look to get back into the win column after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Tuesdays 2-1 loss at Winnipeg in the finale of a five-game road trip (4-1-0).Spains 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the Netherlands on Friday came as a shock to everyone who follows the beautiful game. It also served as a reminder that at the highest level of the game, the margin for error is incredibly small. Up 1-0 in the first half after Xabi Alonso had converted a dubious penalty kick, Spain had a glorious chance to double their lead in the 43rd minute. An exquisite reverse pass from Andres Iniesta (pictured below) sent David Silva in alone on the Dutch goal. Unfortunately, Silvas finish wasnt up to the same standard as Iniestas pass. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) Just one minute later, the Netherlands equalized through a spectacular Robin van Persie diving header. With no apparent danger coming from the Netherlands, Spain set up in a very narrow defensive shape. (Spains opponents will do well to take note – exploiting this is a key to success against the reigning World Cup champs.) Yet just two passes later, the ball was in the back of the Spanish goal. The first pass came from Bruno Martins Indi to Daley Blind, who took up a wide position on the left flank. It was a free pass, with no Spanish player in a position to put pressure on Blinds first touch. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) Once Blind received the ball, Spains back four was vulnerable to the diagonal ball over the top to van Persie – because Sergio Ramos, the left central defender, fell asleep and got caught ball-watching. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) With no pressure on the ball, Blind was able to spot that van Persie managed to get a step in front of his marker, Ramos. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) The ball from Blind was exquisite, and it was matched only by the finish from van Persie - a diving, looping header over Iker Casillas in Spains goal. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) So what could Spain have done differently? In this situation, when the ball went wide to Blind, Gerard Pique was tight with Arjen Robben, the first striker – as he should be.dddddddddddd His defensive partner, Ramos, needed to be in a deeper covering position, so that he could support Pique while also nullifying the threat of the ball in behind to van Persie. (CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE) It is only a matter of Ramos being 3-4 yards deeper, but at the World Cup, that is sometimes all that is needed to create scoring opportunities. Had Spains back-four been properly aligned (highlighted in yellow, above), Blind would never had played the ball forward for van Persie to run onto because Ramos would have been in a position to head the pass away. This goal, scored right before the half-time break, was a real blow to Spains confidence. From nearly doubling their lead a minute earlier, to conceding a wonder goal to the Dutch, the momentum turned in favour of the Netherlands going into the second half. The Spanish collapse after the break – where they conceded four unanswered goals – should have been prevented, though. The second goal was down to a combination of wonderful skill from Robben and slack marking from Pique and Ramos; the third and fourth goals down to mistakes from Casillas, with the fifth goal a classic counter-attacking move from the Dutch. It would be naïve to presume that this result – as shocking as it was – is an indication that Spains style of play is now ineffective. La Roja still possess a squad full of some of the worlds most talented players, and they will continue to employ their tiki-taka possession game to great effect. Players like Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta and Silva are still a joy to watch, and they will go into their next game with Chile knowing they must win, as a loss will effectively end their tournament. What it does prove, though, is that even the best are fallible on an off day. ' ' '