Comments on: Dave Cash

By: johnq11

johnq11 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:20:45 +0000

Horks,

That’s an excellent point as far as the exchange rate goes, and it’s a factor that never received enough attention when people discuss the history of the Expos.

I remember there was an excellent article on this subject in the New York Times during the late 90′s. Basically the article was pointing out how difficult is was for the the Expos and Blue Jays to compete for free agents when they have to deal with a poor exchange rate.

The only thing that saved the Blue Jays was the opening of the “Skydome” in 1989 which was the first modern cash-cow ballpark. This essentially offset the poor exchange rate.

As far as Cash goes, Basilisc referred to Cash’s tenure with the Expos as a “Big Disappointment”. I don’t think that’s a fair assessment of Cash’s 3 years with the Expos.

In 1977 he hit: .289/.343/.375, which were essentially his career numbers up until that point and actually improved his slugging percentage by .40. Those were very good offensive numbers for a second basemen back in the 70′s. Plus he hit a career mark 42 doubles which ranked him 2nd in the N.L.

1978 was a disappoint as his numbers dropped severely.

1979 was a pivotal year for the Expos and Cash was limited to 200 P.A. I don’t remember if he was injured or what the story was but he hit .321/.358/.422 for the season in a limited role. Maybe it was because they had Rodney Scott, but seriously giving Scott 645 plate appearances with a .238/.319/.294, and batting him second no less was a horrible decision. One of the all time worst blunders. And Williams did the same thing in 1980!!!

The Expos only lost the East by 2 games in ’79, giving Cash 30-50 more plate appearances instead of Scott wins the division. Hell, batting Scott 8th probably wins the division.

Who knows they win in ’79 or ’80 they might still be in Montreal.

By: horks

horks — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:11:33 +0000

oops, the bracket went with the link there.

Link unbroken:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CAD_USD_Exchange_Rates.png

By: horks

horks — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:10:11 +0000

A note on Canada having a “suffering exchange rate,” according to historical exchange rate charts (i.e. this one on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CAD_USD_Exchange_Rates.png), Dave arrived at a time when the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar…yet it dropped off considerable the following decade…

…maybe the free agent signing of Dave Cash crashed the Canadian economy? Food for thought.

By: catfish326

catfish326 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:39:54 +0000

When I was a kid, I recall thinking about Cash’s 1975 season. Wow, 699 AB’s and 213 hits?! I recall punching the numbers into the old over-sized calculator: .304721. Over the years, jokingly I fooled children, my kids and even girlfriends. I tell them how smart I am at math. They of course doubt me and laugh. And, then I challenge them. I say, “You grab the calculator and I’m going to throw some numbers out there and I’ll give you the answer.” “OK, ya right,” I would hear. I tell them, “punch in, oh I don’t know, say 213 divided by . . . um, how about 699.” They punch it in. I tap my temple a little and then say, “Uh, the answer is . . . it’s .304721. Correct?” They always respond, “What?! How did you do that?! Do it again, do it again!” Of course I refuse, but all the while laughing and smiling.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:34:22 +0000

4. 3 : I love to hear thoughts about the Expos, so thanks for those deep ones, JP246. As a secondary level Expos fan (i.e., they were a team I always rooted for but never lived and died with) I have to defer to the real Expos fans on this, but I hope on some level the team isn't dead and that it never dies. Like Faulkner said: "The past is not dead. It's not even past."

By: JP246

JP246 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:24:18 +0000

3. The Expos died several times. They died on august 12 1994, they died on april 5 1995 when the trade of John Wetteland started the great fire sale, Grissom was traded the following day and Walker signed with the Rockies two days later. Yet, they only missed the playoffs by two games in 1996. There was hope. Then the Expos really died to me : on november 18 1997 the Expos, nos zamours, traded the greatest pitcher who ever played the game to the Boston Red Sox for… well they could have traded him for two bags of balls it would not have made much of a difference. I guess I'm complaining for nothing, when you get the greatest pitcher ever for Delino DeShields, you can't really expect the baseball gods to give you much more in return, but still it was Pedro. After I heard the news on TV, it was over, the Expos were dead. Vlad was still there, but it was only a matter of time before he took the same path as the others. Things were broken never to be the same. I can root for players even if I know they will leave if there is hope they can win it all before leaving. With Vlad it was just a waste of talent. And to finally answer your question Josh, except for a funny cap on Gary Carter's head on a plaque in Cooperstown there is nothing left of the Expos there should not be anything left either. The Nationals are a new franchise, they don't need old, dusty and powder blue memories. Just that weird logo on Carter (and hopefully Raines)on plaque in some museum, a few pictures there and there maybe a story about El Presidente's perfect game or about the time Steve Rogers outpitched Steve Carlton twice in the same playoff series. The Expos will live the way the cleveland Spiders live, but it's not the same thing as "existing" there is no present, just past and fewer and fewer people to remember it. May the Expos rest in peace, they deserved better.

By: Basilisc

Basilisc — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:41:59 +0000

2. Actually Cash left the Phils as a free agent – the 1976-77 offseason featured one of the wildest free-agency free-for-alls ever, I think because it was the first one after the Messersmith decision – so it’s a stretch to say he changed his identity against his will. On the other hand, his career with the Expos was a big disappointment. His only two full .300 seasons, & his only three all-star appearances, came with the Phillies; he never hit better than .289 in a full season in Montreal. He spent one disappointing year in SD, then was cut before the 1981 season. So maybe he has that expression because, a split-second before the shutter snapped, he glimpsed his future.

His replacement with the Phils was the forgettable Ted Sizemore, and maybe his departure explains why they didn’t get to the WS the next three seasons. So the future looked bleak all around.

By: CMcFood

CMcFood — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:38:57 +0000

1. To me, it looks as though someone, perhaps a lowly ballboy, just off camera, has cut a fart, and that Dave is just now smelling it, and that, when this photo taking is done, he is going to lay a serious beat-down on that person.