The Day MLB Died 

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You know he's talking about Gwynn when he says "after bottoming out at .300" absolute legend, Mr Padre.

It's crazy to think that we might've missed out on seeing Pujols hit 700 and Judge hitting 62 if this season was shortened.

I remember watching this season with my grandpa. I was 8yr old and he made me fall in love with baseball that season, as I was watching "history in the making". My old guy died this year and this video brought me so many memories, thank you so much for it!

1990-94 was the best time in baseball. Every year new superstars were coming up from the big hurt Frank thomas, Ken Griffey Jr,Piazza,Bagwell....etc. Cal Ripken was getting close to breaking the streak. Watching baseball tonight every night was great. After the strike things just were never the same though baseball was still pretty good but I didn't watch it as much as those 90-94 years when I first started watching sports as a kid. I always said I wish baseball had a salary cap and my Reds didn't have to trade most good players they got.

That 94 Expos team was loaded. So many great players. Great Video!

Barry Bonds might've hit 60 home runs. He was on a pace to hit 55 and was having an insane second half after Darryl Strawberry joined the team and hit behind him. He was also on a pace to steak 40+ bases. Greg Maddux had a 1.56 ERA that year and probably would've won 24 games had the strike not happened. Atlanta was a notoriously good second half team at that time so he probably would've received more run support down the stretch. He also lost a lot of great pitching in 1995 due to the 144 game season and pitchers throwing fewer innings in the first month or so of the season. Fred McGriff hit 34 home runs in 1994. He was on a pace to hit 48. McGriff retired with 493 career home runs but would have had 514 with a 48 home run season in 1994. He'd be in the Baseball Hall of Fame with 500 career home runs (and deserves to be there regardless). Randy Johnson had 204 strikeouts in 23 GS and was on a pace for 310 in 35 starts. The strike likely cost him two 300 K seasons. Frank Thomas had one of the greatest offensive seasons in modern MLB history. He played in every game on the White Sox schedule up to the strike and, over the course of 162 games, was on a pace to hit .353 with 48 doubles, 54-55 home runs, 152 runs scored, 145 RBI, and 156 BB. Absolutely incredible. When he was in his prime he was the best hitter I've ever seen. Albert Belle was on a pace to bat .357 with 50 doubles, 52 home runs, and 145 RBI in 152 games. The following season, he hit 52 doubles in 50 home runs in 143 games, which becomes 59 doubles and 56 home runs in a full season. He's the only player in baseball history to hit 50 doubles & 50 home runs in a season, and he could have done it in back to back seasons. He belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Kenny Lofton hit .349 and was on a pace to steal 78 bases, score 151 runs, and hit 46 doubles. Like Belle, he belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bret Saberhagen had 14 wins in 23 starts with only 12 base on balls. It was exceedingly rare for a hard throwing pitcher to exhibit that kind of control back then. Even today, hard throwing pitchers rarely have more wins than walks in a season (Clayton Kershaw is the only pitcher who's done it since then that I can recall). David Cone was on a pace to win 24 games, the most of his career

I consider myself SO lucky to get to see Tony Gwynn play in person for my entire childhood. He was incredible. That '94 season definitely robbed him of an all time year.

1994 was the last year I paid attention to MLB. Before the strike I used to pay to go to games, I closely followed the races, and I cared. When they canceled the World Series I went on strike. I've been to a few games since then, including Cal Ripken's record breaker, his last game at Camden Yards, and some company functions. They were tickets given to me. I only watch on TV if it happens to be on someplace I'm at. I'd say I miss it, but I guess I really don't.

Loved Ken Griffey Jr.. They talk about his bombs, but he was one of the best center fielders in history.

RIP Tony Gwynn

My dad stopped watching the Yankees. This year I have convinced him to start going to games again and he loves them. Got someone back into this sport. Help revive the sport.

Tony Gwynn stats are freaking mind boggling I wish I got to watch him play in his prime. My dad always tells me how incredible a hitter he was it’s awful how he didn’t get a shot at .400

Frank Thomas was hitting .353 with 38 homers and 101 RBI in 113 games. I quit watching baseball for almost 5 years after they went on strike that year.

Missing out on a possible pennant run by the ‘94 White Sox (67-46) will always be a disappointment too. -Frank Thomas was hitting .353 w/ an OPS of 1.217, 38HR, 101 walks & a WAR of 6.4. -Julio Franco at 35y/o had 20HR, 90RBI, a BA OF .316, OBP of .406 & a OPS of .916. To that you can throw in a prime Robin Ventura, an aging but effective Tim Raines, Lance Johnson’s speed & a career year from Darrin Jackson The pitching staff & bullpen were pretty good too. They were fun to watch & an all time “What-If” for the ages to fans of the south siders…

After the 1994 strike, MLB instituted interlegue play in 1997, the owners started building the retro ball parks, the Yankees closed out the century with multiple world series championships, Cal Ripken broke Gehrig's record, and Sosa & McGwire broke Maris record with the juice. So basically baseball got lucky in a way. It still didn't get back to that magic of what was about to happen in 1994, but it survived.

As a young Yankees fan 1994 breaks my heart because it was likely Don Mattingly's best shot at winning a world series. Announcers like Joe Morgan would mercilessly trash Mattingly because he never won a title. Saying things like "real Yankee legends have rings". Which wasn't fair at all. Despite how terrible Yankee pitching was because of Steinbrenner Mattingly was the only reason to watch Yankee games for most fans. If given a decent team with adequate pitching I'm sure Mattingly was good enough to bring home a title in his prime. I've always thought the critcism of Mattingly not winning a title was extremely unfair. But back then it was a very commonly heard critcism.

Were you there? I was. I wrote a report about it in 7th grade as it was happening. Yea, I learned quite a lot about collective bargaining that year. I also learned that it was f-ing heartbreaking to watch Junior lose that season. My favorite player ever, out of ANY sport. I followed his entire career from 1989, when I got a Ken Griffey Jr baseball card out of a pack of Upper Deck cards.

That '94 season strike also cut short what could have possibly been another chance for that Braves dynasty to get a ring. The rotation was in their prime. The lineup was loaded and the bullpen was stacked as well. Very possible we could have seen Chipper Jones make his first appearance that season as well

This 1994 MLB Strike robbed us of a team making the postseason with a sub-500 record (AL West and NL West)

Its crazy knowing how potentially 1994 could have turned into the best season in baseball history with all the teams players and storylines involved,but the strike destroyed that season

Baseball would almost certainly be more popular today without the '94 strike. Both the owners and the players lost from this one.

Dude I'm happy for you. You deserve the recognition! Keep making videos

Ironic that the two most famous Expos seasons were 1981 and 1994 (both seasons that were touched by a strike)

One thing that always gets over looked is of how bad the AL West was, the Rangers were 52-62, all 4 teams separated by 5.5 games. Would've probably been the first team with a losing record to make the post season.

One of the biggest what-if seasons for so many reasons, good stuff!

I never went back to baseball after ‘94. And when I hear about all these weird rules they have brought in lately, it doesn’t make me want to come back.

Gwynn was a hitting machine.

Amazing content man!! I am a happy subscriber now, keep up the great work! I wish the 1994 strike would’ve never happened, those poor Expos. Canada needs them back. I met some amazing Expos fans when I went to Tim Raines’ HOF induction ceremony in 2017; I’ve always thought Canada was big on hockey, but they’re huge with baseball too!

Nice video. I didn't know almost any of this info until now

How does this video only have a few k views? Awesome job!

Great video of 'What if." Also Greg Maddux had like the 2nd lowest ERA since Bob Gibson. That 1994 All Star Game was the last great all star game with an epic finish that featured Tony Gwynn. Other key notes about this year is that Jeff Bagwell got his hand broken a couple of days before the strike and the MVP would have went down to Williams and Bonds. Bonds would have reached the 40/40 that year. I also feel that Griffey and Matt Williams would have reached 60 hrs, due to their protection in the lineup. Williams hitting behind Bonds (as you mentioned) and Griffey hitting behind Buhner or Edgar. Worst of all there was no post season, and the Yankees (historically the premiere team in baseball) were missing out when they had their chance. It was going to be the first post season with eats, central, west due to the Giants winning 103 games in 1993 and finishing 2nd behind the Braves who erroneously in the NL West. What happened though was the NFL, the Cowboys and the 49ers, and football became America's Game. Baseball ruined it's greatest season, and football gave the public what it wanted.

I really liked your tony G part that was really nice sub earned

Dude you deserve views in the tens of thousands if not more. Excellent content

Damn these vids are high quality, this is great work. You've earned a new sub. Keep going!

Just discovered your channel today, subbed! Your graphics style looks familiar ;).

This is going to be a masterpiece, I can already tell.

Another odd distinction that the strike killed was the likelihood that, for the first time ever, there would likely have been a sub-.500 team in the post-season. The Texas Rangers were in 1st place in the AL West at 10 games under .500 when the strike happened.

Always great to see your videos on my sub box. Keep them coming!

Great video. I was in love baseball at the time, but also still young and pretty naïve and the whole money thing really turned me off the game. I'll watch a game here and there, but I've never really been able to get myself back into baseball like I was before the 1994 strike. It's kind of dumb, because sports is money, and I know that now, but for whatever reason, I still am unable to reconcile that when it comes to MLB.

You know what’s crazy, over his career Barry bonds is responsible for winning an entire seasons worth of games all on his own

This is by far one of the most interesting historical sports videos out there nothing like historical baseball facts

Killed me when the lockout hit. As a Giants fan, the team had been playing bad to mediocre baseball all season, but they were finally hitting their stride. The acquisition of Daryll Strawberry. (.363 OBP!) seemed to energize the club, and wake up the bats. Plus, the whole Matt Williams HR chase was amazing. The worst part of the season - besides the work stoppage - was Todd Benzinger and J.R. Philips trying and failing to fill Will Clark's shoes- just awful. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Barry Bonds with a 183 OPS+ (.426 OBP!!). And the aforementioned Matt Williams with a 141 OPS+, .607 SLG and playing gold glove calibre defense. Then on the pitching side, the Giants had a deep veteran staff, featuring 4 above average starters, and 3 above average relieves (including a dominant Rod Beck, with 28 saves despite the shortened season). I really felt like the Giants were climbing out of their funk, and going to do some real damage in the second half. Us baseball fans were robbed, and no one was burned harder than Expos fans. It quite literally killed their franchise.

Between the Dodgers winning 111 games, the Braves passing the Mets at the last second, Shohei Ohtani being one of the greatest athletes in sports history, Aaron Judge hitting 62 home runs, Gerrit Cole striking out 257 batters, and now 3 major upsets in the wild card round of the playoffs, this was certainly a season for the ages. Who knows, maybe 1994 would have been this good too

I was a young Giants fan at the time, and after the injustice of 1993 (103 wins, didn't make playoffs) we had to suffer again watching one of the team favorites (I was a Will Clark guy myself) lose his big moment. At least he got to win a world series in 2001 with the Diamondbacks.

Reggie Sanders was an idiot for charging Pedro Martinez. Dude just lost a perfect game with a HBP did he honestly think he hit him on purpose? Pedro’s immediate reaction after hitting Sanders is all you need to know.

The Yankees were playing really good that year could of been Mattingly’s first world series

Dude your videos are so sick. Is there direct message on RU-vid? I have a million questions

Tony Gwynn would be even more dominant today in the world of shifts, dude could hit it wherever he wanted to

Griffey Jr had the prettiest swing of all time.

I remember this all to well given my parents give me 93 Xmas n May birthday gift as a season ticket holder to the Pittsburgh pirates. I'm shocked u didn't mention about Mr. Padre show in the all star game

So many players were doing amazing things that year. I hate that we'll never know. Some records would have been broken for sure.

The Expos would of won the world series. They were champions of 1994. It was full of terrific players.

Don’t forget Bonds, Bagwell and Thomas all could’ve had a 50HR+ season in ‘94 as well, not to mention, a good possibility of Sox-Expos WS where either the end of a 76yr drought or 1st WS championship was possible.

When the strike happened, I made up my mind to never watch another MLB game again, after the players decided to ruin such a great season. I don't miss MLB at all, to this day.

I liked Larry Walker playing for the Expos ESPECIALLY since he was a native-born Canadian. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

I was 14 in 1994 and followed everything MLB I could before the internet. I was so upset with MLB that I didn't get back into it until the Nationals came around and I had a team to root for because I live in Virginia.

I will never forgive baseball for that season

Crazy as it sounds, it took another 25 years before I started watching baseball again because of that strike

This strike was the death knell for the Expos.

Great channel 👍

I'm still mad that that dude prevented Pedro from throwing a no-hitter by charging the mound! 😡

I was so devastated when the 1994 season ended the way it did. I truly wanted to see if the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics or Seattle Mariners could win the American League West with a sub .500 record. Today in 2021 I am still sad over what happened. Um...thanks for the memories??? LOL

Among the many nuances in 1994 was the plight of the Mariners, losing the ability to play home games in the Kingdome a few weeks before the strike. Had they won the AL West would MLB have allowed Seattle to host playoff games in AAA Tacoma or somewhere else in the NW? Would Griffey have had better HR success playing the rest of the season away from Seattle?

Good video mate

.394, 552, and 1348 are three numbers special to Padres fans.

You know, say what you will about Rob Manfred - at least he pulled through with the MLBPA. We had no 1994 thanks to everyone getting their shit together, and no games were cancelled; everything was just postponed by a few weeks. And 2022 just so happened to be one of the best seasons of baseball in recent memory. The Padres made it to the NLCS for the first time since Gwynn’s twilight years in 1998, Roger Maris’ AL record was broken by a fellow Yankee, and both of the World Series teams claimed redemption - the Astros by winning fair and square, and the Phillies by simply being there. What a ride. And also - Manfred > Selig, let’s be honest.

Let’s not forget Maddux who had 16 wins and 1.56 ERA. Imagine he got his normal # of starts in? He missed about 10. Heck. Same with the next year. 19 wins and he missed starts due to MLB delay. CY yes, but those stats could have been even crazier.

This was so dang cool to watch and relive this season!

Gwynn should still be around today the fact he isn’t is a goddamn shame.

Those bargaining agreements should expire after the season and not during the season. This is what happens

The music in the background reminds me of 'tek it' by cafune

Imagine "bottoming out" at a .300 BA

I was 12 when this happened. And I vaguely remember there being talk around wether or not the strike would stop Ripken’s streak. And I was a HUGE Ripken and Orioles fan (still am). In retrospect I don’t know why that would’ve been a conversation, because he can’t keep playing if there’s no games to play. Lol. The strike def sucked.

The 1994 Strike Absolutely KILLED the Sports Books in Vegas !!!

MLB died for me in 1987. I never watched or listened to a game after they went on strike.

1994 robbed the fans and some players and teams of magical moments.

Jeff Bagwell had nearly 40 bombs, dude would've hit 60+ that year

My dad always says he thought it would be Yankees expos in that ws

No one can convince me that if 1994 was allowed to play out there would be a season even close to how great it would’ve been.

It's a shame the expos were never the same, after 1994. They didn't have a winning season, ever since.

Took me almost a decade to care about MLB again .. and its still pretty fleeting

Seemed like every great player from the 90's was an Expo or in the Expo farm system at some point.

1:07 I feel like I’m the only person here who remembers who Luke Scott is, let alone seeing him play.

Best part of that lost season was it gave Jays fans an extra year as defending World Series champions.

I started watching baseball in 1995 because of Griffey.

Junior was the best player I ever saw play

1994... the year my interest in the game went from absolute love to disgust. Such a great game that had to go and step on it's own toes... again.

This video deserves more views.

On the plus side, thank god the strike destroyed the horrendous idea that was The Baseball Network 😂. So many dreams unrealized. Honestly it was worse having played 70% of the season to have it flushed down the drain rather than the NHL losing a whole season…at least no dreams and hopes were developed.

It died for me when Curt Flood won his case for free agency.

I was interning with the Twins this summer and tbh I felt that the future of the MLB was a bit grim especially with the lockout. I was talking to my friend and he said "Yeah baseball is dying. The NBA is more lucrative." And so I decided to switch and now I work for the Utah Jazz. The NBA has its own issues but at least the future is brighter than the MLB.

What song is this btw? is straight heat

Watching this after the 2022 regular season…. Damn we missed out

the day the expose died

How do you only have 10k subscribers

Also the Expos just won the 1994 World Series on a shoestring budget.

I think with the elimination of the shift a .400 season is somewhat possible bow

Wow there was never a 1994 World Series who do you think would’ve won?

This music is so hype