The East

One of the more touching scenes of last or any season took place al Olympic Stadium in Montreal on Oct. 4. The Expos, having just donated the division title to the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 6-4, were looking properly crestfallen as they filed out of the clubhouse. The jolt, though, was that almost every Expo had a small likeness of Youppi, the team's fluffy orange mascot, tucked under his arm. The dolls were a gift from the club, and. of course, they were meant for the players' children, but the sight of grown men trying to keep stiff upper lips as they coddled stuffed animals was both funny and sad. The funny part was that the Expos really did have some growing-up to do. The sad part was that in order to do that, they had to lose in such ignominious fashion. "'It was the emptiest feeling I've ever had." says Warren Cromartie. "When I got home after the season I heard the same things over and over: 'What happened to you guys?' and 'Why'd you guys choke?' I don't want to hear those things again." Two years ago the Expos finished two games out of first. Last year they were frustrated again, falling one game short. This year Bowie (Nanook) Kuhn should enjoy the bracing weather of Montreal in October.

The Expos shouldn't start printing playoff tickets just yet, though. After all, the world champion Phillies aren't about to let go without a struggle, not after it took 98 years to win the team's first World Series. Then there are the St. Louis Cardinals, housecleaned by Whitey Herzog, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, long in tooth but stout of heart. The only certainty in this, the best balanced and worst behaved division in baseball, is that four teams—maybe even five, Kong willing—will begin September with legitimate playoff hopes. Should the season end with a strike on May 28, look for the meek Chicago Cubs to win. Chicago insured another early start by acquiring Third Baseman Ken Reitz, a perennial spring terror. You heard it here first. Film at 11.

Youppi dolls aren't the only reason to pick Montreal. The team is on the verge. Of the projected starting eight, six players are just now approaching their prime. The exceptions are Shortstop Chris Speier, who's still going steady at 30, and rookie Leftfielder Tim Raines, a converted second baseman who will try to fill Ron LeFlore's track shoes. The lineup features the best catcher, Gary Carter, and the best centerfielder, Andre Dawson, in the league. Carter hit 29 homers and drove in 101 runs last year, and also won a Gold Glove while leading the majors in assists with 108, the most by any catcher since Luke Sewell had 117 for Cleveland in 1928. Dawson, too, was a Gold Glover while batting .308 with 87 RBIs. He stole 34 bases, had 17 game-winning RBIs and either scored or drove in 24% of all Expo runs. Third Baseman Larry Parrish was a star two years ago, but an injured left wrist in 1980 cut his homers from 30 to 15 and his average from .307 to .254. The wrist no longer bothers him. Second Baseman Rodney Scott hit only .224, but he did find first base often enough to steal 63 bases and score 84 runs. Cromartie (.288. 70 RBIs) will be at first base again. Raines, who patterns himself after his idol, Joe Morgan, and comes in the same compact size, hit .354 with 77 stolen bases at Denver last year. He's shooting for .280 and 80 thefts with the Expos.

Montreal also has the funny Valentine, Ellis, one of the most talented players in the game. In little more than half a season, 311 at bats last year, he drove in 67 runs. But during spring training he refused to take batting practice at the auxiliary field in West Palm Beach, because of the bad hitting background, and then threatened to flatten anyone who leased him about it. The Expos would like to trade him, especially for a stopper out of the bullpen. But he is also the best curveball hitter on the team, and the Expos are supposedly susceptible to curves.

Montreal has the deepest pitching in the division. The first three starters are Steve Rogers, Scott Sanderson and Bill Gullickson. "Any of us could win 20," says Sanderson. "Maybe all three." Rogers and Sanderson were both 16-11 last year, and Gullickson won 10 after being called up on May 29. For relief, comic and otherwise, the Expos are hoping that 41-year-old tobacco farmer Woodie Fryman hasn't run out of juice.

The Phillies are the champs, but history is against them: the 1975 Pirates are the only team to win the division after finishing first by less than two games the previous year. Some of the more paranoid Phillies even think the manager, Dallas Green, is against them. The Phillies won against all odds last year, but this season they could be headed for a breakdown.

Philadelphia is a potent team, though Mike Schmidt (page 20) may be hard-pressed to match his 48 homers and 121 RBIs. At the opposite corner of the diamond is Pete Rose, who in just two years became a fine fielder. Rose won't hit .282 again this year; .300 would be more like it, a figure befitting his new rose-colored bat. In between them are Manny Trillo, the best all-round second baseman in the league, and Larry Bowa. Bowa isn't Larry Bowa anymore, but the Phillies will probably need another year to convince themselves of that. The catching will be juggled between Keith Moreland, representing the future and offense, and Bob Boone, representing the past and defense.

The Phillies wanted Gary Matthews so badly that they traded Pitcher Bob Walk for him twice, on March 18 and March 25. Matthews should lift some of the power load off Schmidt, but the Phillies have two other righthand-hitting leftfielders in Lonnie Smith and former Brewer Dick Davis. In centerfield is Garry Maddox, of whom it was once said, "Two-thirds' of the earth is covered with water, the other third by Garry Maddox." However, his average (.259 last year) has been dropping steadily since he hit .330 in 1976. The rightfielder is Bake Mc-Bride, who became a big RBI man last year with 87. McBride may start slowly, however, because of a tender right thumb.

Steve Carlton, the best lefthander of his generation, had another great year, winning the Cy Young Award for the third time with a 24-9 record and a 2.34 ERA. He may be 36, but, as Carlton says, "." He has a worthy second in Dick Ruthven, 17-10 last year and yielder of only nine home runs in 223 innings. Larry Christenson, Nino Espinosa and Marty Bystrom, who was 5-0 in a September cameo, complete the starting staff. Tug McGraw probably won't be as effective this year—it's the 'law of relieving.

Late last season when Whitey Herzog was wearing only his general manager's hat for the Cardinals, he phoned down to interim Manager Red Schoendienst in the dugout and told him. "Just hold them for a few more innings, and I'll see if I can get Sutter." Well, Herzog got Bruce Sutter from the Cubs for Reitz and Leon Durham...and he got Darrell Porter for $3.5 million...and he got Rollie Fingers, Bob Shirley and Gene Tenace from the Padres for Terry Kennedy, a utility infielder, a third-string catcher and the Springfield pitching staff...and he got Sixto Lezcano, Lary Sorensen and two hot prospects from the Brewers for Fingers, Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich. "Whitey's a good friend," says Expo Manager Williams, "but he made one trade too many. Personally, we're very happy to have Simmons and Vuckovich out of our hair."