Washington Nationals Pre-History: Ken Griffey Jr. And Mike Piazza Vs. Expos/Nats

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With Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza In The Hall Of Fame, we take a look back at their careers vs. the Nats And Expos

Yesterday, the voting results were revealed for who would be elected into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this July. The BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association Of America) elected Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza into the Hall Of Fame. In Griffey Jr.’s first time on the ballot, he got 99.3% of the vote (left off three ballots), which is the most any player has ever received. Piazza received 83% of the vote.

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First off, all of our staff wanted to congratulate Griffey Jr. and Piazza on being elected into the Hall Of Fame. In honor of those two great players, we wanted to take a look back at how they fared against not only the Washington Nationals, but the Montreal Expos as well.

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One of the disclaimers before we get into how both players fared is that when Griffey Jr. was with the Mariners, he did not get a chance to play against the Montreal Expos. While Interleague play was in effect beginning in 1997, Seatttle did not play against a NL East team from 1997-1999. That is not the case for Piazza, who played against Montreal/Washington in his days with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, and Padres.

So, without further adieu, let’s look at how both of these players fared against Montreal/Washington DC:

Next: Griffey Jr. vs. Expos

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Ken Griffey Jr. vs. Expos

Griffey Jr. joined the National League when the Cincinnati Reds acquired him in a trade back in February 2000 for a package that included Mike Cameron and Brett Tomko going to Seattle. In 41 games against the Expos/Nats, Griffey hit .268 with 13 home runs, drove in 32 runs, and had a .350 on-base percentage.

First, let’s start with how Griffey Jr. did against the Expos. While the Hall-Of-Famer had good numbers against Montreal, he did struggle at Olympic Stadium. In ten games in that stadium, he hit .231 with three home runs and 12 RBI’s.

In the four years he played at Olympic Stadium (2002-2004), Griffey Jr. never hit more than one home run in a season, but his season-high for RBI’s in a year in that ballpark was six back in 2000. Even though he drove in six runs, he only recorded two hits in that season.

The big hit against Montreal that season took place on July 28. In the top of the second with the bases loaded and two outs, Griffey Jr. hit a grand slam to center field off of Mike Johnson for his 13^th home run of the season. It would put the Reds up 6-0 in a game that Cincinnati won 8-3. It was also the first of two grand slams Griffey Jr. would hit that season.

During Montreal’s final season (2004), Griffey Jr. hit four home runs and drove in six RBI’s in six games. Only one of those home runs was at Olympic Stadium (May 28 – two-run homer vs. Claudio Vargas). However, at Great American Ball Park, he hit three home runs in a two-day period (June 5-6), including a two home-run game on June 6 in his first two at-bats of the game vs. Livan Hernandez.

Next: Griffey Jr. vs. Nationals

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Griffey Jr. Vs. Nationals

While Griffey Jr. hit five home runs in the four seasons he played against the Nationals, only one of them occurred in a Washington ballpark. That home run came in 2005 at then RFK Stadium.

On August 25, Griffey Jr. hit a leadoff solo shot in the top of the seventh against Livan Hernandez (his 30^th of the season) to tie that game at three. Cincinnati scored three runs in the top of the seventh to win the game, 5-3. Griffey Jr. went 3-for-5 that day with two singles and the aforementioned home run.

In 2007, Griffey Jr. once again had home runs in back-to-back games, this time against the Nats. On May 21, he hit a solo shot to right against Levale Speigner at Great American Ball Park in the third inning. On the next night, he hit a two-run shot to right in the fourth inning against Matt Chico, but the Nationals won the game, 8-4. That was his tenth home run of the season. Griffey Jr. would go on to hit 30 home runs that season and would appear in his final All-Star Game.

While Griffey Jr. was still a good player at the latter stages of his career, it would have been a treat if Montreal had played Griffey Jr. while he was with the Mariners. The Expos did not play a game in Seattle until the Mariners moved from the Kingdome to SAFECO Field (2003). Nevertheless, he deserves to be the player with the highest percentage of votes ever to get into Cooperstown.

Next: Piazza Vs. Expos

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Mike Piazza Vs. Expos

Over the course of his career, Mike Piazza dominated Expos/Nationals pitching. He hit 28 home runs against both teams, which is the fourth most he’s hit against any team. The three teams he’s hit the most home runs against are the Rockies, Braves, and Phillies.

Piazza played in 64 games at Olympic Stadium (1993-2004) when he was with the Dodgers and Mets. He hit .342 with 19 home runs and 47 RBI’s. The 19 home runs were the most Piazza hit in any ballpark that he did not call home at one point in his career.

In 1995, when he was with the Dodgers, Piazza hit four home runs at Olympic Stadium. He had one multi-home run game that season, which occurred on August 22. He hit two solo home runs against Carlos Perez and scored three runs in LA’s 7-4 win over the Expos in 11 innings. Another mult-home run game Piazza had in Canada was on August 5, 1997. On that day, the catcher hit a three-run homer in the first against Mike Johnson and then won the game with a solo shot off Ugueth Urbina in the top of the tenth.

From 1999-2004, Piazza had 24 RBI’s at Olympic Stadium when he was with the Mets. On April 9, 1999, he hit a three-run home run in the top of the first and drove in five runs in a 10-3 Mets win Three years later, he had a two home-run game against Tony Armas and Zach Day, but Montreal won the game, 5-4.

Next: Piazza Vs. Nationals

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Piazza Vs. Nationals

Toward the latter sages of Piazza’s career, he played three seasons against the Washington Nationals (2004-2006). He hit four home runs and drove in 18 RBI’s over the course of 34 games. While the catcher hit .140 against the Nats in 2005, two of his seven hits were home runs and he drove in nine runs.

Both of those home runs came in Game 1 of a doubleheader at RFK Stadium on September 25. Piazza hit a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run home run in the fourth against John Patterson. New York won that game, 6-5. He had a game winning hit that season against Washington when he singled off Luis Ayala in the top of the 11^th to defeat Washington, 3-2 on July 7.

In 2006, Piazza was with the Padres, but still found a way to hurt the Nationals. He only hit one home run in five games that season vs. Washington, but it was a game-winning home run.

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On July 9 of that season, Chad Cordero came on to get the save for the Nats as he tried to hold a 9-6 lead. However, Cordero gave up three straight hits, including a RBI double to Adrian Gonzalez and a two-run home run to Khalil Greene to tie it at nine. Three batters, Piazza would pinch-hit for Scott Cassidy and hit a solo home run to left to give San Diego the lead and ultimately the win, 10-9. Whether he was with the Dodgers, Mets, or Padres, one of the greatest, if not the greatest hitting catcher of all-time, still found a way to hurt the Expos and Nats repeatedly.

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