Righty swinging catcher Gary Carter never played for the Nationals but he’s in the Hall of Fame (elected in 2003) as a Montreal Expo. In Carter’s 12 seasons with the Expos he was a All-Star 7 times, he won 3 Gold Gloves and 3 Silver Slugger Awards. Carter played in 1,503 games for the Expos in which he was 1,427 of 5,303 (.269 avg, .796 OPS) with 707 runs scored, 220 homers, 823 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Carter is #2 all-time in Expos/Nationals’ history in games played with 1,503. He is also #4 in hits (1,427), #4 in runs scored (707), #3 in homers (220), #3 in RBIs (827), #5 in doubles (274), tied for 9th with Larry Parrish with 24 triples and he is #2 in walks (582) in team history. It might be a long time before the Nationals have another catcher like Gary Carter.

Righty starting pitcher Steve Rogers spent 13 season pitching for the Expos in which he made the All-Star team five times. Rogers pitched in 399 games (393 starts) for the Expos and he was 158-152, with 2 saves, a 3.17 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. 1982 was Rogers’ best season for the Expos as he was second in the Cy Young voting. Rogers pitched in 35 games (all starts) for the Expos in 1982 and he was 19-8 with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Rogers is all over the franchise’s record books. He is the Expos/Nationals all-time leader in game started (393), wins (158), complete games (129), shutouts (37), strikeouts (1,621) and innings pitched (2,837 2/3). Rogers is also #2 all-time in Expos/Nationals history in games pitched (399), #8 in ERA (3.17) and #10 in WHIP (1.23). While most of the fans of the Nationals never saw Rogers I did and let me assure you that he was even better than his numbers show.

Jose Vidro had bad knees by the time the Expos had moved to Washington so Nationals’ fans never really got to see how good he really was. Vidro played in 1,186 games for the Expos/Nationals and he was 1,280 for 4,257 (.301 avg, .821 OPS) with 614 runs scored, 115 homers, 550 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Vidro finished his career #5 in franchise history in hits, #3 in batting average, #9 in OPS, #6 in runs scored, #6 in homers (tied with Andres Galarraga) and #6 in RBIs. He made the All-Star team three times for the Expos/Nationals. It’s too bad the Nationals’ fans didn’t get to see the real Jose Vidro.