The beginning of the end

In a move that directly impacts the future of the Montreal Expos, the executive board of the players' association votes 29 years ago today to strike on Aug. 12.

The strike cuts short the 1994 season, and wipes out the league playoffs and World Series.

At the time of the strike, the Expos have baseball's best record at 74-40 and are among the favorites to reach the Series. Before the strike crushes those chances, the Expos are hoping to parlay their 1994 success into a new downtown stadium depicted here.

Never happens.

Instead, the cash-starved Expos are forced after the strike ends in 1995 to trade away their high-priced stars, starting a downward spiral that continues until they complete their financial free fall in 2004, end their 35-year existence in Montreal and move to Washington, D.C.