Keefer Madness Explores 'Great Moments In Red Sox-Expos History'
BOSTON (CBS) - Ever since the B's downed Detroit, the main topic of discussion in Boston sports talk has been centered around the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, but what about the Red Sox and the Expos?
Rich Keefe decided to examine the history between Boston and Montreal's lesser known rivalry all week long on Keefer Madness.
One team played in the National League while one has been an American League mainstay, so it's not necessarily a "rivalry" to so speak, but there is a decent amount of history between the two teams.
To ring in the two cities coming together once again, Adam Jones and Rich Keefe explore "Les Grands Moments de L'histoire Red Sox-Montréal Expos," which translates in English to "Great Moments In Red Sox-Expos History."
On Monday, the 1997 Pedro Martinez trade was discussed.
Now that the dust has settled, and Pedro Martinez, Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. have all retired, Keefe jokes, "We can finally say the Red Sox won that trade. I'm gonna go out there on a limb."
Listen below:
Keefer Madness: The Pedro Martinez Trade
But there has been other great moments in Red Sox-Expos history too -- it's not just limited to the Martinez fleecing.
On Tuesday night, Keefe discussed the Cliff Floyd trade.
Five years after the Pedro trade in 2002, the Red Sox found themselves five games back from the Yankees in the division, and one game back from the Angels for the wildcard at the All-Star break.
"They had to make a move, so who do they call up? Their old friends the Montreal Expos. They said, 'Hey, we'll send you a couple of Korean pitchers -- Seung Song and Sun-Woo Kim -- and you give us Cliff Floyd.'
"Seung Song never pitched in the majors and Sunny Kim played parts of four seasons, going 6-9 with a 4.70 ERA -- so he stunk."
But as Keefe noted, the Sox weren't able to make the postseason with Cliff Floyd, albeit through no fault of his own. They finished six games out of the wildcard in 2002, despite Cliff Floyd hitting .316/.374/.561/.935 in 47 games. After the season Floyd signed a four-year deal with the Mets and was never heard from again.
"That was a worthwhile rental," said Jones. "They gave up squat and brought in a guy who played well. That was a good trade."
"I loved Floyd. It didn't work out, but it wasn't his fault. So there's another trade [between the Red Sox and Expos]. It wasn't as significant as [the Pedro Martinez trade] but another trade nonetheless."
Listen below:
Keefer Madness: The Cliff Floyd Trade
The three-part series ended Wednesday night, when Keefe put together the "Redspos," or the greatest Red Sox/Expos roster ever compiled. In order to qualify, you must have played for both the Red Sox and the Expos at some point throughout your career in a major league game.
Grady Sizemore would not count, because he never made the big leagues in Montreal, and Carl Pavano wouldn't count because he never cracked the bigs in Boston.
So throw them out. Now Keefe could have put together a starting lineup of nine players, but he gave you the whole 25-man roster -- that's just the kind of guy he is.
SPOILER ALERT: 98.5 The Sports Hub's very own Jerry Trupiano, who spent time calling both the Red Sox and Expos, would be the chosen broadcaster of the Redspos.
Listen below for the full 25-man roster, including the manager and owner too!
Keefer Madness: The Redspos
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