Jose Vidro Autographed Card

It's September, which means hockey and football training camps are starting and baseball is ending its season. Back when the Montréal Expos existed, it was often the time of year when the Atlanta Braves would give their final push to relegate my hometown team to its role of perennial playoff-absentee.

The 2000s weren't pretty for the Expos, but there were a few pleasant occurrences, such as Jose Vidro batting for over .300 - which he did for five straight seasons, representing the team at the All-Star Game in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

Not just that, but in 2000, he had a .375 batting average going into the Summer Classic, leading the Majors. It was a terrific season for him, as he ended up finishing seventh in the National League in BA (.330), second in hits (200), and third in doubles (51), setting career highs for home runs (24) and RBIs (97).

He also won the Sliver Slugger Award as the best-hitting second baseman in the NL in 2003. He also had a decent arm for an infielder, throwing outs at home plate and first base regularly.

He ended his career with one great (.314, 78 runs) and one extremely painful (.234) season with the Seattle Mariners, after suiting up for the first two seasons of the Washington Nationals, who traded him for two prospects in the most Expos-like deal they could muster up.

He is the best possible representative of uniform #3 in my Expos Numbers Project, with card #45 of the 2001 Bowman set, by Topps, which he signed in blue sharpie around 2002-2004, on top of a fac-simile autograph printed on the card:

It shows him wearing the team's final (grey) away uniform, batting right-handed (he was a switch hitter).