Expos May Be Facing More Finales

Mark McGwire’s stunning and historic conclusion Sunday to the regular season also may have come on a historic day for the Montreal Expos, who finished the year with a 65-97 record as they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3. It isn’t certain, but the game may have been the last for the Expos representing Montreal and the last for Felipe Alou as manager.

Alou is expected to be offered the Dodger managerial job soon. And there is widespread speculation that if current owner Claude Brochu is unable to complete financing for a new stadium by Oct. 7, he will sell the club to either William Collins, a northern Virginia telecommunications executive, or other interested buyers, and that the National League will vote approval for the Expos to play next year in RFK Stadium in Washington before ultimately moving into a new stadium in northern Virginia.

Brochu has insisted that he has no plans to sell before the 1999 season, but sources familiar with the situation said it is unlikely he would endure another season with no hope of a new stadium.

Alou, meanwhile, hinted broadly Sunday that it was his last game at the Expo helm. Although he is under contract through 1999, he said that General Manager Jim Beattie had already told him that he would receive permission to talk with any interested club, a sure sign, Alou said, that the end is near in Montreal.