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MONTREAL – Professional athletes tend to best remember the teams with which they win a championship. A bond is forged for life. A group gets together, slogs through the adversity of a long season, plays its best when the games matter most and shares the glory of its achievement. The 1994 Montreal Expos didnt win the World Series. Nobody did. A players strike saw to that. But theres this lingering feeling among the nearly two-dozen players and coaches who gathered to celebrate their special team that they would have been champions, that the 1994 Expos would have secured a third-consecutive world championship for a Canadian-based team. “I think thats the one thing that sticks around too much,” said Cliff Floyd. “If youd played it out, youd feel better about it. If we lost you still feel better about going and getting the opportunity to play. When you dont play it out you wonder what if wed gotten the opportunity to play in the playoffs.” “We built a special bond in 1994,” said Marquis Grissom, a two-time All-Star in a 17-year career. “It didnt just start in 94, it started in 1990, in 1989-1990 when we were all in spring training trying to make the team. It just festered all the way up to 94 to where we all came together for one common cause and that was to win a World Series. We didnt expect to do anything less.” Championship baseball teams need a lot to go right. They must do the obvious, like outpitching and outhitting and outscoring their opponents on more nights than not. Emerging clubs - that Expos team was still so young - must also experience breakthrough moments. Floyd, a rookie that year who would go on to play 17 seasons in the big leagues and make an All-Star Game, provided such a moment. It was June 27. The Expos were hosting the then-National League East-leading Braves. Floyd blew open a close game with a two-out, three-run home run in the seventh inning off of future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux. Montreal won the game and closed to within a game-and-a-half of the division lead. By the time the strike started a month and a half later, the Expos led the Braves by six games in the standings. “I think about that a lot,” said Floyd. “I think about when I walked up to the plate that day. I think about what was on my mind that day. I just told myself get a good pitch to hit. The type of team we had then, the expectations and what I did in the minor leagues, they were showcased in 94 but I just said if I can just help us go out and win some games, you dont know what games or how important theyre going to be when you do it but that was one of the biggest moments of my life was for me to get that home run.” Felipe Alou pulled the strings from the dugout. Hell be 79 in May and he speaks of the 1994 team like a proud father. He is, in a literal sense, because his son, Moises, was among the clubs many young stars. Charged with cultivating that entire unit, two decades later Alou marveled at the talent the franchise had assembled. “The 1994 club was hard to compare with anybody because we had three closers, we had incredible starting pitching and we had speed, power and defence,” he said. “Not too many teams can say that and they were young. They were getting better.” Surely the manager deserves some credit? “Anytime you have a team like that youre a good coach,” said Alou. Much has been theorized about the breakup of the team in the aftermath of the strike. Larry Walker, a could-be Hall-of-Famer whos yet to be voted in and would like an Expos cap on his plaque if the day comes, didnt want to leave. He signed with Colorado when the strike ended and embarked on a tremendous 10-season run with the Rockies before wrapping up his career in St. Louis. “There wasnt a contract on the table for a lot of us and the game kind of dictates that and you move on,” said Walker. “Its the nature of the game. I didnt leave because I hated anybody or hated the city or anything crazy like that. I know theres been some dumb stuff written about it from what Ive been told but I was just another ballplayer trying to win. We had a winning franchise that got broken up.” Grissom insists a group of top-end players went to ownership to try to persuade the group to keep the young core together. “We took it upon ourselves to try to go upstairs and tell them, hey, well take less money to stay together,” said Grissom. “We dont know how much less that would have been but, really, the strike took effect on us and there wasnt anything we could do. Even if wed taken less money I still dont think we would have stayed here.” There are more gray hairs. In some cases, the bellies are bigger. But the memories came flooding back, the reunion a chance to ask the “what if?” question one more time. If this weekend accomplishes nothing else, its reminded the powers of Major League Baseball that Montreal is a baseball town. Right now theres no ownership and no stadium for the franchise pipe dream but at least one man is hoping that the energy that still surrounds the 1994 Expos will contribute to the momentum to bring a team back to Montreal. “I believe that if we ever get a team back here it will be because of the 1994 team,” said Alou. “That is what the people in these communities, Montreal, Laval, the cities around here, they are holding on to the 1994 club. They believe that this memory, they talk about it. We are here, the 1994 team. Its not the 1993 or the 1995, its the 1994. 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New York City FC introduced Frank Lampard in Brooklyn on Thursday after signing the 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder to a two-year contract. CROMWELL, Conn. -- Scott Langley is being careful not to get too far ahead of himself in the Travelers Championship. Thats the mistake he said he made three weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament when he shot a 79 in the final round to drop into a tie for 28th. Winless in two seasons on the PGA Tour, the 25-year-old Langley took the second-round lead in the Travelers on Friday, following his opening 64 with a 65 to reach 11 under 129. He had eight birdies, a double bogey and a bogey in the second round at TPC River Highlands. "Ive been in contention. I played in the final group on Sunday at Memorial," Langley said. "This weekend, Im not going to think about possibilities. Im not going to think about what it means to win. Im not going to think about any of that stuff. Im just going to keep my head down and play my game." Michael Putnam, Harris English and K.J. Choi were a stroke back. Putnam shot 63, matching the best round of the day. English had a 64, and Choi shot 65. Langley was 11 under after 10 holes Friday, but an errant approach shot on the 342-yard, par-4 second hole led to a double bogey. "I was ticked off because it was such an easy mistake, a simple wedge shot," said Langley, trying to become the fifth straight first-time PGA Tour winner in the event. Langley birdied the next hole. Ive given myself a lot of short birdie opportunities the first two days. Those are nice," Langley said. "When you start adding up thhree, four and five almost tap-in birdies, that just really kind of boosts you up.dddddddddddd" First-round leader Brendan Steele had a 69 and to top the group at 9 under. He made three bogeys on his first nine holes, but rallied with four straight birdies on Nos. 3-6. Patrick Rodgers, the former Stanford star making his pro debut, was 5 under after a 69. Cameron Wilson, Rodgers college teammate who also was making his pro debut, missed the cut with rounds of 73 and 75. Defending champion Ken Duke was 3 under after a 72. Masters champion Bubba Watson, the 2010 Travelers winner for his first PGA Tour title, followed his opening 67 with a 72 to make the cut by a stroke. Putnam has finished in the top 25 once in 22 events this season. He matched his season best with a 67 in the first round and bettered it significantly Friday with the 63. "It was a perfect day for scoring. It left myself in some good spots and made a couple putts," Putnam said. "I actually three-putted 13 for par so it could have been even better." Defending champion Ken Duke was 3 under after a 72. "I hit a lot of bad shots and I have no excuse for it, but yeah, its good to finish strong and be here for the weekend," Duke said. "Thats what you always want to do." Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who tied for second Sunday in the U.S. Open, missed the cut. He had a 69 in the second round to finish at 3 over. ' ' '