1994 MLB Standings at Time of Strike Prove We Missed Out on a Great Postseason

August 12 marked the 25th anniversary of the 1994 MLB strike. It cost the league, players and fans plenty of things, and changed a lot of legacies.

But perhaps the greatest "what if?" to come out of the work stoppage can be found from the standings at the time it occurred, which prove that we missed out on what could have been a fantastic and redemptive postseason.

The Montreal Expos (74-40) were in the midst of their best season in franchise history. Young stars like Moises Alou, Larry Walker and Pedro Martinez had them on pace to win what would have been a franchise-record 105 games. They were the prohibitive favorites to come out on top in the National League.

But they weren't the only team who had high World Series aspirations slashed away by the labor disputes. The New York Yankees were also robbed. Playing to the tune of a 70-43 record, the Bronx Bombers were in prime position to make their first playoff appearance since 1981, giving Don Mattingly a truly special run as his career was nearing its completion.

Instead, those two teams and others were denied the chance to duke it out in October. Tight division races in the AL and NL Central were left as question marks in the history books. Guys like Paul O'Neil, Frank Thomas, and Alou didn't get the opportunity to extend their torrid campaigns into the postseason.

It was a league-altering stoppage. A Yankees-Expos World Series could have worked wonders for the league, and it might have even saved the Expos from eventually moving from Montreal to Washington D.C. and becoming the Nationals.

But instead, we're left with nothing more than fantasies of what could have been an October to remember.