Monstr Migit: History of the Montreal Expos, 1969-2004

Source: Monstr Migit: Montreal Expos History- 1969-2004

The Expos for the most part were never marketed well in Montreal or the broader Province of Quebec. They seemed to believe that fans would automatically come to their games if they just won or were competitive. Apparently not being aware that Montreal was really never a baseball market and is a big city of over 1M people. In a market of over 3M people with plenty of things to do besides just baseball. And that there were other sporting events to go to besides baseball and not just Canadians hockey but CFL football and pro soccer.

Other pro sports have done well in Montreal because these are sports that Quebecers grow up with, enjoy playing and watching. But that wasn’t the only problem with the Expos. They started off playing in a real ballpark in Jarry Field. But then in the late 1970s move to the huge Montreal Olympic Stadium. Which by that point with its 65-70,000 seats was a football stadium that the Montreal Allouettes played in as well. And pro soccer was being played there. Big mistake on the Expos management part.

The Expos needed to market their club better and actually explain baseball to Montreal, which is not Toronto. A big market near Detroit and other Major League Baseball cities where Toronto already liked and enjoyed baseball before it got there. But Montreal was new to baseball and Montreal Olympic Stadium was simply too big with the fans being too far away from the games and not enough people wanting to go there to watch baseball. And these are the main reasons why the Expos left Montreal for Washington.

 

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City: Expos Should Come Back to Montreal

Montreal Olympic Stadium

Source: City: Expos Should Come Back to Montreal

Build it and it will come, which is a famous line from a baseball movie. Montreal needs a modern baseball park that can support the team and allow for the team to be popular there. And then the people of Montreal and the Province of Quebec need to support this franchise. With a management group with the resources and commitment to winning and baseball can be successful in Montreal and always be there.

But even if that all happens and that is still and if and a major if, Major League Baseball with the way it is currently set up with twenty-nine franchises in America, would probably not be the right home for the Expos. Not saying that they should be a AAA club. But playing at least half of their games every year in another country and taking long road trips to play just their division games in the National league or American League like they use to, might not work again.

If Canada wants professional baseball again, let alone major league baseball, than their big cities including Montreal needs to step up. And say “we are ready for professional baseball again and perhaps even Major League Baseball”. And build their own Canadian League with MLB being part of that and expanding in Canada. Eight to ten clubs in Canada with two divisions and a national series.

If that were to work, then MLB might be able to expand in America again to support the new CBL and you could see an MLB-CBL merger and create a real North American Continental Series to decide the pro-club championship of North American baseball. But putting the Expos or whatever the new Montreal club would be called back in the National League or moving them to the American League long-term, I don’t believe would work again.

Canada needs to step up with major league caliber ballparks in their big cities. Like Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and perhaps even in Toronto the Blue Jays long-term and put the Blue Jays in this new major Canadian league to be able to compete long-term with America when it comes to Major League Baseball. And the way pro baseball would succeed again in Canada and be there indefinitely.

 

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Rusty Staub: Visits Montreal

Source:Rusty Staub– visits Montreal, Olympic, Canada.

“Baseball great Rusty Staub of the NY Mets and Montreal Expos talks about his life in Major League Baseball. Watch some great footage of Baseball Hall of Famer Rusty Staub.”

From Rusty Staub

One of the first mistakes that the Expos made was moving out of a baseball park in Jarry Park and moving into a football stadium in Montreal Olympic Stadium that is huge. People didn’t like watching baseball at Montreal Olympic and if the Expos needed a new baseball park, a football stadium that was fairly well-suited for football and soccer, was not the way to go.

What the Expose needed was to build a modern Jarry Park for the Expos, or perhaps a dome stadium where the roof opens. But design it for baseball, which is how the Montreal Olympic Stadium was supposed to be designed for in the beginning.

What the Expos got instead in the late 70s was a football stadium with a roof that didn’t open and a concrete hard astroturf field in Montreal Olympic Stadium, just when the Expos were starting to become pretty good. And the franchise probably would’ve been saved in Montreal with very good teams that Montreal and the Province of Quebec would’ve supported.

You can also see this post at The New Democrat, on Blogger.

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ABC Sports: MLB 1982- MLB All Star Game

Source:Phenia Films– I guess this was a hot ticket in 1982.

“1982 All Star Game from Olympic Stadium in Montreal original NBC Broadcast includes pre game show from 7/13/82
This Represented the first All-Star game played outside the USA. Dave Concepcion drills a two run HR to lead the National League to another victory
Digitalized and remastered off original recorded VHS tape and a new audio dub.”

From Phenia Films

The first and last MLB all-star game at Montreal Olympic Stadium. Which is a good thing because this place was basically a football stadium and was simply huge for baseball with an awful concrete field where baseball probably should’ve never have been played.

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CBC News: ‘Canada Reacts to Quebec’s Charter of Values’

Source:CBC News– a Quebec man being interviewed about Quebec’s Charter of Values.

“The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (French: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian federal Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster for both radio and television.[4] The English- and French-language service units of the corporation are commonly known as CBC and Radio-Canada, respectively.”

From Wikipedia

“Organizers are hoping thousands of Quebecers will turn out tomorrow to protest the Parti Quebecois’s proposed Charter of Values. The Charter would ban public employees from wearing religious clothing and symbols at work. Today – two federal ministers launched their own form of protest. And the Montreal Board of Trade warned it could harm the city’s reputation.
And people right across the country said the Charter would create a national chill.”

From CBC News

This is what statism from the Far-Left looks like at its worst. And I say this is coming from the Far-Left, because Quebec is an overwhelmingly socialist province. Statism in Canada at least to this extent with government telling people what they can and can’t wear in public. With what I at least would call Fundamentalist Atheism. (Which is what Communists tend to believe) Which is not only anti-religion, but intolerant of religion. And doesn’t believe individuals should be able to make these decisions for themselves.

This State-Atheism philosophy comes from the Far-Left, generally. And had this been a story about Mississippi, an overwhelmingly fundamentalist Christian state in America, perhaps the capital of the Christian-Right in America, I would’ve called this statism from the Far-Right. We are talking about people who tend to be intolerant of non-Christian religions. With Islam being a big target of there’s. But what is going on in Quebec is clearly statism from the Far-Left. And shouldn’t be tolerated, or any type of religious bigotry coming from government.

Canada is obviously different from America. With their own national identity, culture, way of doing things, Constitution and just about everything else. And they’re a bit left-wing, typically to begin with. But Quebec is even further left than Canada as a whole and probably the most socialist of any province in Canada. So they need to figure out these issues for themselves in their own country. Based on their values and Constitution. But this would clearly be unacceptable and unconstitutional in America and thrown out.

You can also see this post at The New Democrat, on WordPress.

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NBC Sports: MLB 1981- NLDS Gm 1 Philadelphia Phillies @ Montreal Expos: Full Game

Source:NBC Sports– the 1981 NLDS at Montreal Olympic Stadium.

“1981 NLDS Game 1 – Phillies vs Expos”

From Classic Phillies TV

I wish MLB stuck with the 1981 playoff format with the divisional series and extra wildcards. Five-six teams in each league.

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CTV Sports: CFL 1986- Toronto Argonauts @ Montreal Alouettes: Short Video

Source:CTV Sports– Montreal Alouettes RB Alan Reid.

“CFL 1986 TORONTO ARGONAUTS AT MONTREAL ALOUETTES”

From CFL Video

Great CFL rivalry.

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USA Sports: WLAF 1991- Birmingham Fire @ Montreal Machine: Short Video

Source:USA Sports– WLAF football at Montreal Olympic Stadium.

“WLAF 1991 BIRMINGHAM FIRE AT MONTREAL MACHINE”

From USA Sports

Brad Nessler calling the game before he went to ABC Sports and ESPN.

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USA Sports: WLAF 1991- Orlando Thunder @ Montreal Machine: Short Video

Source:USA Sports– one of the coaches for the Montreal Machine.

“WLAF 1991 ORLANDO THUNDER AT MONTREAL MACHINE”

From CFL Video

American football being played in Montreal because at the time the CFL did not have a franchise in Montreal. Which seems strange to me because Montreal is the second largest market in Canada and might be the biggest city as well. Only Toronto is bigger than Montreal as far as Canadian markets.

The WLAF was sort of like the first version of a Can-Am pro football league. A league with both Canadian franchises and American franchises. A chance for non-NFL markets in America to have NFL caliber franchises and players. As well as Canada to have the same thing.

The CFL tried to do this again in the early and mid 1990s when they expanded to America in cities like Baltimore, Birmingham, Memphis, San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Sacramento. Which obviously didn’t work out.

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ABC Sports: WLAF 1992- New Jersey Knights @ Montreal Machine: Short Video

Source:ABC Sports– the Montreal Machine of the WLAF.

“WLAF 1992 NEW YORK KNIGHTS AT MONTREAL MACHINE SHORT CLIP 92 SEASON.”  

From CFL Video

If you are familiar with the CFL (or Canadian Football League) you know that the Montreal Alouettes have been one of the most successful franchises in the last 20 years. They’ve won several Grey Cups (which is the Canadian pro football national championship) and several divisional titles.

But if you are familiar with the CFL and it’s history, you know that pre-1996 they didn’t have a CFL or pro football franchise from any major league, because the original Alouettes folded in the mid 1980s.

When the WLAF (or World League of American Football) went into business in 1991, they put a club in Montreal, because Montreal didn’t have a CFL franchise, but the people there wanted pro football back, which is how they got the Montreal Machine in 1991.

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