Could Baseball Ever Return to Montreal?
Posted: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
It became official on September 29, 2004 - Major League Baseball's run in Montreal was coming to an end after 36 seasons. On that day, the announcement was made that the Montreal Expos were moving to Washington, D.C., beginning with the 2005 season. This came as no surprise to anyone who follows baseball, as this inevitable move had been in the making for at least 10 years.
Following that 1994 debacle, The Expos' ownership group began to trade away and sell off the franchise's star players. As result, the Expos began to drop in the standings and never regained their 1994 level of glory. In response, disappointed fans in Montreal began to stay away from Olympic Stadium in droves. Attendance at Expos games dropped precipitously. By 1998, things had really started on go south (no pun intended). That season, the vultures had begun to circle the Expos. Correlating with the drop in attendance since the 1994 strike, the team was bleeding red ink, according to its owners.
Its ownership group, led by Canadian businessman Claude Brochu, wanted out of Olympic Stadium and had given Montreal and the province of Quebec one last chance to agree to build the Expos a new, publicly financed downtown stadium. Brochu said the team would have to be sold and possibly moved if he couldn’t get the new stadium. It was even rumored that that one of the potential owners from Washington, D.C. or Northern Virginia has entered into informal negotiations with Brochu. As the 1998 season was winding down, all of the Expos’ requests for stadium financing deals were rejected. It looked like the jig was up for the Expos in Montreal and that they would be leaving for either D.C. or Northern Virginia in time for 1999 season.
However, enter New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria to save the day in Montreal. Loria made an offer to become the majority owner of the Expos, keep them in Montreal, and be proactive in acquiring the necessary land, seeking sponsors, and getting a stadium deal done. MLB owners, eager to keep the team in Montreal, urged Brochu and company to sell the majority of their interest in the Expos to Loria, instead of selling out to interests in D.C. or Northern Virginia. Loria's bid succeeded and he became the majority owner of the Expos, prior to the 1999 season.
For a couple of years, all seemed well in Montreal. Loria eventually bought out the interests of the other owners. However, once he did this, things quickly turned sour again. When he agreed to buy the team, he had taken out an option to buy some choice (and rare) unoccupied land in downtown Montreal for the site of the new stadium. In late 2000, however, that option expired without Loria ever having exercised it. By 2001, that land had been snatched up by someone else for some other type of development. The Expos were left with no place to build a stadium and soon it appeared that Loria never really intended to build one. The man who had been seen as the Expos’ savior just two years earlier had now become demonized in Montreal. The perception in Montreal was that Loria had just wanted to buy the team in order to eventually resell it at a hefty profit and that this art dealer with no connections to Montreal cared nothing about the city or the Expos' fans.
During the 2001 season, MLB owners began to seriously discuss the idea of contracting, i.e., buying out and disbanding, two teams. Montreal and Minnesota, which had also failed to get public financing for a new stadium, were the obvious choices. When Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners attempted to contract these two teams at the end of 2001 season, the city of Minneapolis sued MLB to force them to honor the one remaining year on the Twins’ contract with the Metrodome. The suit eventually went to arbitration but could not be settled prior to the 2002 season, so the Twins had to stay around at least one more season.
Unable to contract just one team, MLB was forced to keep the Expos intact for another season as well. Before the 2002 season started, MLB played a little game of musical owners: Florida Marlins’ owner John Henry become the majority owner of the Boston Red Sox, which had been up for sale Loria, who had been wanting out of Montreal (for obvious reasons), bought the Marlins and the remaining 29 owners bought the Expos, thinking that they would only have to keep them for one season before contracting them.
During the 2002 labor negotiations late in that season, the owners negotiated away their rights to contract any team until the 2007 season. No longer having the power to contract them, MLB owners would certainly have to sell and relocate the Expos. At that time, D.C. and Northern Virginia were the only two serious contenders for the team. However, the Relocation Committee had just been formed and had gotten such a late start on this process in 2002 that MLB decided to retain ownership in the team for one more season and keep them in Montreal along with having them play part of their schedule in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Surely 2003 was going to be the Expos’ last year in Montreal, most baseball fans thought. By then, Portland, Oregon had entered the scene as another major contender for the Expos. During the 2003 season, the Relocation Committee met at various times with the three major contenders. They kept setting deadlines and kept missing them. They were supposedly going to decide on the Expos’ fate by the All-star game and then by the end of the regular season and then shortly after the World Series, but the clock ran out with no decision being made other than to keep the team in Montreal one more year along with having them play even more games in Puerto Rico.
2004 rolled around and several more possible suitors for the Expos had emerged, including Las Vegas Monterrey, Mexico Norfolk, Virginia and even San Juan. The Relocation Committee was once again setting deadlines and missing them. Mercifully, the decision to relocate the team to D.C. finally came and the Montreal fans were put out of their misery. The long nightmare of a rollercoaster ride was finally over. No more fire sales. No more games in front of fans disguised as empty seats. No more "home" games in Puerto Rico. No more "final" years of baseball in Montreal.
However, the ending was obviously bittersweet. Montreal had welcomed Major League Baseball with open arms in 1969. From the friendly confines of Jarry Park to the spaciousness of Olympic Stadium, fans in Montreal had cheered on greats like Rusty Staub, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Dennis Martinez, Pedro Martinez, Moises Alou, Larry Walker, and Vladimir Guerrero. Even before MLB came to town, the City of Saints had a rich history of baseball as minor league city. The great Jackie Robinson played his AAA ball in Montreal with the Royals.
Baseball's departure from Montreal, in many ways, was like a nasty divorce. The bitterness on both sides will probably last for years. MLB is bitter at Montreal fans for not supporting the team. In addition, it is bitter at Montreal government officials for failing to finance a new stadium for the team. Montreal fans are bitter at MLB because of their perception that it undermined baseball in Montreal. Montreal government officials are bitter at MLB for being so greedy.
In light of all of this, it would seem impossible that baseball could possibly ever return to Montreal. However, I think it could happen, given the right set of circumstances. Before anything could happen toward that end, however, enough time must go by for the bitterness to subside. They say time heals all wounds. That includes the wound of bitterness as well if people will only let it.
Once the bitterness is gone (or greatly diminished), three things need to happen. First, a potential ownership group with ties to the Montreal area must come forward. They must also prove that they are committed to baseball in Montreal. Second, a new downtown stadium must be built (not just promised). It must be financed by private interests, the city of Montreal, the province of Quebec, or any combination of the three. Third, fans must commit themselves to a potential new franchise by purchasing an adequate number of season tickets for several years in advance. This advance purchase campaign could be modeled after what NBA fans in Charlotte, N.C. did in order to secure the expansion Bobcats franchise.
If and when all of these requirements have been met, the way would be cleared for baseball's return to Montreal. As unlikely as it might seem now, the crack of the bat might once again be heard in Montreal and its love affair with baseball could be restored.
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Top-level comments on this article: (10 total)Couple of years late but I have to say, I live in Montreal and the only tickets Montrealers buy in advance are Canadiens and concert tickets. The government will NEVER spend a dime on a new stadium and the vast majority of Montrealers couldn't care less about baseball. With all due respect, baseball "died" in Montreal long before 2004 and will NOT come back. At least not in my lifetime and I'm only 35.Talk for yourself "Anonymous"... Even 4 years after they left Montréal, the EXPOS have more fans on Facebook than 93% of the actual teams. Two teams only have more fans: the Yankees & the Red Sox.Montrealers do care about baseball and some day the ball game will be played again in Québec.I believe!If you're not happy, "Anonymous" then fine, go watch the Alouettes. Or even better, the impact. You have absolutely no idea of what the Expos represent, yet you try to back talk baseball. The Expos were the only franchise that gave Montreal a reputation, because to be honest, people in the States could'nt care less about hockey... For example, I went to LA last year and when I told people I was from Montreal they were like "OOhh you guys like Vladimir Guerrero?" I don't think these guys knew who the Canadiens were though, but they knew about the Expos. So, go watch your CFL (AKA the 8 team league) or your impact, but leave the Expos alone. RIP Expos 1969-2004.
It's been close to four years now since the Expos left, and I have to admit this is the first year where I really feel the loss. The departure of our baseball team could compared to a loved one passing on from a long terminal illness. When it happened in '04, it almost felt like a relief. The best to have happened for baseball in Montreal in quite a long while was to finally settle this issue. However, now that a few years have passed, I admit i yearn to go to the big O, with it's particular ambiance, the smell of the concession stands, the sound of the crowd, the game of baseball .. And maybe this is just what was supposed to happen, now that the relief of seeing the final demise of a struggling, suffering franchise is behind us, now we remember the good things. And maybe, if we can harnest that feeling, we can bring that to Montreal a solid baseball team.
you use the word bitter/bitterness way too much
dwho wants a mlb team to return to montreal?I have never been to an Expos game. I haven't been to Olympic Stadium. I was only 6 when the Expos moved away. But I don't care! Toronto's team can't win, and it would be awesome if the good old Expos came in as an expansion team. Mr. "anonymous", if you are actually a Montrealer, then you are someone who really needs to get outta town.I WAS 12 when the EXOS LEFT and i went to a Game every year hoping that they would be Playing the Yankees cause that would bring in fans from new york
the problem is the Olympic Stadium and its location. build an actual baseball stadium closer to downtown and a team will thrive. Although Toronto has a below average fan base, they can support their team because the Rogers Centre is right in the middle of downtown. You can throw a baseball to the CN Tower. The stadium that Jeffrey Loria proposed was set to be built 2 blocks south of the Bell Centre where the Canadiens play. For anyone that's ever been to the Bell Centre knows that it is in a great location. The problem is that there are now condos on the old proposed site. Many people in the Montreal are trying to get a minor league team in the city, particularly in the Can-Am league. Once the MLB see's that Montreal can actually support a baseball team, talks of a second coming of the Expos will likely follow.
I'm a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, who fell in love with the Expos from their first season. They're one of the reasons I gained an interest in Montreal as a child. As an adult I visited your wonderful city several times and always made it a point to visit Stade Olympique. I was heartbroken when the team left and hope with all my heart that baseball will return someday.
Feeling a little nostalgic these days now the Hawk will be wearing an Expos cap into the HOF. This time of year I should be getting excited about pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training and the hopes of another season - but instead only have another disappointing Habs season to grumble over.I was at a game last year in Seattle...warm sunshine, cold beer - what a way to spend a Sunday afternoon.Miss the Expos!
It woult make sence, historicly when a team left a city, a new team was crated in its place. When the Dogers and the Gients left New York, thay got the Mets. When the Braves left Milwake thay got the Brewers, when the failed Settele Pitlots left to become the Brewers, Settle got the Mariners, when the first Washington Sentors left DC, thay created a new Washington Senters team, then that team left and new thay have the nationls, Montrel desivers another chance
I don't think Montreal will get another major league baseball team. The players and coaches didn't like living in Montreal. I don't think that Montreal could ever build a new stadium after the whole Olympic Stadium debacle. No business in Quebec would want to spend the money to land another MLB team. People in Montreal due not have the disposable income to support a MLB team. Montreal is no longer the great city of Canada. Toronto is.
I like to see the Montreal Expos return to Baseball. The problem is the olympic Staduim roof if they fix the roof to open up and draw fans back. and close be great. and have old memory signs of the pass Expos that the problem is the statuim Roof.
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