# How is Montreal doing without the Expos?



## Mrnycegui72 (Aug 6, 2004)

Floridian here wondering about the future of the Rays when I started thinking about the Expos...... anyone from or near Montreal care to chat about life there post the Expos?


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

I've got a friend who lives in St. Bruno (a suburb of Montreal), and as far as he's concerned, the baseball fans - there are a lot of them - are still bitter, but most everyone else has the Habs, and could care less.

That said, the Expos had a truly loyal following, and even average baseball fans attended games when the Expos were doing well. I don't want to get into a grudge match with regards to why the Expos were shipped out, but it's tough to keep a team in a city when you've got an overall poor on-field product, coupled with weak management. There was also the season of the lockout that Expo fans will never forget. The Spos were in first place and had the team to win the whole thing, then the lockout came and totally screwed them over. But what's done is done I guess.

I personally don't see your Devil Rays moving anywhere anytime soon. You've got a talented young team down there with a lot of potential, not to mention a handful of up and comers from the farm system. Who knows, maybe in the not-too-distant future we'll see my Jays and your Rays vying for top spot in the division with New York and Boston feeding at the bottom.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I wonder if they're supporting the Nats now. Or the Red Sox? The Jays?


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

samsonyuen said:


> I wonder if they're supporting the Nats now. Or the Red Sox? The Jays?


I think the general consensus is that the Nats are evil, and the Jays - for the most part - are subject to a mean case of jealousy. A lot of on-the-fence fans I'd say...Mostly New York considering sheer proximity.


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## Calvin W (Nov 5, 2005)

I'm guessing a lot have just given up on the game in general. I know I would.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

The truth is that there was a core paying audience of about 5000-7000 fans for the last number of years as the Expos painfully inched toward moving, and some games as low as 2500-3000 people. You can't keep a team afloat if people won't pay money to see a game.


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

Taller said:


> The truth is that there was a core paying audience of about 5000-7000 fans for the last number of years as the Expos painfully inched toward moving, and some games as low as 2500-3000 people. You can't keep a team afloat if people won't pay money to see a game.


Yeah, I mean even in Montreal's latter years fans were still bitter about how their team got screwed the year of the lockout. My dad was a big Expos fan that year and he said the uproar was huge.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Well, S**t happens in sports, and if you are a true baseball fan, you shrug your shoulders and move on. Every team gets screwed now and then.


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## tamperisma (Apr 9, 2007)

Just laugh for gags
When I see Montreal most on TV.

I always see some really relaxing lifestyle and a bunch of happy people.


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

Taller said:


> Well, S**t happens in sports, and if you are a true baseball fan, you shrug your shoulders and move on. Every team gets screwed now and then.



I beg to differ...In many cases passionate sports fans will hold grudges, whether legitimate or not, till kingdom come.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

zachus22 said:


> I beg to differ...In many cases passionate sports fans will hold grudges, whether legitimate or not, till kingdom come.


No, truly passionate fans of the sport move on. True baseball fans move on after the strike. True hockey fans moved on after the strike. Baseball is just not in the blood of Canadians the same way hockey is, and there is no pretending it is. Montreal lost the same _chance_ to win that year, the very same as a lot of other clubs lost the_ chance_ to win, but it was just a _chance_. Blame it on whatever you want, but the team folded from lack of fans willing to pay the admission ticket that would keep the team alive. If fans only show up when the team is winning, then they are not true baseball fans.


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## Calvin W (Nov 5, 2005)

Taller said:


> No, truly passionate fans of the sport move on. True baseball fans move on after the strike. True hockey fans moved on after the strike. Baseball is just not in the blood of Canadians the same way hockey is, and there is no pretending it is. Montreal lost the same _chance_ to win that year, the very same as a lot of other clubs lost the_ chance_ to win, but it was just a _chance_. Blame it on whatever you want, but the team folded from lack of fans willing to pay the admission ticket that would keep the team alive. If fans only show up when the team is winning, then they are not true baseball fans.


Have to disagree with you on this one bud. If you are THAT passionate about a team you would die for them. But if the team abandons you what should you do jump back on the bandwagon?

I guess Toronto has lots of practice with this and the Maple LEafs LOL.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Calvin W said:


> Have to disagree with you on this one bud. If you are THAT passionate about a team you would die for them. But if the team abandons you what should you do jump back on the bandwagon?
> 
> I guess Toronto has lots of practice with this and the Maple LEafs LOL.


Obviously you know diddly-squat about the Expos, and likely diddly-squat about baseball. In what way did the team abandon the fans? That team dragged on for about 6 years past the point it should have folded, in a desperate attempt to get more than 2500-5000 fans to show up for every home game.Calvin, Yes, the Leaf fans have been tremendously loyal to their team through thick and thin. Haven't a clue what sports teams you have in Muenster Saskatchewan. Curling, perhaps. The Muenster Monsters.

In any case. the Expos are gone, and the city of Montreal has carried on just fine without them. I don't think they were widely mourned.


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

Taller said:


> Obviously you know diddly-squat about the Expos, and likely diddly-squat about baseball. In what way did the team abandon the fans? That team dragged on for about 6 years past the point it should have folded, in a desperate attempt to get more than 2500-5000 fans to show up for every home game.Calvin, Yes, the Leaf fans have been tremendously loyal to their team through thick and thin. Haven't a clue what sports teams you have in Muenster Saskatchewan. Curling, perhaps. The Muenster Monsters.
> 
> In any case. the Expos are gone, and the city of Montreal has carried on just fine without them. I don't think they were widely mourned.


Which would mean the city as a whole is not a true baseball city. However, the baseball fans in Montreal, the ones who stuck with them through thick and thin, are still bitter; both about the move and the strike that interrupted a possible championship run. Your point was that a true fan should simply continue on with their lives, without so much as a hint of remorse, and I think that's completely bogus. If the Raptors were ever moved out of Toronto I'd hold a grudge and hate their replacement team to the day I die, because I live, eat, and breathe Raptors basketball. If you think a loyal fan of a sport or a team can just forget about something like what happened to the Expos and move on, then you clearly have never been passionate about a sports team.

And so what if Calvin loves his Muenster Monsters...?


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## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

I find it strange that there is no minor league baseball in Montreal. Certainly they could get even a low-level team, such as a team in the NY-Penn League or the independent Can-Am League (where there is also a team in Quebec City) and draw a couple thousand people to each game?


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

xzmattzx said:


> I find it strange that there is no minor league baseball in Montreal. Certainly they could get even a low-level team, such as a team in the NY-Penn League or the independent Can-Am League (where there is also a team in Quebec City) and draw a couple thousand people to each game?


I think the popularity of baseball in the PQ is pretty self evident, considering there are at least five french canadian ballplayers in the big leagues. Not to mention Eric Gagne who, for one season, was quite possibly the greatest closer of all time.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

zachus22 said:


> *Which would mean the city as a whole is not a true baseball city.
> *
> And so what if Calvin loves his Muenster Monsters...?


Bingo.. got it in one. Montreal lost interest in the Expos for the past decade that they struggled to survive. Blaming that on the strike is just a crutch; the truth is the city just lost interest in the Expos, except for the 5000 die hard fans who were willing to pay a few $$ to go watch the games. No professional team can stay afloat with crowds as low as 2500, and I think you are aware of that. That situation dragged out in Montreal for many years longer than it should have, and the public had many years to step up to the plate and support the team. They did not. So who is to blame when the team gets moved? The owners who have lost money for years, or the city itself? Who should the true fans be directing their anger at? 


Calvin and I go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back!


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## buggedboy (Mar 31, 2005)

Hi there

Just reading this thread with great interest.

As a UK sports fan, the idea of "moving" teams fills me with absolute horror.

A team represents a place, not a brand. This strikes me as the biggest problem in the way modern sports seem to be going.

In football here, Liverpool FC recently got taken over by a couple of Americans (Hicks and Gillette, whom I belive Ice Hockey fans will be familiar with). In their first interview, they accidentally called the team a "franchise" and they almost got lynched for it. Since then however, they seem to recognise the difference over here in the UK.

Only once has a football team attempted a serious move in this country.

Wimbledon FC tried to move 45 miles or so (70 kilometres??) from their home in London to a small town nearby.

Result? All the fans rebelled, abandoned the club and set up their own footbally club known as Wimbledon AFC.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

But fans support their football teams better than the baseball team in Montreal was. You cannot support a professional baseball team and pay the huge wages (just as football wages are sky high) with 2500-5000 paying fans at the games. Interest in the Expos was so low that television networks did not even bother picking up contracts to show the games on tv. Income, therefore, was very low and the team lost money every year for a long time. The only alternative to moving, in that situation, is to fold.


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## tigerboy (Jun 7, 2006)

Taller said:


> Well, S**t happens in sports, and if you are a true baseball fan, you shrug your shoulders and move on. Every team gets screwed now and then.



Yes but the smell of death lingered over the Expos for years before the axe fell. it is very hard to get up for a team when one knows it is going to leave soon. Besides as another poster has said with the Canadiens - one of the half dozen most storied franchises in all NA sport - it is hard for other sports to compete.


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## osmo (Jul 16, 2006)

umm ppl should realize montreal has a rich baseball history that dates back many decades.. even b4 the expos ... montreal got hoed.. and they kno it and they are still mad.. the lockout ruined ther best chance are a title.. when they were honestly destroying evreybody left and right.... then... crappy management who tried to do bizzness with no local tv deal ... and very little routes for baseball fans to watch there expos... factor in a garbage dump for a ballpark... lies about building a new one.. near contraction by the majors.. and stingy evil jeff loria ...many things led to the expos demise...they had prolbey one of the best farm systems in the majors and produced lots of talents many future hall of famers .. but could never keep them cuz of tehre tight budget... they let the romace go on to long .. it was a bad breakup... baseball will be back in montreal one day... the history is still there... and if somebody can come in and do it right .. it will succeed.. to be honest .. montreal is more of a baseball city than toronto is... the blue jays just barley got saved by rogers and now realize they have to pay the big bucks to field a compatative team in the rich AL east 

theres no reason montreal could no be like oakland or like the twins.. small markets with smart baseball ppl in charge.. developing talent with amazing scouts and farm systems. .dealing them for players and being cheap asses while stiill putting great teams year after year ... montreal is a sexy city.. i always dreamed of a cozy downtown ballapark.. that would turn the expos into a event like the habs.. half the ppl that go to hab games are causual fans.. the real fans are priced out just like with the leafs.. u make a nice cozy fun ballapark so ppl can come and enjoy them selves just like the allouettes did at mcgill


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## osmo (Jul 16, 2006)

havana will never get a team... the whole Cuba imbargo thing would stop that... MLB couldnt even have world baseball classic games in miami cuz of all teh cuba drama it would of produced.. and thats anotehr reason why the marlisn will never move.. cuz the latin population is so high in miami and they love baseball adn theres to much money that could be made there.. its jsut ownership is mad stupid (jeff loria....) he needs to be shot honestly.. he byys cheap franchises... runs the mto the ground and runs things so cheap so he can turn a profit..

sry for the double post im jsut real passionate about baseball and the expos


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## Bluewarning (Oct 25, 2006)

Sorry, but I am not buying this "lockout destroyed the team". Milwaukee for years has had godawful baseball teams. We have not made the playoffs since the early 80's. Yet, we still had people going to games. Montreal had crowds that would be expected at high school football game. 

Yes, Loria is an asshole..but attendances show something as to who is a baseball city.


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## xzmattzx (Dec 24, 2004)

isaidso said:


> Sugar Kings? Havana would probably go with something in Spanish if this ever came to being.
> 
> Regretably, I have to agree that Montreal "is not gonna happen in this space/time continuum" as Taller delicately put it.
> 
> Prelude91 mentioned that "the last thing that MLB needs is another expansion team" Perhaps, but it's not ok for Canada to have one measly team either. Besides, it doesn't really matter if there are 30 teams or 60 teams, it's really a contest between 5 or 6 teams any way. The rest are there to give the illusion that there is a real competition going on. They are window dressing.


Havana used to have a minor-league team in the 40's and 50's called the "Sugar Kings", that is surely where he got that idea.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Bluewarning said:


> Sorry, but I am not buying this "lockout destroyed the team". Milwaukee for years has had godawful baseball teams. We have not made the playoffs since the early 80's. Yet, we still had people going to games. Montreal had crowds that would be expected at high school football game.
> 
> Yes, Loria is an asshole..but attendances show something as to who is a baseball city.



Well said. It is a total cop-out. And proof of that was the fact there was virtually no buzz in the city about finally losing the Expos. Hardly a peep and I doubt if they are widely missed.


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

Taller said:


> Well said. It is a total cop-out. And proof of that was the fact there was virtually no buzz in the city about finally losing the Expos. Hardly a peep and I doubt if they are widely missed.


Were you in Montreal the day the Expos played their last game? If I didn't know better, I would have thought that someone important died. Do you have any idea how bitter Montreal baseball fans still are?


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## hinto (Jul 15, 2005)

zachus22 said:


> There was talk but I think it's died down.
> 
> I don't see why a team in Vancouver wouldn't work. Baseball is huge in BC; I mean, the University of BC's baseball team plays D1 NCAA baseball down in the States. I think most of the popularity comes from the fact that in the lower half of the province the mild temperatures allow kids to play ball year-round, like many of their American counterparts do.
> 
> You would think the MLB would have put a team in Vancouver before Montreal, but I guess it was on a population basis. I don't really know.


Funny, I think it was back in 2000 when the Vancouver Sun did a feature on things people predicted would happen in Vancouver by the time the 20th century ended, and how things actually turned out. One of the predictions (I think it was made around the time Toronto got the Jays) was that Vancouver would get an MLB team; and then of course we ended up with an NBA team instead (which then, of course, moved away). I guess even back then people thought it'd be more feasible for Vancouver to get a baseball team than a basketball team. (But of course, that was also way before the NBA expanded into Canada.)


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## zachus22 (Dec 4, 2006)

hinto said:


> Funny, I think it was back in 2000 when the Vancouver Sun did a feature on things people predicted would happen in Vancouver by the time the 20th century ended, and how things actually turned out. One of the predictions (I think it was made around the time Toronto got the Jays) was that Vancouver would get an MLB team; and then of course we ended up with an NBA team instead (which then, of course, moved away). I guess even back then people thought it'd be more feasible for Vancouver to get a baseball team than a basketball team. (But of course, that was also way before the NBA expanded into Canada.)


Sorry man I don't know if I understand...2000? That's after the 20th century and almost 30 years after Toronto got the Jays.


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## hinto (Jul 15, 2005)

What I meant to say was, after Toronto got the Jays, people in Vancouver (or maybe just some columnist at the Vancouver Sun) apparently thought we'd get an MLB team too by the year 2000. So when 2000 actually came around, the Sun reprinted all these predictions, and see whether they actually came true.


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