Nats win again...

[pollux]

Montreal lost support for baseball after the strike. They couldn't sell season tickets. They sold even fewer on game day. They played in a hellhole. They couldn't sell out games in Puerto Rico.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't put much money in a team that wasn't going to profit. Even when Montreal had a winning record in 2003, fans didn't come out and support them. Washington, however, sold a few tons of season tickets, got many more walk-up sales, and promoted their team out the wazoo. With all the money coming in, they could afford to spend more than they could in Montreal. And it's pretty safe to say that Washington is a more-avid baseball city than Montreal.

Simply put....you can only spend the money you have. MLB players aren't too keen on accepting IOU's as forms of payment....

Owners decided to give away players after the strike... Ken Hill, John Wetteland, Marquis Grissom, Larry Walker...

Fans were pissed because the team didn't get much in return. After that, it just went down hill, with Loria taking the ownership, driving it into the ground.

As a Montreal fan, I didn't even want to show up to the Big O because I knew that MLB didn't care about us...

It is true though that you can only spend what you make.

But I'd be pissed if the Nats won the pennant.

[CC97]

Simply put....you can only spend the money you have. MLB players aren't too keen on accepting IOU's as forms of payment....

Yes, cause MLB is teetering on the cusp of bankruptcy

[omnivore]

Found this article from April in a Florida paper

Some big leaguers will miss Montreal, if not Expos

By Sean Farrell

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Frank Robinson remembers the last time Montreal went batty for baseball.

It was the final week of August 2003 and the Expos had brought Olympic Stadium to life with a four-game sweep of Philadelphia, climbing into a tie for the NL wild-card lead.

"That was electricity in the air for those four games," said Robinson, then the Expos' manager. "It was like a World Series atmosphere."

It was also baseball's last gasp in the French-speaking city, the site of the first major league game played outside the United States. The surge of interest quickly dissipated as Montreal lost six straight road games to fall out of contention.

Now, the Expos are gone. Robinson and his team have moved to Washington. And Olympic Stadium sits silent while RFK Stadium is gussied up for its new tenants, the Nationals.

In the gift shop at their spring training home in Viera, Fla., the plastic Montreal batting helmets being sold at a deep discount are the only sign the team once had another home. Wall-mounted posters of former Expos Marquis Grissom and Spike Owen appear incongruous in the hallway outside the press box.

But that doesn't mean Montreal won't be missed. Just ask around and plenty of folks will attest that baseball is sure to be missing a certain "je ne sais quoi" now that Quebec is no longer a major league stop.

"People who weren't there in the good days don't realize what they're missing," said Boston manager Terry Francona, who broke into the big leagues with the Expos. "I don't think they realize how crazy those people were about the Expos."

They certainly loved "The Cat," "El Gato," or, as he was best known throughout Quebec, "Le Chat."

"My daughter was born in Montreal," said Andres Galarraga, who retired recently with 399 career home runs. "That's the team that gave me the opportunity to make my dream come true and play in the major leagues. For me, it's sad to see them move somewhere else."

Expos great Andre Dawson feels the same way. Now a Florida Marlins executive, Dawson was a perennial All-Star with Montreal from 1976-86. He watched the franchise collapse from a distance after he left the team.

"I'm kind of sad to see that it had to happen the way that it did, but in the best interests of the game, maybe this will work out a little better for all parties," Dawson said in the Marlins' spring training clubhouse -- which once belonged to the Expos -- at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.

Minnesota coach Jerry White's homer led Montreal over Los Angeles in Game 3 of the 1981 National League Championship Series. The victory gave the Expos a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. It was the closest they ever got to the World Series.

"That brought a lot of joy to the fans, and a lot of people still remember that," said White, who returned to Olympic Stadium last season with the Twins. "It's too bad that we couldn't go a little longer. I made the last out, too, so I kind of went from hero to goat."

Rick Monday always will remember his NLCS-winning "circuit" over Dawson beyond Stade Olympique's center-field wall.

"It added a different flavor, major league baseball became more of a global game," the Dodgers broadcaster said. "I think back to Jarry Park and the swimming pool out beyond the right field fence and the net in front of it, and the folk dancing that took place in the stands, and how energized it was. There's going to be an empty spot now because we no longer go to Montreal. It's a city with friendships that are going to be missed by a lot of us."

Gone are the bilingual lineup announcements: "Le voltigeur de gauche -- the left fielder, Brad Wilkerson!"

"It feels almost like I've been traded," said the Nationals outfielder, who cried after the Expos' final home game and was the last player to wear the team's uniform, during a major league All-Star tour of Japan in November. "I leave a lot of great friends in Montreal and it's sad to see us leave in that way, but it's best for all sides that we've moved on and made the changes. It's definitely going to be better for us."

Baltimore reliever Steve Kline married a "Quebecoise" during his stint with the team. The couple has a home north of Montreal, where they regularly spend a few months each winter.

"I felt bad for the fans because I know that they loved their Expos," Kline said. "They were just more upset about what happened with the ownership and they kind of boycotted, and I understand that. I can't blame them for that. Quebec is a very proud place. They're proud of their heritage and traditions, and you have all these young Americans and Latins going up there and it's tough for those people to correspond with each other with the language barrier."

Tom Glavine will miss having his parents and other family and friends drive up from Massachusetts for his once-frequent trips to Montreal with the New York Mets, and prior to that, Atlanta.

"Whether it was the language, or the way people dressed, or all of it, it certainly gave you a bit of a European flavor and a different feel from most other cities," said Glavine, who enjoyed the "laissez-faire" attitude of the natives who either didn't recognize him or chose to respect his privacy. "It was a pretty comfortable and fun city to get out and just walk around and enjoy it and experience it."

Florida manager Jack McKeon will miss Montreal, too. And while he acknowledges baseball will miss the city, he made it clear that it works both ways.

"I like Montreal a lot, but it's tough," McKeon said. "I know they've had a lot of difficulties in the past but people that own ballclubs, you've got to support them, and I don't think they've done a job of supporting them on a consistent basis, at least of late, whether hockey is the main thing or not. They probably wish they had baseball this year."

[The Green Meanie]

Said some angry stuff

Sounds like someones having a case of the Mondays.

[friarcanuck]

Many people forget that many fans drove north from Vermont to see games in Montreal, instead of going east to Boston. Did Major League Baseball ever consider the American fans of this once mighty Canadian team?

[CC97]

Many people forget that many fans drove north from Vermont to see games in Montreal, instead of going east to Boston. Did Major League Baseball ever consider the American fans of this once mighty Canadian team?

I think they had radio and TV deals in Vermont in the 80s... they really should've explored that again (or at least a local tv deal)

[NJTank]

Yeah that would have helped they should have tred to attract fans from Vermont.

[wheateater]

Montreal lost support for baseball after the strike. They couldn't sell season tickets. They sold even fewer on game day. They played in a hellhole. They couldn't sell out games in Puerto Rico.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't put much money in a team that wasn't going to profit. Even when Montreal had a winning record in 2003, fans didn't come out and support them. Washington, however, sold a few tons of season tickets, got many more walk-up sales, and promoted their team out the wazoo. With all the money coming in, they could afford to spend more than they could in Montreal. And it's pretty safe to say that Washington is a more-avid baseball city than Montreal.

Simply put....you can only spend the money you have. MLB players aren't too keen on accepting IOU's as forms of payment....

Someone obviously hasn't heard of the term "novelty."

Damn near every time a pro franchise moves to a new city or opens a new stadium or even just dons new unis or picks up a new player, there's a swelling of fan interest. That's what I believe this Nats thing is.

Washington had and lost 2 teams previous to this edition. That's not a good track record. Now, I know DC is a very different area than it was back in the 60s and 70s (READ: filthy filthy rich now, po' back then), but I wonder how the townsfolk will react when the Nats stop overachieving. Frankly, I'm not bitter for the team moving to DC. Montreal didn't deserve an MLB team anymore, but nor did the fans deserve to have the proverbial :censored: kicked in their faces time after time.

Do I mind if Washington wins the NL East? Hell, no. It just means the Braves might not make the playoffs this year. All I'm saying is that once this team starts playing 20 games under .500 (maybe not this year at the rate they're going), I won't be surprised to see 15,000 fans or less at RFK every night.....at least until they get that new ballpark and the whole novelty cycle can start all over again.

[HedleyLamarr]

Said some angry stuff

Sounds like someones having a case of the Mondays.

When did I post that?

[The Green Meanie]

When did I post that?

Monday, July 4th, 2005 - 01:57:01. It was summarized.

[Puckguy14]

I gotta chime in on this. I feel for the fans of les Expositions de Montréal (is that the right translation?) because those fans are thinking deja vu. They saw this happen nearly 10 years ago with the Nordiques leaving town (and the eventual husky logo that never was to be) for Colorado only to have the Avalanche win the Cup. Prompting one fan to hold a sign: "Thanks Quebec! Want the Nuggets?"

MLB :censored:ed over the Expos and Montréal. That 2003 season I even saw the hope of them coming out of this. Tied for the NL Wild Card and to shock the world and tell Selig to Shove it. The problem: if I recall correctly, the Expos had another Puerto Rico homestand along with a long road trip that just killed their hopes.

We won't get started on 2004 with the eventual announcement coming in August, killed any momentum. I mean shoot, to play a 1/3 of your home games outside the U.S. mainland and contend? Come on! The fans in Montréal have every right to be bitter.

I mean picture if there was a Colorado-Montréal Stanley Cup Final. You want bitter and angry fans, wait until that series goes to Québec.

As for D.C. fans, can't blame them. They've been waiting for 30 years to have a team back, sadly, at another city's expense. But since the Nationals have a place to settle down at, and don't have in their heads about packing up and relocating to another city in the future then can do the one thing that they know how to do well--play baseball.

Guarantee you, if the Expos were assure of staying in Montréal for a long time with prospective owners being demanded to keep the team there, I think you could've seen the team do VERY well.

I mean shoot, how do you think Minnesota Wild fans would be if they played the Dallas Stars (aka the team formerly known as the Minnesota North Stars) play in a playoff series? To see a team to be ripped from them and go onto success someplace else? It hurts. And for Montréal fans, it hurts with salt in the wounds if the Nationals are in the playoffs.