Jump to content

Baseball in Montréal


BigBubba

Recommended Posts

If the Expos never existed, and we were having a discussion of viable North American expansion markets, would Montreal really be in the discussion, or is this more about nostalgia?

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 219
  • Created
  • Last Reply

If the Expos never existed, and we were having a discussion of viable North American expansion markets, would Montreal really be in the discussion, or is this more about nostalgia?

You implied the same was true for Winnipeg in the NHL and they're making money hand over fist in the modern era.

As for Montréal? I don't know. We know they did have a team, and that it did draw very well from a key demographic that's not as strong as it once was. That's what needs to be considered ahead of "what if?" guessing games.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18886

BP article from last year that looks at possible relocation and expansion cities. Montreal comes in at #7. I remember an Economist (maybe, could be wrong about which financial mag it came from) article from about 5 years ago that did the same thing. Montreal was one of the few places that could support a MLB franchise, but they too recommended Northern Jersey first.

Northern Jersey? Please. That's right up there with a third NBA team in the LA market and a second NHL team in Toronto.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the Expos never existed, and we were having a discussion of viable North American expansion markets, would Montreal really be in the discussion, or is this more about nostalgia?

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, larger than any city in America other than Los Angeles or New York. It would make a logical target for expansion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but in terms of metropolitan area, it slots in right around Detroit and Seattle. Which is still a lot of people! Just a lot of people who might not be into baseball.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the Expos never existed, and we were having a discussion of viable North American expansion markets, would Montreal really be in the discussion, or is this more about nostalgia?

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, larger than any city in America other than Los Angeles or New York. It would make a logical target for expansion.

Population means nothing if there's not enough long term support for a baseball franchise.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the Expos never existed, and we were having a discussion of viable North American expansion markets, would Montreal really be in the discussion, or is this more about nostalgia?

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada, larger than any city in America other than Los Angeles or New York. It would make a logical target for expansion.

Not sure if you're talking just city or metro, but in either case it's not. City itself has 1.7mill, which puts it behind Chicago and Houston as well. Metro area is 3.8mill which would fall somewhere like 14th in the U.S.

sig.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it'd be below Seattle and Phoenix, but above Twin Cities and Cleveland. That's not bad company but again TOO MANY OF THE BASEBALL FANS WENT TO TORONTO

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it'd be below Seattle and Phoenix, but above Twin Cities and Cleveland. That's not bad company but again TOO MANY OF THE BASEBALL FANS WENT TO TORONTO

Ironically, most Blue Jays home games have a sizable contingent of Expos fans wearing Expos gear and waving "bring back the Expos" signs. Just sayin'.

xLmjWVv.png

POTD: 2/4/12 3/4/12

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it'd be below Seattle and Phoenix, but above Twin Cities and Cleveland. That's not bad company but again TOO MANY OF THE BASEBALL FANS WENT TO TORONTO

Ironically, most Blue Jays home games have a sizable contingent of Expos fans wearing Expos gear and waving "bring back the Expos" signs. Just sayin'.

I was just at a Jays game. I saw one guy wearing an Expos hat. I also saw someone wearing a Nationals jersey, so I think that cancels the hat out.

Regardless, you're missing the point. The Expos had a huge following among Anglophone Montrealers, a population which was reduced significantly when the PQ government passed Bill 101 in 1977 (this was around the point when Toronto began to overtake Montreal as the cultural and financial centre of Canada). The people who formed the backbone of the Expos' fanbase just aren't in the city (or province!) in significant numbers any more. Any future MLB team in Montreal would have to hope that the city's Francophone population steps up to support the team. Which they didn't in large numbers during the first go-around. Which is where bringing MLB back to Montreal becomes risky.

Not to mention the fact that there's no will or money on the public end of things to finance a new stadium anywhere on the island of Montreal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it'd be below Seattle and Phoenix, but above Twin Cities and Cleveland. That's not bad company but again TOO MANY OF THE BASEBALL FANS WENT TO TORONTO

Ironically, most Blue Jays home games have a sizable contingent of Expos fans wearing Expos gear and waving "bring back the Expos" signs. Just sayin'.

Not quite. They do, however, gather and fill out a few outfield sections one day every year with their signs and apparel.

SigggggII_zps101350a9.png

Nobody cares about your humungous-big signature. 

PotD: 29/1/12

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just wish I could get a true Montreal smoked meat sandwich in the States. Pastrami is all well and good, but I'm ready to take it to the next level.

EDIT: YESSSS THEY HAVE IT AT THE FRENCH MARKET UNDERNEATH OGILVIE STATION I'M GONNA DIE OF SMOKED MEAT OVERDOSE

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it'd be below Seattle and Phoenix, but above Twin Cities and Cleveland. That's not bad company but again TOO MANY OF THE BASEBALL FANS WENT TO TORONTO

Ironically, most Blue Jays home games have a sizable contingent of Expos fans wearing Expos gear and waving "bring back the Expos" signs. Just sayin'.

Not quite. They do, however, gather and fill out a few outfield sections one day every year with their signs and apparel.

And the question is ... are those Expos fans who live in Toronto now? Or did they make the trip from Montreal? Answer carefully... the future of baseball in Montreal depends on it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It will never matter how successful they would be at the gate or on cable TV.

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

The "Bryn Smith/Doritos issue" from 1990 still matters to non-French Canadians, especially the wive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

I'd rather play in Montreal than in Cleveland.

IEI5Tg1.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

Following the Pat Gillick era (1993), I really cannot think of any major free agents which TOR has signed. Gillick signed Morris, Molitor, Winfield and Stewart.

Who else have they been able to sign who really makes a difference?

Clemens was a trade. Dickey was a trade.

Delgado left TOR. Shawn Green left.

Honestly, who stays?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

A lot of NBA players love visiting (or even living in) Atlanta, yet the Hawks can't sign a big-name free agent if their lives depended on it.

From the early 90's on, I can't remember a big-name free agent that signed with Montreal that hadn't played a home game there before (and this excludes trades and "trade-then-re-signed" players)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

I'd rather play in Montreal than in Cleveland.

Honest question—since most people who bash Cleveland have never been there—have you been to Cleveland?

(Granted, I'd rather play/live in Montreal too but that's not the point.)

6fQjS3M.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A team in Montreal will have the hardest time in MLB to keep and attract free agents. If the player is married, more often than not French will not be the first language of the wife and kids. Women factor in the free agency decision.

You've said this twice now, but I still don't see it. Summer sport means that the family doesn't have to permanently move with the player.

And Montreal was widely regarded as a great place to play, especially amongst the single guys, for the culture and nightlife. If the team is at all competitive, I don't see any harder road to free agents than many other less-sexy markets.

Following the Pat Gillick era (1993), I really cannot think of any major free agents which TOR has signed. Gillick signed Morris, Molitor, Winfield and Stewart.

Who else have they been able to sign who really makes a difference?

Clemens was a trade. Dickey was a trade.

Delgado left TOR. Shawn Green left.

Honestly, who stays?

Delgado left because Rogers was cutting payroll and the team completely lowballed him. It's not because he didn't like the city.

Toronto's inability to sign free agents in the last 20 years is due to poor performance and payroll cuts, not because it's a place they don't like.

SigggggII_zps101350a9.png

Nobody cares about your humungous-big signature. 

PotD: 29/1/12

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.