The Montreal Expos Are Not Coming Back

Fans cheers on the Montreal Expos during the team's final home game ever in Montreal against the Florida Marlins at Olympic Stadium, September 29, 2004. Photograph by: Christinne Muschi, REUTERS

Ex- Expos President Insists MLB Won’t Be Back -- Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL — It has been more than a decade since Claude Brochu was involved with the Montreal Expos.

The former president and managing partner of the club was vilified by many Montrealers for the demise of Nos Amours following the 1994 players’ strike and the fire sale of players he approved when Major League Baseball returned in the spring of ’95.

Today, Brochu still stands by his decisions.

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My Comment: He is probably right. The only way that Montreal can get a baseball team here is if (1) Bob Selig is gone, and (2) a billionaire living in Montreal will put up the funds to build a team and a stadium. Otherwise .... there is zero chance of this happening.

Part Of Montreal's Soul Died When Expos Left

Termmel Sledge swings away on Montreal Expos' last at-bat during final home game at the Olympic Stadium in 2004. Photograph by: Phil Carpenter, Gazette file photo

From The Montreal Gazette:

MONTREAL – On a grey Saturday morning in November, with a football game about to start on the other side of Sherbrooke, a small amphitheater on Concordia's Loyola campus became the field of dreams.

The golden pipes that enthralled us for 32 years were warmed up and Dave Van Horne's signature call was pitch-perfect: "... there's a high fly ball to left-centre field, that ball is up, up and away."

And just like that it was the summer of 1979 again, when you could stroll along Coolbrook St. in N.D.G. and never lose track of the Expos game. Just as the voices of Van Horne and Duke Snider faded behind you, you'd pick up the sound from someone else's balcony or an open kitchen window and the game would follow you down the street.

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My Comment: Those days are long gone .... and they are not coming back. But the memories are always there.

Remembering Dave Van Horne And The Expos

Dave Van Horne. Photograph by: John Kenney, Gazette file photo

Silky Smooth Voice Of Nos Amours -- Montreal Gazette

Expos announcer dave van horne has fond memories of city where he raised a family and saw the birth of a franchise.

For 32 years Dave Van Horne was the voice of the Expos, a voice that fans came to know almost as well as their own.

From the baseball club's debut at Jarry Park in 1969, Van Horne, a native of Pennsylvania, called every strike, out and home run - with his signature "Up, up and away" - for hundreds of thousands of fans across Montreal who tuned in religiously to his radio broadcasts from their back porches.

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My Comment: Up ... Up ... And Away.

I will never forget those words.

Remember Les Expos

The Expos were gutted of their best talent after the players strike that cancelled the 1994 World Series finally ended in April of 1995. Christinne Muschi, Reuters

From The National Post:

The team may be gone, but the logo lives on.

It was five years ago this month that the last pitch was thrown at Olympic Stadium, but walking the city's streets these days you might think the Montreal Expos were in the thick of a pennant race. Young men wear Expos caps, jerseys and hoodies, and stores sell earrings and belt buckles with the team's distinctive logo. Walls displaying dozens of different colours of Expos hats greet customers at some sports shops.

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My Comment: It is hard to believe that it has already been 5 years. Sigh .....

'Spaceman' Lee Goesn't Like DH Or Aluminum Bats

From Canada.com:

VANCOUVER — A flake, a whacko, a visionary . . . former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill 'Spaceman' Lee was called a lot of things during his 14-year Major League Baseball career.

And rightfully so. The guy quoted Chairman Mao, supported environmental causes and did yoga. Once he got himself fined for saying he sprinkled pot on his pancakes.

In 14 MLB seasons Lee, now 62 and still throwing 77 miles per hour, fastballs, never met a microphone he didn't love. And the men and women holding them loved him.

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Update #1: He said it: (In)famous sayings of Bill 'Spaceman' Lee -- Vancouver Sun

Update #2: Dropping Obama's testicles? Q&A with Bill 'Spaceman' Lee -- Vancouver Sun

My Comment: One of the most entertaining ball players that I have ever met. He was a joy to watch when he played in Montreal .... and a greater joy to listen to after a ball game.