Baseball's New Commissioner: "A return to Montreal is possible."

[GaryH]

The annual keeping hope alive thread. Jack Todd actually had a positive article concerning the return of baseball to Montreal in the Gazette. Bronfman close to acquiring the necessary land in the Peel Basin? make it so!

https://montrealgazette.com/sports/...an-in-charge-expos-return-is-closer-than-ever

 

[sambuca]

Do the locals have any attachment to the actual name Expos? How many young Montrealers even know of Expo 67?

 

[EdaBlackwood]

While Im not a native montrealer, I do know of Expo 67, and i feel like most should? It is what set Montreal into the path of being an international city and not just another city on the water. The metro system was started that year, the island was built that year from the metro excavations, wasnt that hideous housing complex also a part of expo 67?

In any case even young montrealers are sticklers for tradition. Ive been to the spring baseball expositions here and everyone goes wild taunting the jays by calling them the expos and if that isnt dedication I dont know what is XD

- every spring when this thread get revived I keep hoping someone has some news for me. All I want is a home team. Is that too much to ask for.

 

[sambuca]

Well, Blue Jays steal others' nests.

 

[EdaBlackwood]

Well, Blue Jays steal others' nests.

Best. Analogy. Ever.

 

[GaryH]

More hope for a return of baseball to Montreal. As bizarre as this sounds, MLB has given permission to the Tampa Bay Rays to explore a two city solution with Tampa Bay hosting early season games and Montreal hosting late seasons games. Is this a way to ease the transition of the team permanently to Montreal?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27016429/sources-rays-explore-playing-montreal

 

[Alcmtl]

Hope this works because Montreal deserves baseball. 40ish games in the summer seems plausible. They need a new stadium in Montreal though. Also a lot of fans from Boston, NY, philly, Toronto would make the trip

 

[hungry101]

This is bizarre but I hope it works. I need more excuses to visit Montreal. This would be a great trip and this is a unique solution. Baseball in Montreal in April would be brutal but In July would be fantastic.

 

[gaby]

Owner of Tampa said yesrterday he is ready pour la garde partagée Tampa--Montréal à compter de 2024.......ce semble loin MAIS il y a beaucoup de points litigieux à régler comme entre autre la construction de 2 stades!!!!!!!!......de plus il exigerait UNE seule organisation pour diriger l'équipe et qu'en sera t-il du partage des coûts.....on est probablement loin de la coupe aux lèvres MAIS pour moi c'est quand même un important pas en avant pour le retour du baseball à Montréal.....Bronfman will react today....pas certain qu"il veuille un partenariat et une fusion avec le proprio actuel.....à suivre.

 

[GaryH]

Gaby - Tampa Bay currently has a winning baseball team and the area does not support it. Nobody wants to go to baseball games there in the summer. Montreal in the summer with a new downtown stadium and all the tourists would be beautiful. Playing in the same division with Toronto, Boston and NY would easily draw 1 million for those three teams alone. Tampa will not build a new stadium. The owner can say he tried with the two team solution and then just move the whole team to Montreal. But I agree with you - I will take baseball in Montreal from mid- June to September as a start.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays...and-answers-about-the-rays-montreal-proposal/

 

[EagerBeaver]

The two city, 1 team approach is complete unworkable nonsense and I don’t even understand why Rob Manfred is allowing these stories to be published and legitimized. MLB doesn’t seem to want to abandon the Florida market even though neither the Rays nor the Marlins have done well, attendance wise. The prior ownership of the Marlins angered south Florida fans by not getting Cuban players although that’s now changed under the new Derek Jeter ownership group. The Rays have a good team, but the problem is that the fan base in that area is mostly elderly and mostly expatriates from outside the area (including lots of Canadians and Germans) and they don’t feel any allegiance to the Rays, at least the ones who actually attend baseball games. Expatriate transplanted New Yorkers rooting for the Yankees outnumber Rays fans 3-1. This odd convergence of factors has led to this idea about 2 cities sharing one team and it’s a horrible idea.

 

[jalimon]

I think GaryH is onto something. It's probably a B plan to actually move the team to Montreal completely.

Never played baseball in my life but still you can count on me to attend a few games per year. Just like I do for the Impact.

The southern part of the USA will become more and more soccer cities.

Cheers,

 

[gaby]

Bronfman said today as there is NO EXPANSION à l'horizon il trouve l'offre excitante et intéressante....BUT son bras droit Pierre Boivin a dit ....like you we have- with the city-- many many questions to explore....could take 9 months ....and we will decide if we go that direction..or not......

 

[hungry101]

The two city, 1 team approach is complete unworkable nonsense and I don’t even understand why Rob Manfred is allowing these stories to be published and legitimized. MLB doesn’t seem to want to abandon the Florida market even though neither the Rays nor the Marlins have done well, attendance wise. The prior ownership of the Marlins angered south Florida fans by not getting Cuban players.

The Cuban players statement...why the hell would anyone care? I want my team the Tigers to sign more Cuban players if this will get them out of the doghouse of the AL Central. If Outer Mongolians will help this team win then sign them too. People don't care if the team is full of Cubans or not. I've been told that the Marlins and the Rays both have trouble drawing fans. There is so much to do in South Florida. Also the Rays play in arguably the worst stadium in MLB.

They already do play a split season. Take the Tigers for example. Spring training is in Lakeland and then they come up to Michigan for the Season. So now the Rays will spend more time in Florida and then move to Montreal when the weather breaks. This is interesting and I hope it happens. With the resources these guys have, it won't matter much. They can afford to live in multiple residences and travel at will all over North America at will.

 

[EagerBeaver]

You need to go down to Miami and talk to some Cuban fans like I have - they aren’t feeling the love for Jeff Loria. I didn’t post my point of view, I posted what I personally heard from Cuban fans I met and spoke to down there when I was in Miami Beach recently. Miami Beach is very Cuban and a baseball team does to some extent need to consider the demographics of its fan base. Also remember that the Cubans playing pro ball in the USA, like the hardworking Cuban Americans in South Beach, chose to be in this country and most risked their lives to be here. So they have a different mindset. Many feel the Marlins under Loria ignored Cubans- you would have to ask them why but DJ’s ownership has apparently changed that perception. This is a fervently baseball loving community and they need to be made to feel welcome, hopefully the Marlins will succeed in doing that.

You are right about the Rays Stadium, it’s awful. It’s a huge negative for them. And that they closed the upper decks is an unbelievable joke. To have a whole part of a stadium closed to the public is a tacit admission of failure that is unbelievable and it’s also incredible that it’s allowed to stand.

 

[GaryH]

Actually the two city solution for a MLB team has been done before, to a lesser degree. Chicago White Sox in the late 60's were only averaging 12,000 fans a game. Milwaukee had lost their franchise to Atlanta in 1966. The city wanted a new team. An exhibition game for the White Sox in Milwaukee was arranged in 1967 which drew over 50,000 fans. The White Sox played 9 regular season games in 1968 and 11 games in 1969 in Milwaukee. Bud Selig was hot to bring the White Sox to Milwaukee. Sound kind of familiar? Lucky for Chicago fans, The Seattlle Pilots baseball team went bankrupt and Selig grabbed them instead.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...0190626-xege4gnek5crbojjpoljbm4xwe-story.html

 

[hungry101]

You need to go down to Miami and talk to some Cuban fans like I have - they aren’t feeling the love for Jeff Loria. I didn’t post my point of view, I posted what I personally heard from Cuban fans I met and spoke to down there when I was in Miami Beach recently. Miami Beach is very Cuban and a baseball team does to some extent need to consider the demographics of its fan base. Also remember that the Cubans playing pro ball in the USA, like the hardworking Cuban Americans in South Beach, chose to be in this country and most risked their lives to be here. So they have a different mindset. Many feel the Marlins under Loria ignored Cubans- you would have to ask them why but DJ’s ownership has apparently changed that perception. This is a fervently baseball loving community and they need to be made to feel welcome, hopefully the Marlins will succeed in doing that.
.

I have a friend that is a baseball freak and is from there born and raised and went to college in Gainesville. I have to admit, I have never heard about the players not meeting the demographic from him. He has maintained that there is just so much to do down there that is competing with baseball. What If I said I wish the Tigers dumped the Latino players and focused on having more white guys on the team because after all, most of the fans are white? You might call me a fu&#ing racist. I am s pissed off at this current Tigers Team and incidentally not happy about them letting Iglesis walk and signing a free agent who is older, has the range of Jeter (minus the bat) and cost twice as much. Oh and BTW - Iggy is Cuban but more importantly he had the best glove I think I've ever seen as an infielder in a Tiger uniform (like Trammel minus the bat).

The MLB drafts 45 rounds and sign the international players (I'm not sure how this works) but I sure as hell wish the Ray's could help Alex Avila with the Tiger's organization. The Rays have less money and all they seem to do is reload. Anyway, all teams have several international teams in Latin America and the cream rises to the top. Which club with less money has consistently performed so well? Maybe the A's? But the Rays are right up there. They consistently put a competitive team in that shit-hole of a stadium with a non-existent fan base and they compete in the richest division in Baseball - The AL East.

 

[EagerBeaver]

It was a point of view that was shared with me by Cuban fans. I think their feeling was that the Marlins, under Loria, had the chance to pursue Cuban players who wanted to play in Miami and they didn’t do so. That may be because they were cheap but the Cubans I spoke to didn’t see it that way. Virtually all of the Cuban players playing in MLB have some ties to the Miami area.

I never thought about this issue whatsoever until I spoke to Cuban fans and heard their opinions in the bars and restaurants of South Beach. Part of what is driving these statements is possibly wishful thinking in acquiring certain very good Cuban players who could have been acquired, but there is a perception of the Jeter group making the organization more Latino friendly. I also read something about this as well.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cb...ceo-spanish-program-managers-players-yankees/

This is why the fans are feeling better about the Marlins now. Jeter recognized that there was at least a perception by the Cuban fans that the Marlins under Loria didn’t care. Personally I think Loria was just a good ole equal opportunity cheapass owner.

The biggest issue they have in turning things around is that the team has sucked. They had a good team a few years ago but they didn’t spend money on free agents and then Loria sold. So if they can build a winning team we will see what happens.

 

[jalimon]

This is why the fans are feeling better about the Marlins now. Jeter recognized that there was at least a perception by the Cuban fans that the Marlins under Loria didn’t care. Personally I think Loria was just a good ole equal opportunity cheapass owner.

Do not mention Loria's name to a montreal baseball fan it's dangerous.

 

[Stroker7]

I would certainly support the team if they played games in Montreal. I feel bad that Montreal lost their beloved Expos. I talked with a nice gent I met recently on my last stay up in Montreal. He was a huge Expos fan and I asked him how it felt when they left. He said it felt like getting a colonoscopy without the anaesthesia, lol

For that guys sake and for all the baseball fans in Montreal, I hope you can get some baseball back here eventually.