Baseball Project Montreal

[Kraven]

Former Expos Warren "Cro" Cromatie is the founder of Baseball Project Montreal (http://montrealbaseballproject.com/english/) a grass roots effort to return MLB baseball to Montreal.

Today, Warren is holding a press conference on the progress of the project.

There are several arguments for baseball returning to Montreal (growing population, strong canadian dollar, large corporate presence) --> http://www.conferenceboard.ca/reports/briefings/bigleagues/briefing-6.aspx

Unfortunately, despite having the best team in baseball in 94, the Expos were crippled by a weak Canadian dollar (.60$) and, arguably, had 2 of the worst owners in sports: Claude Brochu pocketed millions in bonuses for keeping the Expos in the black (ie- by not spending), Brochu also bashed the Olympic Stadium stating it was crap and too far from downtown Montreal so fans started to stay away....then Loria came to town (enough said).

Personally, MLB wont return until a new commissioner is appointed because the current commish will never admit he might have been wrong.

To this day, this is still a sore subject to many of colleagues including myself.

Cheers, K

 

[salsadancer7]

Former Expos Warren "Cro" Cromatie is the founder of Baseball Project Montreal (http://montrealbaseballproject.com/english/) a grass roots effort to return MLB baseball to Montreal.

Today, Warren is holding a press conference on the progress of the project.

There are several arguments for baseball returning to Montreal (growing population, strong canadian dollar, large corporate presence) --> http://www.conferenceboard.ca/reports/briefings/bigleagues/briefing-6.aspx

Unfortunately, despite having the best team in baseball in 94, the Expos were crippled by a weak Canadian dollar (.60$) and, arguably, had 2 of the worst owners in sports: Claude Brochu pocketed millions in bonuses for keeping the Expos in the black (ie- by not spending), Brochu also bashed the Olympic Stadium stating it was crap and too far from downtown Montreal so fans started to stay away....then Loria came to town (enough said).

Personally, MLB wont return until a new commissioner is appointed because the current commish will never admit he might have been wrong.

To this day, this is still a sore subject to many of colleagues including myself.

Cheers, K

Add me to be sore about this subject. The Cro does a show every wednesday with 790 The Ticket Miami. I LOVE that guy and his passion for the game. And if you ever hear him, one of the funniest guys you will ever have the pleasure of listening to.

 

[Kraven]

Miami eh? His profile in today's paper mentioned he was a host, but didnt say what or where.

Cheers, K

 

[Ramy]

They aren't going to let baseball return there. The attendance was awful for a long time...way before Lorie took over.

 

[Kraven]

They were averaging 40k before the strike when everything else went to hell.


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[Ramy]

They were averaging 40k before the strike when everything else went to hell.


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For one year. I remember many games when the Reds would play them and see about 5K people there, most of them Reds fans.

 

[Kraven]

5k was typical from 96 to 04. Attendence was solid from Jarry park to the Big O up until 96-97. Am not saying sell outs, but a solid 25k average... In the history of North American sports, i doubt no other fan base suffered more than Expos fans. Firesales, betrayals, conspiracies, Loria...

Look at the attendence of other events in Montreal: CFL, NHL, Just for Laughs, International Film Fest, Jazz Fest, Beer Fest, food fest, traditional 4 Bon Jovi concert a year, U2 building a 3 million$ stage just for the Montreal show and all the others events and festivals yearround.... if Montreal knows how to do one thing... its how to party. They stayed away from the Expos for a reason and it wasnt the lack of love.

Cheers, K

 

[Kraven]

JUst to add on to my previous comment. the Expos nickname in Montreal/Quebec was "Nos amours"... meaning Our Love.

 

[Mr Tony]

Loria...

boy there is a 5 letter word that goes with the same as some of the other "4 letter words"


To this day I still don't get the whole "lets take the team off English Radio and all TV because that will put asses in the seats" thing he did. Talk about alienating the fans there.
I remember watching the Twins and Expos on TV the last year of the Expos (2004) and there was like 3500 folks there

 

[Kraven]

boy there is a 5 letter word that goes with the same as some of the other "4 letter words"


To this day I still don't get the whole "lets take the team off English Radio and all TV because that will put asses in the seats" thing he did. Talk about alienating the fans there.
I remember watching the Twins and Expos on TV the last year of the Expos (2004) and there was like 3500 folks there

I remember his explanation like it was yesterday. To paraphrase, "If a butcher has a 20$ piece of meat for sale and he's only offered 8$ for it. He doesnt sell it, he brings it home and eats it".

He treated the franchise like a 3$ tough pepper.

 

[Kraven]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...troyed-the-montreal-exposwashington-nationals

Good article. Sums it up nicely. Whats impressive, and scary to the National League, is the amount of quality ball players that come through the Expos' system.

 

[SamCdbs]

Montreal was done wrong by Loria. Yes.

But it still has three issues that have to be resolved.

First, is language. You have to present the sport, in all aspects, in both languages. That means you have to get the French media willing to travel to the USA, and you have to make an effort to communicate with the French majority, and you have to cover the English minority relative to the local team, not just via the mainline media.

Second, is Olympic Stadium. Bluntly, the place was archetectural malpractice. If the city fathers of Montreal, back in the early 70s, hired one of the many USA firms that were designing the multipurpose "cookie cutter" stadiums of the day, rather than a Frenchman who had never designed a stadium and who wanted to make it "look pretty", it would have been finished on time, with a dome, and under budget, and have served the Expos well into the 2000s or perhaps even today. It didn't and Montreal has to pony up for a field on the lines of the current retro baseball only fad.

Third, is the Loonie. Yes, today it is flush. It ranges historically from par to .60c. Tell me your plan to make it when it is at .60c, which it certainly will be again someday.

 

[Kraven]

Tell me your plan to make it when it is at .60c, which it certainly will be again someday.

Wanna bet ?

 

[SamCdbs]

Sure. Economics and politics are cyclical. IMHO, the strength of the Loonie re the Buck is a rough measure of the quality of the leadership between the two countries. It has gone up and down and up and down and up and down between .60c and par multiple times between the end of Bretton Woods and today, and will continue to do so.

 

[Kraven]

Great another business major.


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[fhsucade07]

JUst to add on to my previous comment. the Expos nickname in Montreal/Quebec was "Nos amours"... meaning Our Love.

I went to Montreal a few years back and the love they still had for the team was evident. I saw tons of Expos hats, flags and shirts. I went to buy an Expos t-shirt but I prefer a large over a medium and neither size was available and on order. The team and the citizens of the city really did endure a lot and I feel sorry for the people in the city that really loved them. I would love to see baseball return to Montreal though there would be obstacles if a team did return there. I'll never forgive Loria.

 

[fhsucade07]

If a return happens you'll never see it under the "leadership" of Selig.

 

[Kraven]

True....no Bud and a salary cap needs to be in place first.


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[Kraven]

Local columnist about the Expos. I've talked to Jack several times over the years about the
subject, the man loved the Expos as much as anyone else..

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Todd+baseball+dream+reborn/8145572/story.html

 

[salsadancer7]

Local columnist about the Expos. I've talked to Jack several times over the years about the
subject, the man loved the Expos as much as anyone else..

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Todd+baseball+dream+reborn/8145572/story.html

Good read!:up