DBWI: The Expos leave Montreal

Last night at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Hall of Famer Larry Walker threw out the first pitch in front of a sellout crowd.

In 1994, the Expos won the first of its six World Series championships including last year when they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the first ever World Series played entirely outside the USA. Expos manager Matt Stairs was the 2012 NL Manager of the Year.

Is there any way that the Expos could have moved out of Montreal? After all, hockey is twice as popular in the city as baseball.
 
Have to admit that I became an Expos fan that year. They and the Royals put on an amazing World Series, especially after Cone led KC to the Wild Card and knocked off both the Yankees and the White Sox to reach the Series.

I'd have to think the only way that Montreal would have lost the Expos is if the strike of '94 had been longer than two weeks. When Steinbrenner thought his boys would lose out on the chance to finally bring a World Championship back to the Stadium, he opened up on revenue sharing.

What would the MLB Network be without the national primary telecast rights that allowed for such a shift in revenue sharing?
 
Sure, had the Expos actually gone through with the Mark Langston trade in 1989. Trading Randy Johnson, Gene Harris, and Brian Holman for Langston in 1989 would have killed that team. I don't even think they would have made it to the playoffs in 1994, let alone won the World Series, had it not been for Johnson. Had they gone through with that trade they would have had Langston for at best half a season (he was pretty keen on going to California once he became a free agent in 1990) and the Expos would have lost a Hall of Famer in Johnson, a solid set-up man in Harris, and a 15 game winner in Holman. Plus, fans would have lost faith in the team ever being serious about putting together a solid team.
 
Last night at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Hall of Famer Larry Walker threw out the first pitch in front of a sellout crowd.

In 1994, the Expos won the first of its six World Series championships including last year when they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in the first ever World Series played entirely outside the USA. Expos manager Matt Stairs was the 2012 NL Manager of the Year.

Is there any way that the Expos could have moved out of Montreal? After all, hockey is twice as popular in the city as baseball.
OOC: Bullshit. I love the Expos, but the best the Expos could have gotten was the 94 world series. They dont have the money or fanbase that a team like the Yankees have.
 
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