11/05/24
June 20, 2010
Still No Pro Baseball in Montreal: Six years after Montreal lost the Expos, the city remains the largest city in the United States and Canada without a professional baseball team. "Olympic Stadium today looks like a roadside U.F.O. waiting for weeds to consume it," Alan Schwarz writes for the New York Times. "It is easy to forget that from 1977 to 1983, the Expos drew crowds among the National Leagues largest."
It is kind of ridiculous that there's no Minor League club in Montreal, although god forbid that one would have to play in the Big O.
A Triple-A club might need a large stadium (the Phillies' Triple-A club was in Ottawa until a couple years ago), but you'd think the short-season New York-Penn League would jump at a chance to play on some high school's field. The Vermont Lake Monsters play only about 75 miles away, so it's not like the travel is prohibitive.
posted by Mookieproof at 08:45 PM on June 20, 2010
It's because Gary Bettman doesn't want any more teams in Canada - including baseball dammit.
posted by wowjimi at 12:57 AM on June 21, 2010
A stadium that ended up costing a kajillion dollars to build and a retractable cover from the tower that never worked. It doesn't even host CFL games any more; the Alouettes are at McGill University save for Grey Cups.
It was better than Jarry Park, where they had to have "sun delays," to stop a game for the sun to set since it would shine into a first baseman's eyes.
I did see someone in my town with a replica Gary Carter jersey a few weeks ago. At least the true fans still have the good memories.