Watch out Montreal; watch out Major League Baseball, by next week the Expos fans will show their colours loudly and proudly in the Big O! March 28th and 29th Montreal will host two preseason baseball games at the Olympic Stadium, between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets.
According to Alex Anthopoulos and Blue Jays management this is a tool to gain a bigger fan base in the province of Quebec. While the Blue Jays can try their best to promote their team and gain more support out of Quebec; However I’m pretty sure 90% or more of the fans are going there to prove to Major League Baseball that they want the Expos/baseball back in Montreal.
According to Evenko Entertainment 75,000 tickets have been sold for the two games so far, and that is a really good sign. I’m not saying that will bring a team back right away, but if only 20,000 tickets were sold, or less then that would be a problem for anyone hoping to see baseball make a return to Montreal.
I’m not saying it will just be Expos fans and that there will be no Jays or Mets fans, or families hungry to go to a sporting event with their whole family, but there have been large movements that suggest there will be a large number of Expos fans.
First off there is Expos Nation, who has been doing their best at promoting and sharing the memories of our beloved franchise, group gatherings to go see MLB games in Toronto and other events in Montreal to promote our love of the Expos and the fact that we miss our team. With the announcement of these two games they have worked tirelessly to get old Expos fans to go to these games wear anything and everything that has an Expo logo.
Former Expo Warren Cromartie who has been in charge of the Montreal Baseball Project, the movement trying their best to help get a Major League team back in Montreal, or at least more interest in the Montreal market, has a gala with many former Expos from the 1994 team after the game on the twenty-ninth, he has also asked that many fans wear Expos gear.
This isn’t the only thing that will relate to the Expos theme both games will have some interesting and exciting pre game ceremonies. The first night will honor the late and always great Gary “the kid” Carter, his wife and many of his former teammates will be there to honor Carter. As for the second game, the 1994 Montreal Expos team will be honored before the game, players like Cliff Floyd, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez and manager Felipe Alou will all be there and that is really exciting. For those who don’t remember the 1994 team was the best team in Major League baseball until the strike ended the season and no one was crowned the World Series Champs, that was a year where the Expos had one of their best chances at winning it. There will be other former Expos at the games and other things to really start the party in the big O.
I’m fortunate enough to be going to both games and I will get to experience first hand what happens at these games. There will be a lot of emotion it’s already been ten years since the last season the Expos played in Montreal, before moving to Washington. Even though the Jays are hoping to gain a few new fans in Montreal, I along many other people will be there remembering the great times they had watching the Expos, wearing Expos gear and trying our best to show Major League Baseball that Montreal should be looked at and maybe given a second chance. To everyone going to these games let’s show everyone what it is like to be an Expos fan!
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