For the second straight year, it was baseball weekend in Montreal. The city once again played host to two spring training games. This year, they featured the Blue Jays and the Cincinnati Reds. Like last year, these two games drew large crowds in which one had no trouble spotting the multitudes of people covered in Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos gear. Also like last year, these games were fun, exciting, and special.
Recap: Baseball Weekend in Montreal
Game one was an evening affair, and it kicked things off a bang. Prior to the start of the game, two former Montreal Expos greats were honored in front 46,314 fans.
First, former Expos short stop Orlando Cabrera, followed by future hall-of-famer Vladimir Guerrero, came out to a crowd so loud it drowned out the PA announcer. With these two out on the field, the crowd burst into chants of “Let’s go Expos!”, which would happen multiple times throughout the night. Guerrero thanked the fans for the support and love, and Cabrera talked about how the city and the mayor need to keep the drive alive for a permanent return of Major League baseball; he said he believes it will happen and many Montrealer’s feel the same way.
That wasn’t the only time the crowd was loud; every time the home grown Russell Martin came to bat, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He also received one when Jays manager John Gibbons took him out of the game. Martin was treated like royalty this weekend and his father, a musician by trade, got to play the national anthems of Canada and the United States of America on his saxophone.
The game itself was somber at best, with the Reds winning 2-0 thanks to a Skip Schumaker single that brought in two runs. It could have just been one run, but Russell Martin’s replacement, Dioner Navarro, had the ball pass by him, allowing the second run to score. Kevin Pillar almost had a home run, but it was caught at the wall, and Martin himself went 0-3.
This wasn’t the greatest game by the Blue Jays as the fielding was off, but the pitching showed promise aside from Aaron Loup, who really struggled. The Jays didn’t win, but many fans left the Olympic Stadium happy that they saw some baseball and chanting “Ole Ole”, which you will hear when the Canadiens play, but this version was changed to “Expo Expo”.
Day 2 started with a snowy morning that had some fans worrying that the game would be cancelled; luckily, the sun came out and melted the unwanted new snow in Montreal. That afternoon, 50,231 fans filled the Olympic stadium to see the Blue Jays flatten the Reds 9-1. Prior to the first pitch, the Jays and Evenko once again honored former players.
This time, two Blue Jays, former manager Cito Gaston and hall-of-famer Roberto Alomar, as well as former Expo Tony Perez were recongnized. All three of them spoke to the crowd, saying how great it was to see the Olympic Stadium full and expressing their hope and belief that baseball will return to Montreal.
The game started off with Martin getting a loud ovation from the crowd, but he struck out in his first at bat. Martin would go 0-3 again, but he did draw a walk and scored a run. Martin was taken out early again so the crowd could give him a final ovation. This time, instead of Gibbons going out to get him, his father went out, creating a very meaningful moment.
Montreal was treated to a great game by Josh Donaldson, who went 2-3 with a home run. The Jays would score nine runs on 15 hits in the game. Add in some good, promising pitching and solid fielding, and the fans got to go home ecstatic with this win.
The crowd was much livelier this game, getting aggressive when the umpires made calls that they disagreed with. They chanted let’s go Russell many times, did the wave and clacked those ugly yellow seats to make more noise in the Big O.
The weekend was once again a great success and has possibly added more fuel to the return-Major-League-Baseball-to-Montreal fire. That is a story for another time; right now, we can all just enjoy what was a very fun and baseball-filled week. In the end, the weekend was capped off nicely with Blue Jays and Expos fans alike leaving the stadium very happy with memories of the past the present, and visions of what the future could hold.
Nick’s Notes:
Although this was the Martin show, it must be noted that Dalton Pompey and Joey Votto, who are both Canadian as well, played in the two games and got to experience Montreal baseball first hand.
Two other Cincinnati players have their own connections to the Montreal Expos: Brandon Phillips was drafted by the team and was traded with Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore for Bartolo Colon.
A young man named Chad Wallach, who’s father was none other than former Expos great Tim Wallach, was in attendance. The PA announcer actually introduced him as Tim Wallach’s son and he got a very loud ovation as well. Very classy all around.
As a final note, I just want to wish everyone a happy and safe Easter.
