Last play of MLB in Montreal

[fetchy15]

Jeffrey Loria and Bud Selig had buttsecks later that night

[TylarPomroyskates]

why did the expos play in puerto rico before?

[deuvs123]

I was there with my dad. 7 years and counting.

[mamboKING666]

The "94 strike just broke my heart to pieces.

[EagleLC21]

In my opinion, there are 5 things that killed the Expos: 1-Strike of 1994; 2-Poor stadium; 3-Bad front office; 4-Terrible attendance; 5-Bad ownership. I am a Tigers fan, have been all my life (1992-present). When I was about 8 I started following baseball, the Tigers were terrible and the Expos were bad too, yet for some reason I liked the Expos and would tell people that they were my favorite team along with the Tigers. I hope the Expos return one day, but I don't see it happening for a while.

[zlw1998]

Maybe if baseball stayed in Montréal, Tomokazu Ohka would have been a star. Maybe if baseball stayed in Montréal, Stephen Strasburg would never need Tommy John surgery. Maybe if baseball stayed in Montréal, the city wouldn't just have a Grey Cup. :(

[55mrfuckhead]

Astie de caliss de tabarnak

[thrashersforever]

they needem back with a new stadium

[Omar1297]

seriously? this is a team that averaged 3000 people a game and couldn't even sell out the last game in their city. why would a team want to return. at least we got the blue jays

[xCoNxCubanitox]

Im a Florida Marlins fan and watching them beat the Expos was sad to me. I wanted the Expos to win :)

[SlimD2010M]

I'm American and even I wish the Expos still were around, not this shit team called the Nationals.

[steever1]

Theres a facebook page called "we want expos back" i would ecourage everyone to join to show that there is a market for the expos return.

[LanceCampeau]

Montreal's "glory" days are long over... Now i'm stuck paying $1.47 a liter for gas and I have no Expos to go watch... I gotta get out of this town.

[michaelmania01]

The Montreal Expos fans are the real victims of all this BS. The ownership this team had, espeically from 1994 until the team folded in 2004 before going to Washington, did not give a damn for the fans, players, and coaches alike. It was more of greed then providing great baseball for the great fans of the team, and I think it was a shame.

[IKICKURNUT]

I was there !!! :D

[michaelryder2]

screw you selig and loria and brochu

[ItsyaboyAFizzle]

they should've stayed in montreal. they suck in washington

[havlorech]

This is depressing. I'm a Sonics fan so believe me, I know depressing.

[nspetrillo]

If they somehow managed to put a ballpark downtown, by the Plateau, or Mile-End even I'm sure the team would have been far more successful. There's some space near the Alouette's field that might've fit a stadium, but it definitely would have been a challenge. No doubt that The Big O was not a prime location though.

[flyerspa67]

The Expos should still be in montreal ....

MLB Baseball screwed Montreal over Badly....

[Monsterdavid22x]

Why would the Mlb move Montreal to Washington? the Senators couldn't stay there for more than 30 years without problems. The MLB should've helped pay for the downtown staduim. Take clevland for example, When Jacobs field was taken down, Attendance at progressive field was stellar, and in Kansas city, Kaufman stadium drastically increased attendance.

[pjicleanair420]

i never missed an expos game from 1997-03 vlad is my fav athlete of all times. GO RANGERS

[RyBlueJays]

Look my dad grew up in Montreal but was raised completly english and he told me its that a lot of montrealers just dont like baseball. You see Toronto even though we havent made the playoffs in 17 years can still draw 20,000 to 25,000 a night because its more of an english game. However i remember being in tears when I learned the Expos were going to Washington

[ludwigzia]

@RyBlueJays The corporate sector, mainly English, had alot to do with the Expos' failure. The Stadium was too far from Downtown, too far Est that is, too far in a poor French neighborhood. They didn't want to go there with clients. Nothing glamor there.

A lot of French Quebecers really love baseball and still do.

But every fan, what ever language they spoke, felt let down by MLB, the team management and all levels of government after the 94 season. They slowly left the Stadium. We know the rest

[ludwigzia]

@RyBlueJays The corporate sector, mainly English, had alot to do with the Expos' failure. The Stadium was too far from Downtown, too far Est that is, too far in a poor French neighborhood. They didn't want to go there with clients. Nothing glamor there.

A lot of French Quebecers really love baseball and still do.

But every fan, what ever language they spoke, felt let down by MLB, the team management and all levels of government after the 94 season. They slowly left the Stadium. We know the rest

[GeniusSelfproclaimed]

@RyBlueJays or maybe it was because people didn't want pieces of the roof falling on them while they watched...plus the fact that stadium was in an awful location

[kokajr]

@RyBlueJays Avoue! But it is sad for us Montrealers who loves baseball, not to have the Expos.

[SuperGogo1976]

@RyBlueJays It's not True. Hockey may be our national sport, but I think it's a complicated love story between Quebecers and baseball. We have a long tradition of baseball history in Québec and a lot of people really want a MLB franchise again. In the last years of Expos in Montréal, the owner (Jeffrey Loria ,for exemple!) just don't respect us,the fan. Sorry if I make some mistake, english is not my first language!

[MrStopmotion88]

@SuperGogo1976 Good job on the English. You did better than 90% of people on this site haha

[foort82]

Difficile de regarder ces images... =(

[AdrianMutu87]

look at that screen. that's why no one went anymore. the stadium is a shithole in a shithole area

[darkvader6t9]

1994 strike killed us soo bad but the freaking fire sale in spring 1995 really killed the expos it sucks i grew up watching the expos with my dad going to the games it sucks not having them anymore... GO EXPOS GO in my heart

[hoopsheavenpa]

I think it's funny how the place is packed for the final home game ever, but no one turned out to support that team for years.

[cheifwanahukaloogee]

Its too bad there is still greedy people in this world that onky care about themselves. Long live my expos!

[vaibanez17]

The Expos owner killed the Expos. He took the Expos off TV and made it impossible for people in the city to even be able to care if they wanted to. Bud Selig and the owner of the Expos wanted to kill them so badly. Bud Selig has been about contraction and moving teams for a long time. He doesn't care about fans he only cares about the bottom line. Sure, the Expos attendance was poor but what do you expect for an owner who is trying to kill them team's existance for their last 10 years???

[rainman2242]

look at how fast the Marlins got off the field. a couple players were jogging full steam into the dugout before the ball was caught. they knew not to trust the crowd that day

[nibornna]

i don't know where the heck ive been?? i didn't even know that they had moved to washington until this year, but then again i don't really follow baseball like i do say football.

[SpamZoid]

FUCK THE NATIONALS

[ThePhenomm]

I'm sorry Expos fans didn't come out to support their team it could've survived even after 94 strike as all teams lost money. Sorry but the truth is fans didn't come out bottom line

[TheGuysmily]

I question whether the strike had as big a part to play in the eventual failure of the Montreal franchise as most suggest. I think Montreal simply became to cosmopolitian a center for the Expos. The Expos were never able to recapture the cashe they held in '80 and '81. The sophistication of the community changed and the Expos were simply nolonger the in-place to spend an afternoon or evening. All communities change and evolve, the city just out-grew the past time.

[Lardy901]

The Expos belong in D.C.

From a lifelong Nationals fan.

[jbsmg]

@Lardy901  A lifelong National fan? are you like 5 years old?

[102111nm]

L'argent nous a coûté les Nordiques et les Expos. Espèrons qu'un jour la passion aura le dessus sur le cash.

[biged1278]

The Expos would have won it all in 94, that was a fun team to watch. Im a Braves fan and the Expos used to own us back then. Baseball should have intervened and not let the ownership destroy such a great team and amazing farm system.

[elanmak]

Well they didn't, because Bud Selig is a FUCK who hated having a team in Montreal in the first place

[JS500Y]

@biged1278 Would have been an Expos v White Sox WS. That I would have loved to see

[badasswarren]

more than 10,000 go to seattle for games against the jays... it would be a huge sucess! they can go in bc place for 3 years (multi purpose, has been used for baseball before), then get a nice 45,000 seater in downtown, or near the rockies. vancouver has the spirit, the passion, and all the tools for an mlb team.

[badasswarren]

and now the wa-shit-on "natinals" history is all about the "senators" (now the twins) fuck the nats organization for ruining the history of this franchise, i hope they never win a world series. i think its time to put another team in canada, like vancouver. look at all the best canadian ball players.. bay, walker, morneau, ect, come from bc (primarily the vancouver area). about 75% of mlb players from canada are from vancouver, they sell out games for thier short season a team...

[badasswarren]

the strike killed the expos hands down. it equaled less income, meaning they had to lose thier players, ticket prices rised (no income from fans), theyre team started to fall into last place, nobody showed up. they were going to build labatt parc to save them, but then MLB bought the team, and no canadian would buy them, only an american. the Strike, the Location of the stadium, the loss of good players, no ability in free agency, no fans...

[SweetZombiJesus]

The owner's fire-sale of players was the biggest issue after the strike. Some players have gone on record as saying they would have been willing to take a pay-cut just to keep the team together, but they were never even approached regarding their contracts. We got screwed by business men with no heart; you cant manage baseball like that.

[Kodiak42Football]

Honestly all the Expos fans need to realise it's their fault the team left. Maybe if they actually SHOWED UP to the damn games they would still be there.

[ludwigzia]

Half wrong. It's the corporate sector of MTL that let the Expos down. Companies are the main market for season tickets and the sales always were way down. Professionnal teams' bugets, including salaries for the players, are based on season ticket sales. Hence, the team never could keep it's young talents very long and couldn't hire any good players on the free agency market. Hence bad performences on the field. Hence less fans in the stands. Moral of the story: the Stadium was to far Est !

[shuki1]

@ludwigzia I agree. To get there from the West Island by bus/metro was too much.

[OzoneReviews]

The true fans did show up.

Meaning not many, but they did. It's just that all the rest didn't give a shit so never did show up.

[bluesgurugod]

@Kodiak42Football You are completely wrong. Montreal supported that team for decades even though they never built a real ballpark and had terrible ownership. That team was destroyed by Bud Selig and David Loria. Those two should be in prison for the crimes they committed against the great city of Montreal. Get a clue...

[TheMadStork83]

@Kodiak42Football Let's also remember the Expos lost 20 million dollars in revenue due to the strike in 94. The Expos then had to go and sell 5 of their top stars the next year to even make the ends meet. We should also keep in mind that the city and fans of Montreal tried very hard to get a new stadium put in down town but some council in Montreal denied them. I suggest you watch "Triumph & Tradgedy of the 94 Expos" and your opinion on that franchise and city will change.

[WWE2K9X]

I was happy when the lameos left. Canada is all blue jays now and i'm proud.

[ludwigzia]

You're so funny. Nobody gives a shit about your Jays in Québec. Not even because they're "Blue" !

[WWE2K9X]

Nobody gave a shit about the expos either. 14,739 in your last home opener in 04. 31,395 in your last home game ever. No wonder they had to play in Puerto Rico.

[ludwigzia]

Hence why I said that they died after the 94 season in the comment below, kid.

[mogwai142]

@WWE2K9X If your home team became a minor league team in a major league you wouldn't care about them either.

[zyrkon78]

I'll be Happy when the Maple Laugh left....They are a shame for Canada's national sport

[bachaka61]

What are you talking about, it was way better back then with 2 canadian teams... The Jays represented Canada in the AL, and the Expos in the NL... Why would you even cheer for the demise of the Expos is beyond me.

[thecoffeecake]

I miss the expos, but if you had showed up to the games, there wouldntv been problems

[redsoxsuckhaha]

but they had been talking about moving them since the mid 1990s

[ludwigzia]

Nos Amours really died after the 94 season and the clearing sale that followed.

[jvezp]

@thecoffeecake Nobody showed cause they knew they were leaving, when your home teams sends all the good players away saeson after season, you kind of get the picture. In 94 the attendance was huge!!!

[goinggrayearly]

I was also there, can almost remember the score, spo's lost like 8 to 1...I dunno...the best move for MLB would have been to bring the team to Boston as a NL team and play at Fenway when the RSox where away.....Boston used to have two teams, the Boston "Expos" would sell out Fenway just cause people want to see the park, saddest part is the Nationals are doing the same attendence numbers in DC, crazy

[Title27GT]

that is the stupidest fucking idea I've ever heard in my entire life. You're an absolute god damn dumbass.

[trooper32556]

I was there. It was a very sad day for me.

[shaerblasko]

WHERE WERE THE FANS BEFORE THIS DAY...

[thndrct218]

Still bitter over the strike and ownership dealing away their star players whenever they were starting to catch fire

[redsoxsuckhaha]

the only day in the 21st centry they had fans was on the last home game for ever

[bachaka61]

Not really, the stadium was filled up in August 03 when they were leading the Wild Card race.

[redsoxsuckhaha]

well i went to see them in 1998 and 2000-2004 and it was never crowed when i went idr how crowed it was in 1998 i was too little to remember crowed it was

[bachaka61]

Your right, it was rarely crowded... But in late August 2003, bigger crowds came to see them play. Especially at that 4 game Phillies series where they swept the Phils, and in one game came back from a 8-0 deficit in the 6th to finally win the game 14-10. THat game was awesome... They were tied with the Marlins with the wildcard lead (who eventually won the WS).

[redsoxsuckhaha]

it was barley crowed their fans never game them a chance

[Lauuriannee]

WOW!!!

[charles0804]

because people were throwing golf balls..

[OrangeSFO]

Why did the visiting team sprint off the field like they feared a riot?