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Les Expos sont là!

Play ball! From the impromptu games of "town ball" in the 1800s, through Jackie Robinson's Montreal Royals to the Expos and Blue Jays, Canadians have always been infatuated with baseball. But getting big league teams to come to Canada proved harder than hitting a grand slam. It took decades of persuading, promoting, wheeling and dealing, but eventually America's favourite pastime found a home in the great white north.

Despite decades of lobbying, Montreal has not had a significant baseball team since the Royals folded in 1960. There is even talk of a big league expansion to baseball-crazy Japan rather than Canada. But the raging success of Expo 67 sets Montreal as a world-class city. When investors come up with the $10 million expansion fee and the mayor promises a new domed stadium, National League officials agree to export America's national pastime up north.

The creation of the Expos is great news for baseball fans, but how successful will the team be? The Expos have no Triple-A farm team to provide replacement players if somebody gets hurt. Montreal is a hockey town, with fans accustomed to watching contenders, not struggling start-ups. CBC Sports talks to players, managers and sportswriters about the fledgling team's prospects for winning, filling seats and making money.
• The Montreal Expos were named after Expo 67 (the Montreal Universal and International Exposition of 1967).

• The theme song of the Montreal Expos is Les Expos sont là by Marc Gélinas.

• There were high hopes that a successful baseball team with a domed stadium would help influence the International Olympic Committee to award the 1976 Olympic Games to Montreal. Montreal was awarded the games on May 12, 1970.

• The Expos spent their first eight years playing in Jarry Park, a renovated minor league park. Olympic Stadium, current home to the Expos, was unveiled on July 17, 1976 for the Olympic Games (even though it was unfinished.) The Expos began playing there on April 15, 1977. The promise of a dome was not fulfilled until April 16, 1987, when a Kevlar roof was put in place. The stadium has a long history of financial and structural woes.
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio Sports
Broadcast Date: April 14, 1969
Guest(s):
Host: Sheridan Nelson
Duration: 28:40

Last updated: May 14, 2013

Page consulted on May 14, 2013

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