CBC Sports Online | Last updated Sept. 29, 2004
After years of rumours, the Expos' departure from Montreal has become
reality. The loss of Canada's first team in Major League Baseball
has elicit ed strong reactions from former players and broadcasters,
the media and fans. Here is a sampling of opinion.
Warren Cromartie Former
Expos outfielder
"It's home for me. I still remember listening to 50,000 French-Canadians singing Val-da-ree, Val-da-rah. No one can tell me that Montreal didn't have baseball fans, because I felt them and I heard them. The city was on fire during the 1980s."
Rocky Rapoport
Expos season-ticket holder for 30-plus years
"I think the beginning of the end started when Mr. [Charles] Bronfman sold the team [to a group headed by Claude Brochu on Nov. 30, 1990]. Mr. Brochu promised [Bronfman] he would not run the team in the red.
"He tried to keep his word by getting rid of all the [elite] players, so we became the farm team of Major League Baseball. People were very unhappy about that."
Tim Raines
Former Expos outfielder
"I feel that Montreal still deserves a baseball team. It hurts me personally and it hurts me for the fans.
"I won two World Series in New York, but I will always think of myself as a Montreal Expo. My passion and my heart will always be here.
Joey Eischen
Expos reliever
"It's the 30-year anniversary of the Washington Senators, so it's good timing, I guess.
"We [the players] have just been waiting for closure and some normalcy. I guess by finding a new home and getting a regular schedule we're going to get everything we've asked for.
"They've had a team here and tradition for a long time and it's being taken away from them. I guess that would be hard for any city, any fan.
"The fans have pretty much showed me they're not too worried about [losing the team], so I'm not too worried about it."
Jack Nightingale
D.C. resident
"I'm excited, I've been a baseball fan all my life and I'm looking forward to going back to games in the District. [Going to Baltimore] is a hassle. I don't have a car so it's pretty inconvenient to get there, especially for night games."
Bertrand Raymond
Le Journal de Montreal columnist
"Fans in Quebec would have done anything to keep [the NHL Nordiques], but in Montreal, they are watching the Expos leave in total indifference."
Pedro Martinez
Boston Red Sox pitcher and former Expo
"The [1994] strike came and broke everything apart. We weren't expecting that to happen, but we had to go on and forget about it. It was really sad to see our team go from first place to just another team on the path."
Dave Van Horne
Former Expos broadcaster
"Montreal, Quebec and Canadian business leaders had a chance to rescue the Expos and it didn't happen. I think it's a shame that more energy went into vilifying those who tried to carry the torch, like [former owners] Claude Brochu and Jeffrey Loria, than in finding solutions."
Frank Robinson
Expos manager
"We've appreciated the fan support we've got in the three years I've been here. They have been very vocal and very supportive.
"I think there were a lot more good times possibly than bad times. This is where an expansion ball club grew into one of the best organizations in baseball at one time.
"And it's sad the way it has gone over the last few years and the way it is going out."
Pierre Arsenault
Former Expos bullpen coach
"My son is 5 years old. This is all about kids in the province [of Quebec] that love baseball who won't have idols to come and watch. It's deeper than having a team leaving."
Gary Carter
Former Expos catcher
"When the franchise was awarded in 1969, I think it was a novelty for the fans. It's a hockey country, it just is. It was understood baseball took a backseat.
"[Olympic Stadium] is like a big toilet bowl. I hate to say that. From a distance it looked like a big spaceship. But it never worked."
Steve Rogers
One-time Expos pitcher
"The new city [Washington, D.C.] will not embrace Tim Raines and Andre Dawson and the Grand Orange [Rusty Staub] the way Montreal would have.
"My friends in Montreal will always be my friends in Montreal, but the baseball connection will no longer be front and centre."
Al Leiter
New York Mets pitcher
"Montreal is a great city, and Canada is a beautiful country. But it's kind of tough to play baseball in this stadium. It's best for everybody that they're finally moving."
Matt Stairs
Kansas City Royals outfielder and former
Expo
"A long time ago it was awesome. But when you only have 3,500 to
8,000 people per ball game, it's a real bad situation."
Katie Hynes
Lifelong Expos season-ticket holder
"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Every once in a while I think [about the team moving] and it overwhelms me."
Rheal Cormier
Philadelphia Phillies reliever and former
Expo
"I've been an Expos fan since I was a kid and it's sad to see where they are now."
Judy Rapoport
Expos season-ticket holder for 30-plus years
"The city of Montreal and the province of Quebec is really gonna be the big losers in this."
