Photo courtesy montrealontheroad.com
Alan Scaia, KLIF 24/7 News
ARLINGTON (KLIF 24/7 NEWS) – Frederic Leduc remembers cheering on Vladimir Guerrero as the former Montreal Expo reached the World Series with the Texas Rangers in 2010.
"The bat was still there, but he couldn't play the outfield as well as he did in Montreal," he says. "Still, it was nice."
Leduc and his wife live in Montreal and were fans of the Expos until the team moved to Washington at the end of the 2004 season. Now, the pair visit North Texas and attend several Rangers game each summer.
"The first time we came here was 2004 on our honeymoon," he says. "We fell in love with Texas and the stadium. It's so nice, and we love the warm weather."
Leduc and his wife attended a Rangers game this week with another contingent from Montreal. Adry Laurin and Gabriel Morissette are spending the summer visiting each Major League park to raise awareness of a campaign to bring Major League Baseball back to Montreal.
"People are very happy to see us," Laurin says. "People recognize the logo and say, 'Oh, you're an Expos fan! I was a fan back in the day.'"
The two have dubbed their trip "Montreal on the Road," and they've drawn attention from their hometown, where former Expo Warren Cromartie leads the campaign that aims to revive baseball.
"We want to be a destination again. We're a major league city," Cromartie, the founder of Montreal Baseball Project, says. "I think Montreal sees how much they miss their team, but most importantly, they miss the history. Jackie Robinson got his start here."
Robinson broke the color barrier with the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, in 1946.
"The ballplayers, when they came to Montreal, they loved the city, they loved the food, they loved the nightlife," Cromartie says.
When Montreal was awarded an expansion team beginning in the 1969, the city was chosen over several other finalists, including Dallas/Ft. Worth. During Cromartie's career in the early 1980s, the Expos ranked among the league's leaders in attendance, topping two million fans three times.
They moved to Washington after failing to reach one million fans in six of their final seven seasons in Montreal and finishing last in attendance all seven years.
Now, though, Cromartie says sales of Montreal Expos merchandise ranks in the top 10 in Major League Baseball throughout North America.
"Young kids wearing this apparel have never seen an Expo game," he says. "Whether it's for nostalgia or whatever, it's got a lot to do with keeping us alive."
This spring, the Toronto Blue Jays held two exhibition games at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, drawing a total of almost 100,00 fans. During the All-Star break, Commissioner Bud Selig praised the city, saying he could envision baseball returning to Canada's second largest city.
"I think they would be an excellent candidate in the future," he said. "That was very impressive."
"He told the people what the people of Montreal already knew," Morisette said this week before taking in a game this week at the Ballpark. "We know Montreal is a good candidate, and we know it's going to take time and a new ballpark."
Morisette and Laurin say they hope to build goodwill in each city, but they are also learning what Montreal would need to succeed. They came to Arlington from Tampa Bay, where the Rays say they may have to relocate without a new park.
"We learned that the ballpark is one of the key things to keep your fan base," Morisette says. "What are you going to do to keep your fans if the team is struggling?"
While Tampa Bay may be a candidate to relocate to Montreal, Laurin says Expos fans are sympathetic.
"We don't want to steal their team," she says. "They're so nice, and they're having issues with their team, too."
This weekend, the pair will visit Houston before continuing on to Arizona and the west coast.
"We need to get the approval of the people of Montreal, for sure, but we would love to get the approval from all the baseball fans around the league, especially here in Texas," Morisette says.
(Copyright 2014 KLIF 24/7 News. All rights reserved)
