Among other things - second largest French-speaking city on the planet, home of poutine - Montreal is the home of the Nationals, the city where our hometown team was born in 1969.
We visited the town where Jackie Robinson played his first season of professaional (white) baseball and Andre Dawson and Gary Carter became Hall of Famers last week, and surprisingly and happily found some lingering Expos love. And some souvenirs.
One of the first places we visited was the Olympic Stadium, mainly to ride to the top of the tower that holds the roof of the stadium in place for the view. While in the observation deck at the top, Evan and I struck up a conversation with one of the guides there. He wistfully recalled many good times rooting for the Expos, and said Montreal remains a good baseball town with many fans still rooting for the Nats. He thought that most Montreal fans had switched their allegiance to the Blue Jays, but we did run into two local Montreal citizens/fans wearing Nats gear who yelled "Go Nats" when they saw Evan wearing a curly W.
Even though he worked at the Olympic Stadium even he called it a horrible venue for baseball (it hasn't aged well either; the concrete looks worn and crumbly and even the CFL's Alouettes play most of their games at McGill University). As you know, the stadium was built for the 1976 Olympic Games so most of the seats were pretty far from the field. He did say it was loud and had a great echo, so a small crowd could sound huge.
Finally, he knew a lot of the teams' history, both the Expos and the Nats. He even apologized for the lack of talent that came from Montreal in 2005. Evan and I defended that team, which after all went 81 and 81, and some of the players.
We expected a lot from our vacation to Montreal, but discussing the merits of Brad Wilkerson and Jose Vidro was not on that list.
Rue Saint Paul is the heart of old Montreal, and features lots of restaurants and tourist shops. We found a decent amount of Expos gear for sale but all of it was old. We saw a Gary Carter replica jersey at a few stores, but at each shop they only had 1 small size jersey left. I was able to find a nameless Expos jersey in my size, a black Expos, and a fitted, authentic New Era hat for Evan. Both hats had been on the shelf so long that the New Era stickers on the bills were hard to remove. And the clerk told me that we bought probably the last, fitted Expos hat he would EVER sell. He doubted he would ever order any more, or could even order more if he wanted to. Once their stock is gone, memories of the Expos may disappear, too.
Evan and I wore our new Expos gear the next day, and got a few thumbs up and compliments from folks on the street. We probably had around a dozen Expos interactions with Montrealers if you include seeing 3 or 4 folks we saw on the street wearing their hats or shirts. It was enough to make me feel a little guilty for gaining from their loss
A Few Nats Notes
We visited the town where Jackie Robinson played his first season of professaional (white) baseball and Andre Dawson and Gary Carter became Hall of Famers last week, and surprisingly and happily found some lingering Expos love. And some souvenirs.
One of the first places we visited was the Olympic Stadium, mainly to ride to the top of the tower that holds the roof of the stadium in place for the view. While in the observation deck at the top, Evan and I struck up a conversation with one of the guides there. He wistfully recalled many good times rooting for the Expos, and said Montreal remains a good baseball town with many fans still rooting for the Nats. He thought that most Montreal fans had switched their allegiance to the Blue Jays, but we did run into two local Montreal citizens/fans wearing Nats gear who yelled "Go Nats" when they saw Evan wearing a curly W.
Even though he worked at the Olympic Stadium even he called it a horrible venue for baseball (it hasn't aged well either; the concrete looks worn and crumbly and even the CFL's Alouettes play most of their games at McGill University). As you know, the stadium was built for the 1976 Olympic Games so most of the seats were pretty far from the field. He did say it was loud and had a great echo, so a small crowd could sound huge.
Finally, he knew a lot of the teams' history, both the Expos and the Nats. He even apologized for the lack of talent that came from Montreal in 2005. Evan and I defended that team, which after all went 81 and 81, and some of the players.
We expected a lot from our vacation to Montreal, but discussing the merits of Brad Wilkerson and Jose Vidro was not on that list.
Rue Saint Paul is the heart of old Montreal, and features lots of restaurants and tourist shops. We found a decent amount of Expos gear for sale but all of it was old. We saw a Gary Carter replica jersey at a few stores, but at each shop they only had 1 small size jersey left. I was able to find a nameless Expos jersey in my size, a black Expos, and a fitted, authentic New Era hat for Evan. Both hats had been on the shelf so long that the New Era stickers on the bills were hard to remove. And the clerk told me that we bought probably the last, fitted Expos hat he would EVER sell. He doubted he would ever order any more, or could even order more if he wanted to. Once their stock is gone, memories of the Expos may disappear, too.
Evan and I wore our new Expos gear the next day, and got a few thumbs up and compliments from folks on the street. We probably had around a dozen Expos interactions with Montrealers if you include seeing 3 or 4 folks we saw on the street wearing their hats or shirts. It was enough to make me feel a little guilty for gaining from their loss
A Few Nats Notes
- The good news: the Nats have won 6 of 10. The bad news: we can't seem to beat the Braves! What a frustrating series.
- The other good news: we take on the Cubs this week, so a 4-game winning streak may be on the horizon.
- Finally, I don't know what to make of Straburg on Saturday night. I hope he's not hurt, but the way be lost it in the second inning is a concern. He had pin-point control in the first, evidenced by the perfectly placed pitch that hit Justin Upton in the posterior. But in the second he practically beaned the mascot.
- Anyway, we're still 'only' 9 and a half back in the wild card. GO NATS!
