Felipe Alou: A New Stadium Would Have Worked In Montreal

Five years after the departure of the Expos from Montreal, the souvenirs are still well alive. Visiting the city last week, former skipper Felipe Alou told a local television network a new downtown baseball stadium would have worked in Montreal.

For the most popular manager in the team`s history, it was the only way to save the franchise. Alou also told reporters if the Loria-Samson duo would have been as patient in Montreal as they were in Miami, trying to land a new stadium, the Expos would still be alive.

But five years later, the only true ascertainment is the Expos have moved to Washington to find a new stadium that is still empty. To the fans in Montreal, it's another slap in the face, especially when you consider all the efforts Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig have put into the team`s transfer to DC. And in all the disgrace they used to kill baseball in Montreal.

To get the true facts about Montreal as a baseball city, one should consider that it's where everything started for black players getting a shot at the Major Leagues. One should consider that the Expos drew more than 2 million fans for four straight seasons in the early 1980s.

Also consider because of the 1994 strike, the fans lost interest because of the following fire sale that emptied the team of almost all star players. When in a couple of years you have to wave goodbye to Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill, John Wetteland and Pedro Martinez, how can you keep the passion going?

Further more, during the team,s last run at the playoffs in 2003, MLB refused the right to the Expos to recall players in September, arguing they didn’t have the money to do so. After climbing to only two games back of the Phillies in late August, the team lost all its momentum in September. You could say that's when the franchise started to die. In the all out bashing against the fans in Montreal, the lack of support and the poor attendance, Bud Selig never dared to talk about this disgraceful act against the Expos and they're fans. Isn’t a professional sport all about parity and sportsmanship?

In Alou's eyes, the city of Montreal is reminiscent of great times: "Thank you so much for the love...the love...all of the history and the good times we had here." 

Coming from Felipe, it heals part of the scars suffered being an Expos believer. And being an Expos believer means you pray the team will be back one day. One is just hoping to still be around, to welcome them back home. Long live baseball in Montreal.

*References: RDS and Montreal Gazette.