September 29, 2003

 IT’S TIME FOR BASEBALL TO COMMIT LONG-TERM TO MONTREAL

      The jig is up.  The smokescreen has cleared.  The game is over.  Any of these popular phrases can be used to describe baseball’s attempt to move the Expos out of Montreal.  The search for a solid American ownership group willing and capable of being home to a major league franchise must be coming to an end.  It has been more than two years since the Expos were taken over by MLB, and it will be at least one more year before any move can be made.  With an American city being able to properly embrace and manage the Expos appearing less likely by the day, and with the sudden growth of enthusiasm for the team in its long time home it makes more sense for baseball to just stay put.

       There are many factors involved in moving the Expos.  First, MLB needs to find strong ownership, not like the ‘fly by the seat of their pants’ ownership groups they have fostered upon Montreal since Charles Bronfman said “enough”.  The new ownership group also must convince baseball that the new home of the Expos will be sound enough financially whereby the other owners won’t be forced to carry the franchise on their backs again.  Without strong American ownership--very few smart American businessmen would even entertain the notion of getting involved in such a poorly managed enterprise as Major League Baseball—the Expos are forced to play the rental game, living on a year by year basis.  Any American city willing to be a home to the Expos—Washington, Portland, etc—has been unable to convince its constituency to build a proper major league baseball stadium.  No stadium…no team.

       Secondly, major league baseball has to deal with the lawsuit brought against them by the former minority owners, under majority owner and top-notch carpetbagger Jeffrey Loria, who believe the purported sale of the team is being done without their knowledge and certainly without their approval.  The team cannot be moved until this lawsuit is resolved, and since many of the minority owners are major financial players it is doubtful that MLB will be able to simply sweep it under the rug.

       Baseball cannot continue on its present course.  Its idea to share the Expos with Puerto Rico was a decent one, except that they put too many games in that small park and forced the Expo players to spend two-thirds of their season on the road.  The Expo players voted against doing it again next season and the Players Association intends to fight against Baseball doing it again in 2004.  The Expo players, for their part, were enthralled with the support they received for the Montreal fans that came out in droves—more than 20,000 per game—at the end of the season.  The players want to play in front of that newfound enthusiasm. 

      In reality baseball never lost its passion in Montreal.  What was lost was the locals desire to support poorly constructed, financially corrupt, deceitful owners who wanted to take from Montrealers without giving back.  It started with Claude Brochu’s group that was willing to run a bare bones operation with the hopes of making a few pennies at the end of the season.  There wasn’t any time for fans to become attached to players the way they were attached to Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines in the seventies and eighties.  Players were shuttled out of town as soon as they were in the seven-figure salary area and the team became a major league farm system for the richer teams.  This was too much of an insult to Montrealers who grew weary of spending major league dollars to watch a minor league team.  There was a little hope when Loria took over—it couldn’t be any worse, was the thought process—but it was soon discovered that Loria had no intention of seriously running the Expos—the team was merely a means toward his ends of owning a franchise in the U.S.  And major league baseball has to take a lot of the blame for allowing Brochu’s group to mismanage the team, for Loria to usurp his authority, and for, in effect, screwing Montrealers out of good baseball. 

      Recently, however, under the strong baseball-minded guidance of general manager Omar Minaya and manager Frank Robinson, the team, and the city’s passion for the team, has been renewed.  The enthusiasm felt at the games shook not only the stadium and the city, but the vibrations were felt all the way up the hierarchy of major league baseball.  Ol’ Bud had to notice that interest has grown since a proper management team, with an eagerness to improve and to win, was installed.  Baseball also must have noticed that the players want to play all their games in Montreal, not only for practical reasons but also because of the renewed vigor of their support.  It must make them think that a proper ownership group, with a solid management core, could actually make baseball work in Montreal.

      The time has come for Major League Baseball to commit long-term to Montreal.  Its time to find an ownership group—perhaps the group suing them—that wants to continue the good will and the positive framework that is being built in the city.  Montreal is showing that if they are treated with respect, if their team is at least trying to get better, and if the days of being a farm team for all others is over then they will come out and support the team.  Perhaps in a couple of years a deal can be struck where that financially feasible 30,000 seat stadium can be built and Montreal can look ahead to many successful years. 

       Its time for baseball to take Montreal of its endangered species list and breathe new life into the city.