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Expos to leave Montreal
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| ShadoWolf |
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...8/BNStory/Front
Baseball set to send Expos packing to Washington, D.C.
By JEFF BLAIR and LARRY MILLSON
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Montreal and Baltimore — Major League Baseball will announce today that Washington will be the new home of the Montreal Expos.
A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington has been notified by Major League Baseball of the impending announcement that will return the national pastime to the U.S. capital for the first time in 33 years.
The city is planning its own news conference at a downtown location this afternoon, the official said.
Expos president Tony Tavares said, however, he has no knowledge of any decision.
“This has been like a rollercoaster, my cellphone hasn't rung,” he said last night.
The Washington announcement will come one day before the 33rd anniversary of the Senators' final game. The Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season.
Commissioner Bud Selig's right-hand man will be in Montreal tonight for what is expected to be the Expos' final home game.
Barring a last-minute change in schedule, baseball's president and chief operating officer, Robert DuPuy, will be in Montreal, but not, he said last night, for any announcement. Rather, he will represent the commissioner's office at the game and is expected to meet and thank Expo sponsors and suppliers.
DuPuy has stressed there is no concrete timetable for any announcement, but negotiations on territorial compensation for Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos have proceeded to the point that instead of simply digging in his heels, Angelos has laid out the framework for an agreement.
Various sources in baseball have indicated in recent days that an announcement could be made tomorrow, the anniversary of the Senators' last game before they became the Texas Rangers in 1971, although two major-league club owners said an anticipated conference call with Selig did not take place yesterday.
Angelos told The Baltimore Sun that his major concern is whether any deal protected the value of his franchise as well as the state of Maryland's investment in Camden Yards, the Orioles' ballpark.
“As far as my personal interests are concerned, as far as paying me $100-million or $150-million, all that would do is take care of Peter Angelos. That's not what it's about,” Angelos told the newspaper.
According to various reports, Major League Baseball would be willing to guarantee the Orioles a minimum amount of revenue each year. Baseball also would be willing to guarantee a minimum franchise value for the Orioles. In that case, baseball would make up the difference if Angelos didn't reach that amount if he sold the team.
A crowd of between 27,000 and 30,000 is expected for the Expos' game, which will be the final game of a three-game series against the Florida Marlins.During the game, a commemorative banner will be unveiled to celebrate the 1994 team, which had the best record in the major leagues at the time of the players strike.
Last night, only 5,416 were at Olympic Stadium as the Marlins defeated the Expos 5-2, but there was a noticeable increase in security from the night before. One fan was allowed to carry around a sign that read “Mr. Selig, Mr. Loria, Satan called — your room is ready,” a reference to the baseball commissioner and former Expos general partner Jeffrey Loria, who now owns the Marlins.
With reports from Associated Press |
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| malek |
| no one cares about baseball in Montreal since the ripoff of 1994.:rolleyes: |
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| Bertuzz |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
no one cares about baseball in Montreal since the ripoff of 1994.:rolleyes: |
+1
I'd cry, but really, who cares about baseball in Montreal anyways? :conf: |
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| neuro |
| quote: | Originally posted by Bertuzz
+1
I'd cry, but really, who cares about baseball in Montreal anyways? :conf: |
Who cares about baseball period?
NEURO |
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| Bertuzz |
| quote: | Originally posted by neuro
Who cares about baseball period?
NEURO |
Good point. :p
Obviously it's "America's pastime," not ours. Montreal is above and beyond (pardon the pun) a hockey town! I'd say the Als come 2nd, by process of eliminating the Expos, the Impact are now 3rd? |
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| malek |
| Impact will become 2nd in 5-10 years. The city has converted many many baseball ballparks into soccer fields. |
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| RnakR |
| le soccer va devenir populaire ici, c'est plein d'immigrés :D |
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| SiM PeµRf |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
Impact will become 2nd in 5-10 years. The city has converted many many baseball ballparks into soccer fields. |
youre right that Impact will become more and more bigger....but dont even think about getting pass the Als.....I mean they are by far the greatest football team in the CFL...something we must be proud of....AND football is WAYYYY better than soccer... |
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| fastmp3 |
| il est temps que montreal posséde une équipe de foot PUISSANTE (je parle du vrai foot pas de l'autre sport des ricains) |
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| RnakR |
l'impact ca peut pas grossir infiniment pcq leur ligue est so-so...
je m'y connais pas mais je sais qu'il y a une autre ligue nord-américaine plus hot à laquelle ils pourraient adhérer... |
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| malek |
| quote: | Originally posted by RnakR
l'impact ca peut pas grossir infiniment pcq leur ligue est so-so...
je m'y connais pas mais je sais qu'il y a une autre ligue nord-américaine plus hot à laquelle ils pourraient adhérer... |
oui la MLS, beaucoup plus importante et un niveau plus relevé je crois... je pense que c'est une progression logique d'aller vers cette ligue... |
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| Bertuzz |
| quote: | Originally posted by malek
Impact will become 2nd in 5-10 years. The city has converted many many baseball ballparks into soccer fields. |
couldn't agree more. I can count the number of baseball fields still in existence around my area on my fingers. On the other hand, there seems to be a new soccer field built or converted every 5 minutes.
I definitely think soccer is taking over, amongst younger kids anyways. Give it 10-15 years and the kids grow up, who knows what will happen? Maybe Montreal and Canada will become a power (finally!).... haha like that's gonna happen :rolleyes:
| quote: | Originally posted by fastmp3
il est temps que montreal posséde une équipe de foot PUISSANTE (je parle du vrai foot pas de l'autre sport des ricains) |
The Impact DID win the A-League championship this year, if that really means anything considering how much poorer the quality of play is compared to the leagues in Europe. |
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