'Nos Expos' are the talk of the town
Broadcast Date: Aug. 22, 1972
Attending an Expos game is unlike any other big league experience. For tourists, it's a chance to get close to the players and to make first contact with French Canadians. For locals, the team reaffirms Montreal's status as a first-class city (it doesn't hurt that Toronto didn't get a team.) CBC Radio's Quebec Now looks at the Expos' impact on life in Montreal and explains for anglophones what the heck la balle papillon means.'Nos Expos' are the talk of the town
• With a maximum capacity of 28,000, Montreal's Jarry Park had the fewest seats in the major leagues. The grounds were also small and home runs to right field occasionally fell into an adjacent public swimming pool. The only covered seats were in the press box.• Montreal officials told the league a new stadium would be ready by 1972, but the Expos didn't leave Jarry Park until 1976.
• Jarry Park featured Major League Baseball's first bilingual public address system. The organist provided a musical running commentary throughout the game, a novelty at the time.
• Despite the small stadium, the Expos attracted over 1.2 million fans in their first year; twice the attendance of the Padres, the National League's other expansion team.
• At one point, French baseball terminology was advertised on city buses in Quebec in an effort to encourage its use. Much of it failed to catch on. Local sportswriters couldn't agree on which terms to use, and most baseball games were watched in English on American television stations.
Some pitching terminology in French:
• Pitcher: Le lanceur
• Balk: Une feinte irrégulière
• Breaking ball: La balle à effet
• Knuckleball: La balle papillon
• Screwball: La balle tire-bouchon
• Sinker: La balle tombante
• Slider: La balle glissante
'Nos Expos' are the talk of the town
Medium: Radio
Program: Quebec Now
Broadcast Date: Aug. 22, 1972
Guest(s): Nick Auf der Maur, Hubert Langlois
Host: Bob Harding
Duration: 10:35
Last updated:
March 6, 2003
Radio
13:26
From "The New York Game" played by socialites in 1845, to the first professional Canadian teams, Miller Stewart tracks baseball's early history.
Radio
28:40
After 10 years without a significant team, Montreal welcomes Canada's first Major League Baseball franchise.
Major League Baseball Comes to Canada
Montreal Expos first game and home opener- Will Toronto ever get a franchise?
Toronto joins the big leagues- No beer for 'Toronto the Good'
- How to spit on umpires' feet without getting caught
- Jackie Robinson talks about playing in Montreal
- Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club suffers from expansion talk
'Nos Expos' are the talk of the town.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: March 6, 2003.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]