Topic spans: 1838 - 1977
Major League Baseball Comes to Canada
Play ball! From the impromptu games of "town ball" in the 1800s, through Jackie Robinson's Montreal Royals to the Expos and Blue Jays, Canadians have always been infatuated with baseball. But getting big league teams to come to Canada proved harder than hitting a grand slam. It took decades of persuading, promoting, wheeling and dealing, but eventually America's favourite pastime found a home in the great white north.
8 television clips
13 radio clips
Les Expos sont là!
Broadcast Date: April 14, 1969
Despite decades of lobbying, Montreal has not had a significant baseball team since the Royals folded in 1960. There is even talk of a big league expansion to baseball-crazy Japan rather than Canada. But the raging success of Expo 67 sets Montreal as a world-class city. When investors come up with the $10 million expansion fee and the mayor promises a new domed stadium, National League officials agree to export America's national pastime up north.The creation of the Expos is great news for baseball fans, but how successful will the team be? The Expos have no Triple-A farm team to provide replacement players if somebody gets hurt. Montreal is a hockey town, with fans accustomed to watching contenders, not struggling start-ups. CBC Sports talks to players, managers and sportswriters about the fledgling team's prospects for winning, filling seats and making money.
Les Expos sont là!
• The Montreal Expos were named after Expo 67 (the Montreal Universal and International Exposition of 1967).• The theme song of the Montreal Expos is Les Expos sont là by Marc Gélinas.
• There were high hopes that a successful baseball team with a domed stadium would help influence the International Olympic Committee to award the 1976 Olympic Games to Montreal. Montreal was awarded the games on May 12, 1970.
• The Expos spent their first eight years playing in Jarry Park, a renovated minor league park. Olympic Stadium, current home to the Expos, was unveiled on July 17, 1976 for the Olympic Games (even though it was unfinished.) The Expos began playing there on April 15, 1977. The promise of a dome was not fulfilled until April 16, 1987, when a Kevlar roof was put in place. The stadium has a long history of financial and structural woes.
Les Expos sont là!
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio Sports
Broadcast Date: April 14, 1969
Guest(s):
Host: Sheridan Nelson
Duration: 28:40
Last updated:
Oct. 27, 2003
Activez le Javascript sur votre navigateur...
21 clips in this topic . page
Television
2:03
April 14, 1969
After beating the Mets on opening day in New York, the Montreal Expos stun the Cardinals at Montreal's Jarry Park.
Television
3:46
April 18, 1946
In 1946 a rookie second baseman for the Montreal Royals changes the face of baseball forever.
Baseball's 'real home' celebrates game's 150th anniversary- Baseball strike halts best-ever Expos team
- Fergie Jenkins, 1st Cdn. in Baseball Hall of Fame
Montreal snags baseball franchise- Baseball the Beeston way
- Jackie Robinson talks race relations
Still Standing: The People's Champion George Chuvalo
Les Expos sont là!.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Oct. 27, 2003.
[Page consulted on Feb. 9, 2010.]