Take me out to the ball game...(or take me out of Montreal...)

What else is new in the baseball world in Montreal? Now that they have left Montreal for good (or that is until everything is finally settled in Washington DC) they go ahead and sign some good players that we will never have the chance to see play in Montreal. Yet, by looking at the MLB website transaction page, the team is still tagged "Montreal Expos". Ok , I know that they aren't already done with stuff over in DC, but couldn't they have tagged the team as Washington at least? This is like pouring salt in an open wound...For years now we have been teased and humiliated in Montreal because of the fact that our beautiful city has been seen as a small market city for baseball. Well, if it wasn't for the 1994 strike and the fact that we had the best team in baseball at the time, which led to the eventual yearly fire sale of our best players, we might have been in the playoffs a couple of times, which would have brought more money in the pockets of the team, and led to signing better players, anyways, you get the picture...

So yesterday, the "Montreal Expos" signed Vinny Castilla and Christian Guzman. Guzman is a 26 year old decent shortstop who played 145 games last season with Minnesota, hitting .274 with 8 home runs. Defensively, he only committed 12 errors in 686 chances which is pretty decent considering the position he plays.

As for Vinny Castilla, well he's known for his strong bat. In 2004 with Colorado, he managed 35 home runs and 131 RBI's while hitting .271. He previously had 3 consecutive 40 home run seasons with Colorado in the second half of the 90's. He will be a welcome addition to this team that needed to find a player to replace Vladimir Guerrero.

Speaking of which, Vlad has been named American League MVP for 2004. What else is new? We have some of the best players in the league in Montreal and then they end up getting even better somewhere else. It wasn't always like that though, but Vlad is a hell of a ball player. The best we ever had in Montreal by far. Too bad he didn't get the chance to win the same honour while he was in Montreal...but hey, it's not as frustrating to see him win it now than it was to see Pedro Martinez win the Cy Young in 1997 and then have him traded to Boston the next season...

Baseball has a nice history in Montreal. Few people actually know that Jackie Robinson (first black player in the Major Leagues) actually played in Montreal for the Montreal Royals back when he was property of the Dodgers. Although we may not have had the best stadium for baseball, I have been to many home openers in the 80's and 90's and to have experienced baseball games with 55 000 fans screaming all at once, it's a hell of a feeling. I was there in 1994 when they played the last home game before the strike. I was there for the last 8 home games they played that year. The stadium was full and people were enjoying the game more than ever...

Then...greedy players went on strike, Montreal started trading away all their talented players...and it went all downhill from there...

Montreal WAS a city suited for baseball...no matter what anyone will tell me. I have seen how this city can be when the team is worth going to games for...but when you get screwed by both the owners of the team who don't give a rat's ass about the fans and MLB who couldn't careless about the first canadian franchise in the Major Leagues, fans tend to remember that kind of stuff and not care about the game anymore.

I can only hope that they don't keep the name Expos once they establish themselves in Washington for good...that would be too much for Montreal fans to bear...