Will Major League Baseball ever come back to Montreal? The documentary in February 2016 suggested that
it was a possibility, and the sellout exhibition crowds raise our hopes. Now the Washington Nationals have
finally won the World Series, reminding everyone of the great history of the franchise. It is an appropriate
time to read this book from 2014. A scan of Jonah Keri's books shows that he's a left-brained statistical
analyst, but this book is all heart, a cri de coeur. For 20 years, I have gradually lost contact with MLB.
I love the game far more than I do football, despite the NY Giants' occasional successes in the new millenium.
I was not angry the way my Dad and uncle (both of whom followed the franchise to become Nationals fans)
were. I understand supply and demand. I was just sad that I put my whole childhood into this and it died.
And it didn't just happen in 2004. It began in 1981, and the final phase began in 95.
Keri is just a few years older than me. He provides cultural context, that baseball went not into just Canada but
French Canada. Like everywhere else, the 60s in Quebec were a time of rapid social change, and the excitement
around the World's Fair of Expo 67, on the islands where the amusement park La Ronde and Formula 1 are found.
The number of stars that the team had is astounding over the years. Rusty Staub (Le Grand Orange), Gary Carter
(The Kid), Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers, Bill Lee, and Andre Dawson. As the team peaked leading
up to the 1981 season, there were Tim Wallach, Tim Raines, Jeff Reardon, and Pete Rose (who was past his prime
but provided needed leadership). My earliest memories are from the late 80s with Andres Galaragga, Pascual
Perez and Dennis Martinez (El Presidente). The early 90s brought Randy Johnson, Mark Langston, and Delino
Deshields. The second wave peaked with the 1994 powerhouse including Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, Larry
Walker, Ken Hill, John Wetteland, Rondell White, Cliff Floyd and of course Pedro Martinez. Even the sad final
years produced one of the greatest players of my lifetime, Vladimir Guerrero. Keri captures the excitement
of discovering Vlad and how he could hit a pitch from way outside for an opposite field home run. There
are similar stories of these many stars and the joy they brought us. Also there were the managers like
Dick Williams, Bill Virdon, Buck Rodgers (the first I remember), Tom Runnels, and the great Felipe Alou.
Keri shows how Alou should have been promoted several times before he finally got the job.
The best seasons of course were the two strike years, 1981 and 1994. In 1995 they got rid of everybody
and Keri's chapter is called Expos University, as stars typically left within four years and prospered on
other teams. The years 1995 to 2004 were brutal. It was especially sad for me as the book approached
the year 2000 and I was no longer familiar with the stories or the players involved, because I had gradually
stopped being a fan.
Keri captures the excitement on and off the field in this notorious party city with the temptations of
drugs and alcohol and the ladies. The stories about Bill Lee are especially amusing, while Tim "Rock"
Raines was able to reform with Andre Dawson's help. Ellis Valentine found redemption but it was after
his career. Pro athletes are shot into stardom at a young age and it's no surprise that their personal lives
have issues of immaturity. The book has a lot of swearing, because that's how the players talk.
In Keri's narrative, the villain is not lack of fan support, which was phenomenal in the late 70s and early 80s.
Montreal is a hockey city, and yet in the peak years baseball was just as exciting. The villain is not even Claude
Brochu, who got rid of everybody in 95, or Jeffrey Loria, who eventually sold the team to MLB. After owner
Charles Bronfman of Seagram's stepped down, both the public and private sector failed to invest.
Keri is not nostalgic about the quaint Jarry Park, for the most exciting years came after the move to the
Big O, Olympic Stadium. It was a bad stadium, and yet it's the only ballpark in MLB that I can say was
mine.
The memories go on and on. Youppi. The Happy Wanderer (Valderi, Valdera...) The trumpet guys out in
the bleachers. $1 tickets (Canadian!) in the bleachers. Creme Glacee, Ice Cream. Bretzel. Coke, Sprite!
The Guess jeans girls and fan of the game. CJAD radio. Dave Van Horne and Up Up and Away. Labatt
50 ale, La Cinquante. Petro Canada. Mr. Van Horne the English language announcer is perhaps one of
Keri's most important sources, but he conducted an astounding number of interviews.
The only complaint about Canada that I noticed was that a player's wife had to cross the border to
the states to get Doritos! This was presumably my hometown of Champlain, NY just down the 15.
Add Prime
to get Fast, Free delivery
$30.34 with 5 percent savings
List Price: $32.00 
The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Learn more
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Products related to this item
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Products related to this item
Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
- smcReviewed in Canada on June 27, 2017
This brought back to me everything about why I loved (and still love) the Montreal Expos
-
Philipp LaferiReviewed in Germany on April 14, 2014
Tolles Buch über die Geschichte der Expos, geschrieben von ihrem größten Fan
- Anthony D'AlfonsoReviewed in Canada on December 22, 2014
Great history pf the Expos, but...
