Beeston not against Jays' game in Montreal

[MTLskyline]

I would buy the best seats I possibly could for sure!!

 

Beeston not against Jays' game in Montreal

Team president says it's too early to speculate when team might visit Big O

 

The Canadian Press

Last Updated: Apr 6, 2011 12:32 PM ET

 

Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Beeston says he's open to the idea of realizing the dreams of some Quebec fans and bringing his team to Montreal's Olympic Stadium for a visit.

 

"Certainly we would like to play a game in Montreal or in Quebec at some point in time," Beeston told The Canadian Press.

 

"I think it would be a terrific idea."

 

Montreal has been without its own baseball team since Major League Baseball moved the team to Washington in 2004 as the Nationals.

 

The Blue Jays do have a Montreal connection — general manager Alex Anthopoulos was born in the city.

 

"We actually have a Montreal-born general manager whose family is still there, whose roots are in Montreal so it would be like him taking his team home," Beeston said.

 

Beeston made his comments in the interview in response to fan postings on a blog on the website of Montreal radio station CKAC Sports.

 

Fans said he has to build loyalty among Montreal's Blue Jays supporters now that some of the team's games are being broadcast in French on CKAC.

 

Fans love idea

 

Several fans wrote they'd like to see the Jays play a game at Oympic Stadium and weren't deterred when it was suggested by others the former home of the Montreal Expos is no longer equipped for baseball.

 

"If we can build an 80,000-seat stadium for two U2 concerts, we can certainly spend a few dollars to stage a baseball game," wrote a man who identified himself as Frank.

 

Beeston noted in the interview the team played exhibition games in "the old days" in Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary and tried to play one in Saint John, N.B., but was snowed out.

 

But he said it is too early to suggest when the team might make a swing through La Belle Province.

 

CKAC Sports program director Michel Tremblay said the Cogeco-owned radio station is almost doubling the number of Blue Jays games it broadcasts live after getting solid ratings with a first try last year.

 

CKAC Sports broadcast eight weekend games last year and will air 15 this year. It started on April 1 and will wrap up in July when the programming slot goes to the Montreal Impact soccer team.

 

The games are broadcast in English by The Team 990.

 

Tremblay doesn't see anything amiss about broadcasting Blue Jays games over his airwaves considering the enduring friendly rivalry between Montreal and Toronto.

 

"We're an all-sports radio station," he said, although he admits its bread and butter is the Montreal Canadiens and hockey.

 

Tremblay spoke of Montreal's love of baseball and said the city has a long tradition of being thrilled by the crack of the bat.

 

Montrealers love baseball

 

"The love of baseball used to be very strong in Montreal," he said. "You can go back to Jackie Robinson's days."

 

Robinson, who broke baseball's colour barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, had previously played for the Montreal Royals. His stay in Montreal was commemorated in February with a plaque on his former apartment.

 

Beeston said he doesn't know if broadcasting the Jays games would cool the Montreal-Toronto rivalry but added he'd be happy if it provided impetus to bring a minor-league or major-league team back to Montreal.

 

"That would be terrific," he said. "Montreal's a great baseball city as we all know. Was there a more lively stadium in sports than Montreal in the early '80s? I don't think so."

 

Fans had a few tips for Beeston on the blog of one of the CKAC Sports commentators who will do play-by-play for the games.

 

Martin Beauchamp wrote he would like Beeston to make souvenirs such as caps and shirts widely available in Montreal.

 

"He should make an effort to put some French on the [Jays' Internet] site and advertise in Quebec and put mini-calendars in the convenience stores," he wrote.

 

Beauchamp wrote he's been a Blue Jays fan since 2005 and knows there aren't many like him in Montreal.

 

"We've made an effort to go over there for the games of the only team in Canada so he should do something so we can identify with our national team."

 

Bruno Boudreau underscored the importance of building a broad-based fan following for the Jays.

 

"We can't hide the fact that the Jays' situation is not very rosy and broadening its support to make the Jays 'Canada's baseball team' is still the only way to ensure the team's long-term viability and the survival of Major League Baseball in Canada," wrote Boudreau.

© The Canadian Press, 2011

 

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2011/04/06/sp-beeston-bluejays-montreal.html#ixzz1Inasrob6

[pedepy]

i don't like where this is going ... like toronto's franchises can just barge in and pretend to be canada's teams!

 

sure, it worked for the raptors back in october - but basketball doesn't have anything close to the loaded history baseball has in this city, and i'm afraid that fans won't react favorably to the jays taking on the big o for a "home game". they may end up having trouble attracting an attendance of 15k, and then everyone will take it as a proof that nobody in montreal likes baseball...

 

what won't happen but would be alot nicer in my opinion would have to have an exhibition game between an all time roster of the best expos players vs some sort of retired all star team. habs have these all the time - you know the kind i'm talking about. the faces would be familiar, the souvenirs genuine, all attendance no doubt much higher. could also serve as a way to show the rest of the baseball world how much talent passed through here and how appreciated they were in their days. and who knows, it might even remind some of the folks here that they once enjoyed going to a ball game and cheering for some team called the expos ..

[sillystou]

Moi je serais pas contre...

[jesseps]

That would be interesting to see, Yankees vs. Jays at the Big O would be nice. I'll be sporting a Yankees jersey though

[ymenard]

As much as I love Baseball and miss the Expos, I will never root for the Blue Jays. Impossible. I wouldn't even go to the game (I went to 10 games per year at the Big O)

[monctezuma]

Il y a un match des Jays à la télé en ce moment. C'est incroyable, le stade est vide à 95% !! On dirait une pratique privée pour la famille seulement lol.

[Vauxhall]

Il y a un match des Jays à la télé en ce moment. C'est incroyable, le stade est vide à 95% !! On dirait une pratique privée pour la famille seulement lol.

 

Voici la raison:

The crowd of 11,178 was Toronto's second-smallest of the season, and well short of the 18,556 who showed up just down the street to watch the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs open their preseason schedule against the Ottawa Senators.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/lind-leads-blue-jays-past-angels/article2172184/