Category Archives: Baseball


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Miguel Cabrera vs Mike Trout

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It is an understatement to admit that both Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout have had monumental seasons, but in the discussion of who is the AL MVP, it’s a no-brainer to this blogger. ESPN’s Tim Kirkjian calls the Triple Crown baseball’s holy trinity, yet Jonah Keri on TSN690 this morning dismissed it as a random collection of stats. Sure…a revered and relevant achievement, relegated to novelty status by advanced stats snobbery.

If that doesn’t say it all, nothing does.

With the reams of data at our fingertips these days, it is easy and all too tempting to dig deep and find player value where there may, or may not be any. Advanced stats can be helpful, when used in context. What they don’t do, however, is build a case strong enough to downplay what has been an exceedingly rare achievement in baseball, one not seen since the Leafs last won the Cup.

The Triple Crown in horse racing is not simply three wins at three randomly selected race tracks. Similarly, batting average, home runs, and runs batted in are not carefully culled stats designed to prop up one guy in any given season. It’s a gauntlet of statistics that tests hitters in a way that no other drill can, and yes, hitting a fastball at an elite level, while doing it for power, production and frequency is as hard as it gets in pro sports. And I haven’t mentioned that Cabrera also carried his team to a division title, and played his best ball in helping his team overcome a three game deficit in September.

When we talk about MVP, people tend to fall in to one of the following two camps:
1- Best individual statistics
2- Best value to his team

In this discussion, you can make a case for either player carrying superior numbers, but offense has always carried the day in MVP voting. I don’t remember anyone clammoring for Endy Chavez as team MVP. Speed and defense are valuable, but offense sets a player apart, and puts them in another stratosphere. If you look at this through the lens of the second camp, Cabrera wins, hands down. Without him, the Tigers are flirting with the Indians. Without Trout…well the Angels still aren’t a playoff team. The difference in value here is deep, pronouced and relevant.

Mike Trout had a great season, and there’s no doubt about that, especially when you consider his rookie status. But when accomplishing something as impressive and rare as the Triple Crown, and propelling your team to the playoffs in the process, you need not look any further for the MVP.

If you ask me to look to 2013, and beyond, I would bluntly admit that Cabrera has likely had the best season he will ever have, and that he may not win MVP ever again. Mike Trout, on the other hand, is just getting started and may eventually be one of the greats. But for 2012, the Triple Crown winner takes the cake.

Random Friday Musings – May 4th

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Another work week is just about in the books, and as is usually the case, the sports world has given us plenty to talk about. Here’s some brief thoughts on what’s gone on, starting with…

Marc Bergevin as Habs GM. Without knowing the guy, or much about his body of work, I really like the hire. He comes from a winning organization and was an integral part of transforming it from a laughing stock to a recent Cup winner. Here’s hoping that he brought a lot of knowledge with him so that he can do the same in Montreal. He has oh so much work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. Read more on what I think he has on his task list here. Did the Habs get the best man for the job, regardless of politics? Hard to say, but given the realities (self-imposed realities or not) of the Montreal market, you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who doesn’t like the hiring. He made a terrific first impression at his press conference, and seems to be the opposite of the life-sucking Pierre Gauthier, which already is an improvement.

L.A. Kings roll. Raise your hand if you thought the Kings would not only beat the President’s Trophy winning Canucks, but be on the verge of sweeping the third overall St. Louis Blues, the league’s best defensive team. What the Kings are doing is nothing short of remarkable. Of course, any team with Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, and Dustin Brown should never be written off, but it’s the lesser known role players who are chipping in at key times, which is critical in the playoffs. Are they a team of destiny? They are poised to dump the Kings, and whoever advances between Nashville and Phoenix is going to have their hands full. Let’s look ahead to a future that sees the Kings knocking off the Rangers in the Cup finals. It would be the most remarkable Cup win in history (or one of the most remarkable). Who else could boast knocking off the top 3 teams in the league during the regular season? That said, the last 15 consecutive Cup winners started the playoffs with home ice advantage, so the smart money is still on any of the remaining 1-4 seeds.

Shame on Radulov, Kostitsyn. No, I’m not going to play the “they’re Russian / Belarussian, what did you expect?” card. That’s nonsense and if you subscribe to that theory, kindly take the down the Don Cherry poster that is hanging from the ceiling above your bed. Still, these two offensive talents were brought in to add scoring punch to a lineup that has everything else. That they decided to break curfew in order to stay out drinking – on the eve of a playoff game – is a supremely arrogant and selfish act. It shows disrespect to the team and organization that put their faith in them at the most critical time, and it’s a slap in the face to teammates who would probably also to prefer to be out having a good time, but put the team first by adhering to the team curfew. The Predators are equipped to go all the way, and now these two selfish turds have put their coach and GM in a really tough spot. They won game 3 handily without Radulov and Kostitsyn, and the popular refrain is that you do not alter a winning lineup in the playoffs. Another loss will push the Preds to the brink and at that point you’ll see both back in action. But it would likely be too late. Depending on your point of view, Coach Barry Trotz has an easy call in front of him – let them sit in the press box. Should the Preds lose tonight, however, there will be no shortage of people who say the punishment extended beyond it’s original definition, and that Trotz hurt the team. In the end, the blame falls squarely on two players (one of whom I defended quite vehemently) who put their Coach in a position he should never have to be in come playoff time. Here’s hoping they both land in the KHL next season, which is where their selfish actions will likely land them anyway.

Unfitting end of a great career? I’m no Yankees fan, but when I heard that Mariano Rivera, hands-down the greatest closer to ever play the game blew out his knee, I was really sad. I can’t think of a more unfitting and unfair end to a stellar career than shagging fly balls in Kansas City. Yet another reason to loathe the perpetual machine of failure called the Royals. Could he not have done it falling awkwardly off the mound instead? At 42 years old, it’s hard to imagine Rivera will want to put in the hard work required to rehab a shredded knee, just to play another season. He was already contemplating retirement after this year and this injury may have forced his hand. It’s a pity. He deserved to go out to a chorus of cheers at Yankee Stadium, in the post-season after striking out some hapless, knee-buckled chap with his devastating cutter pitch. That likely won’t happen now, and baseball is the biggest loser for it.

Powerless Pujols. The last time Albert Pujols went this long without hitting a home run, he was in his mother’s womb. I don’t think I’d be concerned if I was an Angels fan – yet. He’s still this era’s most feared hitter and it’s just a matter of time before he finds his stroke. He’s only hitting .204, which is way, way, way below his standard of excellence but again, this guy is a beast and will get it back. He’s patient, poised, has a great eye, a terrific swing and has been as consistent as it gets. If he doesn’t get it back, the Angels will have another 9 years to figure out what to do with him, and it would be an even more mysterious drop in an elite level athlete than Tiger Woods’ own collapse. With the Angels scuffling at the bottom of the AL West, the pressure will continue to mount on Pujols as his power outage drags on. But if there’s one guy who can weather this and then carry a team on his back, it’s Pujols. Hey, at least he hasn’t made an error yet, right?

Junior Seau’s suicide. Not much is sadder in sports than learning about the death of one of the greats. Usually we hear about them passing away at a ripe old age after living a full life, but in recent years it seems that players from hockey and especially football are dropping like flies – by their own hand. That’s even more tragic. The connection between head trauma caused by contact, punches, collisions leading to eventual depression and finally suicide is going to be mentioned again and again, and while leagues try to cover their butts, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that they are facing a serious issue that they need to get to the bottom of. Because if they don’t do it by voluntarily, there’s a little thing called the government that will make them do it, and then we’ll be really unhappy. The NFL already has a boatload of lawsuits against them to deal with. There will be more. Many more. They can’t avoid this forever, and the NHL would be wise to get out in front of this issue instead of trying to preserve what seems to be rotten.

Guest Post: Why I Won’t Support the Montreal Impact

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It doesn’t happen often, but from time to time somebody asks to have their thoughts and feelings on a particular topic hosted on cowhideandrubber, and I’m grateful that they thought of this site as a voice for their opinions. Today, native Montrealer Max Harris explains why he can’t and won’t support MLS’ newest member, the Montreal Impact. Max can be reached on twitter, or by leaving a comment in the area below.

As a sports fan, it’s my belief that you should always root for your hometown teams, unless you can provide a good reason not to. For instance, if you’re a transplant or the descendent of a transplant with roots to another team, you get a free pass.  I grew up a die-hard Expos fan, I consider myself to be a loyal supporter of the Canadiens and I pull for the Alouettes (I’ll admit I watch very few of their games, but I wish them well). I take pride in my hometown even though we’re among the worst sports town in North America (largest Canadian/American market without an MLB or NBA franchise is not exactly something to be proud of). That being said, I have not watched a second of either of the Montreal Impact’s first two MLS games and I have no intention to start any time soon. Despite being my hometown team, the Montreal Impact do not have my support. Trust me, I have a good reason.

Full disclosure: I am not a fan of soccer, but I do not detest it. I played the game a little bit when I was younger but the sport has failed to capture my imagination like the “big four” have. The only time I regularly watch soccer is during the World Cup and European Championships, which are global spectacles more than anything else. This is not a diatribe against the sport of soccer; my ambivalence towards the game does not explain why I am not rooting for the Impact.

Ever since the Expos have departed in 2004, I have wanted nothing more than to see Major League Baseball return to my hometown. The fact that Montreal is now a part of a second-tier professional soccer league provides little solace. Throughout the city, youth enrollment in baseball has sharply declined, while more kids are turning to soccer. Meanwhile, local diamonds have been plowed in favour of soccer fields, which require a lot less maintenance. (The above Statistics Canada link shows the nationwide increase in organized soccer, along with the decrease in organized baseball. I have to imagine the numbers are fairly similar for Quebec).

In an ideal world, baseball and soccer could both successfully co-exist in Montreal. Unfortunately, the ascent of one sport is directly correlated with the decline of another. In a city with crumbling infrastructure, the two sports compete directly for scarce resources, namely: land, city maintenance and of course, kids. Our relatively short summers, combined with a general decline in parental commitment to youth sports has made it nearly impossible for kids to play both. I can give you several reasons why it’s better for your children to play baseball, rather than soccer, but if the infrastructure is not in place, it unfortunately becomes a moot point.

I know that we’re a long way from seriously contemplating the return of Major League Baseball to this city. Given the way things are going, I can’t help but have my doubts as to whether or not I will live to see that day. One thing’s for certain, it cannot happen without the support of future generations. Without our children and their children having baseball in their lives, the sport will never return to our city. So without sufficient infrastructure, future generations will be unable to play this game, which means it is even less likely that we will get a team back. My friend Dave Kaufman does a great point of communicating this point in the following Gazette op-ed piece.

I’m a big believer that every action has consequences, even though most of them are often unintended. Whether we like it or not, the proliferation of soccer is killing baseball’s future in Montreal. That’s why I can’t support the Impact. It’s not because I don’t like soccer, but because I care about baseball too much to support its demise in my hometown.

Le Grand Amour de Nos Amours

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This site may be a blip on the sports blog landscape, especially when it comes to the Habs. So when friend and reader Paul Branchaud asked to share his memories of Gary Carter posted for all Expos fans to read, I was honoured and happily obliged. Paul’s stirring homage to the hall of fame catcher is certainly one of the most heartfelt and honest tributes you’ll ever come across. Please have a read, and let Paul know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, contacting him via twitter (which you should have done already anyway), or connecting with him on facebook.

Thanks, Kyle.

 

It was a little after 5pm, February 16, 2012, I was steps away from my home as I returned from work when my cell phone buzzed, informing me of an incoming text message. The TSN text alert read: “Former Montreal Expo and Baseball Hall of Famer Gary Carter has passed away at the age of 57.” It stopped me in my tracks.

Not so much because I was surprised. Anyone who has seen the devastation that cancer can do to an individual and their family is never truly surprised when they learn that cancer has claimed another victim. In fact, the January news that new tumours had been found on Carter’s brain was (to me, at least) unspoken code that Gary’s time on this mortal coil was drawing to a close.

When I read the text, my reaction was a mixture of obvious sadness and a bit of surprise. Surprise, because, even though I consider myself well acquainted with the speed with which cancer can claim a life, there was a part of me that held out hope that Gary Carter, of all people, would be able to beat his cancer. Picking it off like so many opposing teams’ failed attempts to steal second base. That hope was fed by the young boy inside me who can make the old exterior set aside the cynicism and look at the world of sport with wide-eyed amazement.

My sadness at the news that Gary Carter was no longer with us was different, however. There was something about this death that affected me deeper than any other professional athlete’s passing previously. I’d never met Gary Carter, yet I felt as if I’d known him for most of my life.

Gary’s smile, his obvious joie de vivre and kind demeanour were intoxicating, you couldn’t help but feel a little happier on the inside when you saw how he conducted himself on and off the field. From all accounts, it was genuine, never a put on. Carter’s love of the game and the fans stood out.

Some teammates resented his popularity and the attention he received from the media, but Carter reaped what he sowed: he gave of himself to the game and the fans and he was rewarded with a Hall of Fame career and a city that adored him.

I went to my first Expos game on a weekend afternoon in 1974 against the San Francisco Giants. It was Carter’s rookie year. I have few memories of that afternoon; I don’t remember if he played in that game, but I did return home with a poster of Carter making a running catch in the outfield, wearing his batting helmet. It stayed on my bedroom wall for close to 15 years.

It wasn’t until Carter moved behind the plate full-time and the Expos moved into the Olympic stadium that my infatuation with the Expos and Carter got into high gear. I went fairly regularly to games as the Expos developed into a contender. I remember going to the first Pearson Cup pitting expansion Canadian MLB cousins, the Toronto Blue Jays against Nos Amours.

As a young baseball fan, I knew the Expos had a good team. The roster contained names like Scott, Cromartie, Valentine, Speir, Parrish, Rogers, Lee, Fryman, and Carter. The Kid’s star rose along with the team’s popularity. With all the talent on the field, I’d always focus my attention to the guy behind the plate, and how he controlled what opposing hitters could do.

Carter was easily my favourite Expos player. Looking back on my youth, I can identify 3 professional athletes I looked up to and admired: Bernie Parent, Ken Dryden, and Gary Carter. Two hockey goalies and a baseball catcher. It must have been the extra gear they wore compared to their teammates that drew my attention long enough to appreciate their incredible athletic talent.

As much as I admired Parent and Dryden, I idolized Gary Carter. I spent hundreds of hours in the basement, swinging at imaginary pitches while wearing my plastic batter’s helmet (on which I had painted a number 8). I wasn’t dreaming of me being at the plate one day and stroking the game-winning homer, I was Gary Carter, down in the count 0-2 with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th. Game 7 of the World Series. I don’t need to tell you how that fantasy would always end.

Despite baseball being a team sport, where different people get their time to shine, Carter was the face of the Expos. His smile and good humour perfectly fit the city of Montreal, and his ease with the fans and their requests for autographs and pictures were crucial in the team’s emergence through the late 70s, when capacity crowds in the Big O were the rule rather than the exception.

When Carter was traded to the Mets in 1984, I was sad. I felt as if the Expos, by trading The Kid, had betrayed the fans, ignoring how important he was to the team in general and the city as a whole. It felt as if the Expos didn’t care about the players that the public adored. I was old enough to understand it was economics, but it didn’t diminish the pain. When Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1989, I could totally sympathise with the emotions Edmonton Oilers fans were feeling. I knew their pain.

When Carter and the Mets won the World Series in 1986, I was happy for Carter but was rooting for the Red Sox (an affliction I have since cured myself of). He may not have been an Expo, but The Kid deserved a championship, and I was genuinely happy for him when he got his ring.

I sometimes wonder if Montreal baseball fans fully appreciated that Carter bookended his remarkable career by wearing an Expos jersey. All I have to do is re-watch his final career hit, a game-winning RBI double, and the crowd’s reaction in an otherwise meaningless game, and my concerns evaporate. The added beauty of that final hit was that Carter appreciated the crowd’s reaction and how beloved he was in this city.

The only time I ever felt any kind of anger or frustration with Carter was when he lobbied to go into Cooperstown as a New York Met. Baseball got it right, even if Gary disagreed. The pinnacle of his career may have come in New York, but his lasting legacy on the game of baseball was with the first non-American major league team.

I was happy to learn that the Canadiens would honour the memory of Gary Carter prior to their game against the Devils on February 19. They had done a good job of keeping the Expos’ flame burning since the team left after the 2004 season. I’d been to other Habs games where the team observed the passing of a significant personality, so I expected that they’d do a good job.

This was also going to be my youngest son’s first professional hockey game. He was enjoying our pre-game dinner at the restaurant, telling me, between mouthfuls of complimentary popcorn, that he didn’t mind if we were late for the start of the game. I had to explain to him that it was important for ME to be there before the start, because the Canadiens would honour Gary Carter, and he was my favourite athlete when I was young. Shoving a few more handfuls of popcorn into his mouth, he accepted that it was time to head for our seats.

We caught the very end of warm-up, with the Canadiens all wearing Carter 8 jerseys. Before the ceremony started, I thought back to all the games I had seen Carter play in, I felt sympathy for his family who’d seen him suffer, I felt sadness that he never got to manage a team in the majors, but most of all, I thought back to that poster on my bedroom wall and how much I wanted to be Gary Carter.

As the ceremony started, I felt more sadness than I had since I first learned the news of Carter’s death. I managed to keep my emotions mostly in check throughout all the images, videos, and strains of The Eagles’ “New Kid in Town”. That is until Youppi came out in an Expos jersey. That’s when I completely lost it.

I couldn’t control the tears or keep the sadness in check any more. My childhood idol had died, and with him went the face of Nos Amours. The pain and sadness of his death doubled for me in that moment, because without Gary Carter, the death of the Expos was now irrevocable.

Les Expos, Nos Amours. Gary Carter, Le Grand Amour de Nos Amours. Godspeed, Gary. Thank you for a lifetime of wonderful memories.

Crocodile Tears

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Last night was the most amazing night of baseball I’ve ever seen – regular season or playoffs. I suppose I should therefore be upset this morning. Livid, even. The Red Sox, afterall, completed one of the most historic and spectacular flame-outs in all of baseball’s long history. But I’m not the least bit pissed off. Maybe it’s because my priorities have shifted this year or maybe it’s because I’m not a “true” enough Sox fan – I am satisfied with their 2 World Series wins since 2004.

Yes, a collapse like this is unbelievably embarrassing, and borders on unforgivable. Lord knows that if this were the Habs…oh hell, even he doesn’t know what I’d be doing this morning.

Perhaps the pain was eased slightly by knowing that so many people who love the Sox also love the Bruins and Patriots – two teams that make my skin crawl. After winning the Cup and being pretty much the best football team ever, it serves those uppity jerks right that the team that overshadows EVERYTHING in Boston suffers this kind of meltdown. Because the Yankees couldn’t hold a 7-run lead late in game 162. Does it get any better than that? If the collapse takes the shine away – even just a bit – from the Bruins winning the Cup, then good! If there are sports fans in Boston missing the Cup Banner raising ceremony because they’re tapping out their latest “fire Francona, trade everybody” rants then yay for collapses! But I don’t know I’m really that vindictive…afterall, if I never saw any images of the Bruins with the cup, then it never happened, right?

Maybe in another case of misery loving company, I find comfort in the fact that the Atlanta Braves also had their worst nightmare come true – blowing an 8.5 game lead in the Wild Card chase in the final month of the season. As an Expos fan, I’m glad to see the team that always stood in the way of the playoffs get slapped down like this. Too bad all anyone is going to talk about is how the Red Sox blew it. Too bad there were empty seats at Turner Field; it would have been nice to send a sellout crowd home in tears indifference.

Maybe I’m not upset because this summer I just learned to embrace baseball again. Really embrace it. Team allegiances fell by the wayside, as did many grudges (but I still haven’t forgiven the Jays). The biggest grudge being with MLB itself for knifing the Expos to death. I’m still bitter, but they can have my money again. I don’t hate the Yankees anymore now that George Steinbrenner is gone. It probably didn’t help that the Twins were out of the playoff race before the end of April, so I could have simply turned the switch to “passive”. A lot has changed for me in relation to baseball, but I did watch a decent amount of ball this year, and I listened to even more over the “radio”. Usually with an adult beverage in hand. It was terrific. After the Expos left at the end of 2004, I felt like I had to pay attention. This year I payed attention because it felt good to. That doesn’t mean that I still don’t miss the Expos – quite the opposite – I miss them more than ever. But it was nice to be, for lack of a better term, a free agent this summer and just watch baseball for what it is.

Last night capped off what I would describe as a rather unremarkable season as far as baseball goes, but it had as much drama in one night than the previous six months combined. There’s no doubt that many Red Sox fans cried themselves drank themselves to sleep last night, but let’s face it: If you blow a NINE game lead in 30 days, you don’t deserve to be in the post season. Now we move on to one of the best times of the year if you’re a sports fan – October baseball, the start of the hockey season, and the NFL season is well under way. Sorry NBA, nobody cares about you.

Major League Baseball in Montreal? Look To Winnipeg

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posted by Kyle

Here We Go Again.

It seems like every few months some story rolls around that fans the flames of hope for the baseball lovers of Montreal. This time however, the story hasn’t appear out of the ether, but rather has come from one of Montreal’s most credible and authoritative voices on the game: Rodger Brulotte. In an interview with The Team 990′s Mitch Melnick earlier this week, Brulotte revealed that after spurning their advances several times, he had a conversation with a group of persistent Montreal-based businessmen who have a serious interest in bringing baseball back to Montreal. No names were given in order to preserve dignity if the project falls apart, but Brulotte is more than reputable and wouldn’t tease everyone if there wasn’t substance to the story.

The reaction to the story has been mixed. Many have gotten too excited, too quickly. Some blow it off as farcical and others walk the line of cautious optimism. What’s different this time is that the story seems to have evidence to support the thought that Major League Baseball can once again thrive in Montreal. It’s a well known fact that Montreal remains the largest North American city without any professional baseball in its boundaries. That in itself is a shame, but it means little…after all, while the conditions may be right to get a team here, that says absolutely nothing about sustainability from a fan/attendance standpoint and the ability to field a competitive team. Are Montreal’s baseball fans a sleeping giant, or are they so jaded by what has gone on in the past that they are either lost forever, or would be very slow to come around? Montreal is a town with no shortage of things to spend time and money on, and its casual sports fans take the word casual to a whole new level. Here today, gone tomorrow. Are there enough hardcore fans left to serve as an anchor while the casuals come back? We can’t possibly have the answer to that. The dreamers would say yes; the cynics would say no.

The volume was turned up a notch earlier this month as the Conference Board of Canada released a report stating that “Montreal has the necessary market conditions in place today to be the home of a Major League Baseball franchise“, but that league conditions wouldn’t yet favour a team in Montreal (i.e. no salary cap, and ridiculous climbing salaries). With the Canadian dollar soaring in 2011 (even hitting a modern all-time high), this is not a surprise. Montreal has certainly grown over the past several years and the business climate is a lot more stable now than it was 8-10 years ago when the Expos were as bankable as a radioactive hooker.  Whether you believe it was the fans’ waning interest that ultimately killed the team, or the sad-sack dollar that prevented the team from being competitive that deflated the fans that sealed the team’s fate, or if you believe that MLB’s lack of support was the root of all evil, it’s irrelevant now. There’s plenty of blame to go around, and no shortage of people willing to dole it out. What we do know is that baseball did work in Montreal (in the late 70′s the Expos were as popular as the Habs, if not moreso even while the bleu-blanc-rouge were in the midst of a dynasty). For various reasons, baseball was taken away. Baseball in Montreal had become a punchline around the league as fewer than 3000 fannies filled the seats. Once you acquire that dunce cap it’s a stigma that is tough to shake.

While there are certainly differences in how Winnipeg lost then regained the Jets, and how Montreal lost the Expos (regaining them being the goal), there are lessons to be learned from the Manitoban capital.

Here in Montreal we view ourselves as a major league city. Aside from the NHL, however, Montreal has the CFL, which is a notch or two below the NFL. We also have the Impact, who currently play in the NASL (and who will soon graduate to MLS). In terms of global quality the NASL and MLS are way down the ladder (As an example, Manchester United, one of England’s best clubs trounced the best that North American soccer could muster up). So let’s drop the notion that it’s “the best or bust”; Montrealers do support “lesser leagues”. Would Montreal support baseball that wasn’t MLB? It has before, why can’t it do so again?

Most, if not all fans conveniently forget that the Montreal Royals were the top baseball team in town from 1897 until 1960. You read that correctly: 1897. They pre-date the birth of the Habs by 12 years, and lasted nearly twice as long as the Expos did.  Granted, it was not the more demanding Major Leagues, but the point still stands: Montreal cut its baseball teeth in the minors until it was ready for the majors. Can it not do so again? In my humble opinion it would be the height of arrogance to suggest that if Montreal doesn’t get a Major League team then it shouldn’t get baseball at all.

Enter the Winnipeg situation. When Gary Bettman sacked the Jets and moved them to Phoenix, it was viewed as something that never should have been done in the first place. Many suspected that hockey in the deep U.S. South would never work, and for the most part, it hasn’t. When the economy began to pick up in Canada in the mid 2000′s, it was apparent that a team in Winnipeg was once again a possibility. But the seeds for the NHL’s return to the ‘Peg were sown nearly immediately after their departure in 1996. A businessman named Mark Chipman believed in Winnipeg’s viability as a hockey market and moved quickly to scoop up a defunct Minnesota Moose team of the IHL just to keep the pro hockey seat warm in Winnipeg. Without knowing Chipman, he must have known that you have to feed an appetite or it dies. Pablum isn’t caviar, but it will fill the void long enough until another source can be found. For hockey fans, it was surely a blow to the collective ego. From the NHL to the IHL in a few short months. From Teemu Selanne and Shane Doan to Randy Gilhen and Scott Thomas. Ouch.

When the IHL imploded, the Moose joined the AHL for the 2001-2002 season, representing a significant step up in the professional hockey food chain. With this move, the city was able to build the MTS Center, 15,000 seat arena which would one day hopefully be the home of another NHL team. Patience pays off. Starting again from the ground up pays off, even when you’ve gotten used to sitting on top of the mountain.

Lo and behold, the plan has worked, and then some. It took many years, but Winnipeg went through the long, arduous and frustrating process of having to prove itself to the NHL once again. With a new arena, a rabid fan base, a solid Canadian dollar and with more and more teams facing troubles in the NHL, a return to Winnipeg became an inevitability.

Can Montreal apply this template to regaining a foothold in professional baseball? We’re already behind the curve with no presence at all (whereas Winnipeg picked up the Moose immediately), and no stadium to play in (the Big O is not an option for any league – its no longer suitable and its a no-fly zone for many baseball fans). It’s now been nearly 7 full years without a professional baseball game being played. Here’s a useless stat: the Expos last home game is fresher in the annals of time than the last Maple Leafs playoff win (that’s 2645 days in the rearview now, Leafs nation). Montreal has been without organized, professional baseball for far too long considering the long and rich history the city has with the sport. Without a consensus on where to build a stadium, and without the evidence of unwavering fan support before a team is installed, the likelihood is that Montreal will be a baseball vacuum for years to come. But if Rodger Brulotte is right, and there is a group with money to spend and a vision in mind, then perhaps there is reason to be hopeful.

The point of this blog post is not to bang the Minor League drum, nor is it to promote the snobbish thought that Montreal is beneath the Minors. The point is that this is one route back to the majors, even if this post doesn’t address the issue of new stadiums. Surely a Minor League stadium would fall far short of the demands of a Major League stadium, and there’s no way that Montreal has place for two stadiums. I’ll leave it to people a lot smarter than me to figure out a way to build a stadium that can accommodate both as the situation changes. Surely there’s a way to build a 20,000 seat stadium for the Minors that can be expanded to 35,000 if Major League Baseball were to be brought back. Lastly, the issue of a level playing field has not been addressed, and it’s a major difference in how the Winnipeg and Montreal situations differ. Players in baseball are paid ungodly sums of money, and all it would take was for a sagging dollar and a slumping economy to once again throw baseball in Montreal under the bus (hint to Canadian sports fans: keep your gas tanks full, get your oil changed often and buy anything made with or from petroleum!). Until baseball institutes a salary cap system that ensures that small market teams can compete rather than flushing out their best talent year after year for “future considerations” we are unfortunately looking at a pipe dream as far as the Major Leagues go. Bud Selig and the powers that be at MLB will need to be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Montreal can not only be a viable market for baseball, but one that can survive the ups and downs of the economy as well. That’s not an easy task and it’s not something that can be proven until a city has to ride that roller coaster.

Flatly, though, I do embrace the idea of Minor League baseball in Montreal. It’s a less expensive option for families, it’s less demanding in terms of seating and operating costs, and it’s more conducive to a true baseball experience. I’m all for it. I wrote a post earlier this year about another note that I heard on the radio. This piece was about the Las Vegas 51′s being in peril and that a move to Montreal may make sense. It fills the baseball void, and gives the Blue Jays easy access to their top affiliate. It’s key to be affiliated to a Major League team, and in my mind it would be a lay-up in terms of proving that Montreal truly is a baseball hotbed lying in wait like a dormant volcano. Many Montrealers bristle at the idea of being Toronto’s AAA colony, (and that bristling is not without its political and societal leanings) but what’s the alternative right now? Also, Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos is a native Montrealer, and presumably somebody who’s heart was also broken when the game he loves was ripped away. How much would he like to be a part of this process? How much sense would it make for the Jays to have their AAA team in Montreal and their AA team just a few more hours away in New Hampshire? It makes tons of sense for them. It would give them a giant footprint in the Canadian market as well as strengthen their presence in the American Northeast. If Montreal could facilitate that, it would only help as a stepping stone back to the Majors.

There’s a lot to think about and digest here, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments section.

Article first published as Major League Baseball in Montreal? Look to Winnipeg on Technorati.

 

 

A New Hope for Baseball in Montreal?

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I’m taking a detour from Habs playoff action to talk baseball.

I know, sacrilege, right?

If you’ve followed this blog for the better part of its existence, you’ve probably seen me write a few times about the grand game of baseball. When I launched this site, it was with the intent of blogging not only about the Habs and Hockey, but of baseball and any other sports-related stories that struck me. Of course, the Habs have basically monopolized the content here but that doesn’t mean I’m not following what else is going on out there, and don’t have some opinions that I won’t sound off on.

With that said, a few weeks ago, I was listening to the radio and tuned in to Montreal’s sports station just in time to hear the tail end of a conversation between Bob McCown and some other guy who appeared to be a baseball insider (update: thanks to David Blye who let me know that the interview was with Richard Griffin, Toronto Star baseball columnist, and former PR Director with the Montreal Expos). Part of their conversation focused on the struggling Las Vegas 51′s, who happen to be the AAA affilate of the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m not an expert on the viability of American cities as sports markets, but what I do hear about Las Vegas is nearly unanimous – it’s a lousy sports town. The economic downturn really hurt the city, many residents are from places other than Las Vegas (and thus don’t have an attachment to any home teams), and there’s too many other things to spend money on other than sports.

Montreal is the largest market in North America devoid of professional baseball of any level, and considering Montreal’s long (and unheralded) baseball heritage, that’s a damn shame. Naturally, people have begun creating possibilities and coming up with some plausible scenarios for bringing baseball back to Montreal. The latest scenario has the aforementioned 51′s moving from Sin City to Montreal. On the surface this is a great idea, isn’t it? Montreal gets a high caliber of ball, and Toronto’s top minor league affiliate sits only an hour away by plane. When you add the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to the mix (Toronto’s AA affiliate), the Blue Jays would have a heck of a footprint in a relatively small area. It would make moving players around much easier and would provide the Blue Jays with a huge population to which they could promote nearly the entire upper echelon of the organization.

I’m no Blue Jays fan, and I told myself that I never would be. Not after they voted to have the Expos euthanized in an attempt to claim a bigger share of the Canadian market. Once the Expos left, Montreal’s local sports radio station wanted to fulfill the wishes of some fans and broadcast Red Sox and Yankees games. The Blue Jays stepped in and blocked that move, claiming that Montreal was now their market, and they were proven right, as that same sports station did begin to carry a number of Blue Jays games. I thought that was an underhanded, dirty move by the Jays, but not one unexpected of a sports franchise in 2011.

With a baseball vacuum in Montreal, fans have been attaching their allegiances to teams all over the league, though the Red Sox seem to have a very strong following, as do the Yankees. That could conceivably change if the Jays were able to relocate their AAA team to la belle province. Lending additional weight to this scenario is the fact that Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos is a native Montrealer. He grew up as an Expos fan, and though he earns his living in Toronto now, he must certainly feel some pain from the baseball void in his hometown. It would make an awful lot of sense for him to want to fill that void, while at the same time streamlining logistics, promotions and interest in his own Major League team. That would be the right way to establish a footprint in a market, not by helping to kill the team that was already there, then claiming the territory as your own.

Of course, there is the ever-present issue of not having a proper stadium to play baseball in. While the Olympic Stadium could always be readied for baseball in the short-term, it is in no way a place to set up a team permanently. When there’s 40,000 people there, it’s a party. But how often does that happen, and how often would it happen with a Minor League team? Montreal would need proper plans for a 10,000-15,000 seat stadium before any of this becomes even a halfway serious conversation. More often than not, the “Big O” is more like a mausoleum than ball park, and it’s a pain in the neck to get to for those who aren’t near a subway line. Without the large crowd, it’s simply not an atmosphere for baseball. Minor league ball should be enjoyed outdoors, in more intimate ballparks. Period.

The bigger question is – would you support a AAA team run by the Blue Jays? Would you abandon a team that you follow by proxy if you suddenly had a team that you could root for in person? It’s a tricky question for Montreal baseball fans who have either sworn off supporting Bug Selig, or can’t stand anything Toronto on a good day, nevermind being in a master-servant relationship. If Montreal baseball fans hold hope of ever having a Major League team back in town (and that day is a long, long day away in the best case scenario), then hosting and supporting a AAA team would be a tremendous place to start. If the Blue Jays want to increase their footprint and market share in Canada, then this would be a move very much worth exploring. It could be a win-win relationship for everyone and would put Montreal back on the baseball radar.

What are your thoughts? Is it a hair-brained idea, or something worth maybe getting excited about? We all know the torrid love affair between Montrealers and the Canadiens. People like to say that hockey is religion in Montreal, but they’re wrong. The Canadiens are religion. All other forms of hockey struggle for attendance and coverage. But let’s not overlook the fact that the CFL is doing extremely well in Montreal (as evidenced by Molson Stadium’s recent 5,000 seat upgrade), and that MLS is slated to begin play at Saputo Stadium in 2012. This leaves baseball as the one sport that is sorely missing in the Montreal landscape.

In the mean time, if you’re a baseball-starved Montrealer, you do have some options, though they require packing up the car and heading out on the road. Here are some places where you can see some good, affordable ball just a few hours outside of Montreal, and not including the Major League teams in Boston, New York and Toronto:

Monday Musings – November 1st

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I know you were all listening live, but for those of you who didn’t here’s the audio from my time spent at CJAD last Sunday (October 24th). I, along with Kamal Panesar from Habsaddict.com took part in the blogger panel on the Habs Show, hosted by Barry Morgan. It was a ton of fun, a privelege to be asked to take part, and neat to see behind the curtain of radio magic.

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First off, I have to apologize to Calgary Flames fans. No, not for insinuating a couple weeks back that the wheels had already fallen off (they haven’t, and they’ve decent with a 6-5 record), but for making the Flames lose to the Capitals on Saturday night. Yep, it’s my fault. You see, I was channel surfing (mostly waiting for SNL to start) when I flipped over to CBC. The score was 2-1 Calgary, early in the second period. Within 3 seconds of tuning in, Ovechkin struck to tie the score. 12 seconds later, Ovechkin put the Caps on top. I continued flipping during commercials only to land back on the game a few minutes later. Guess what happened? Mike Green took a sweet pass and beat Kiprusoff to double the Capitals lead, and douse the Flames for the night. The next time I looked, it was 7-2 for Washington and I felt bad for clearly ruining the evening for many a Calgarian. Then again, I probably made a great many Caps fans happy at the same time.

So I’m sorry, and you’re welcome.

I have to say though, when things aren’t going well for the Flames, the look on Brent Sutter’s face resembles that of someone who’s been licking urinal pucks. Lighten up, Brent.

Danny Brière, that little rat, cross checked an opponent in the face. I know he’s small, and was being picked on, but that’s inexcusable, as all intentional stickwork is, and should be suspended. He’s been suspended twice in his career already, and sitting him down for at least 3 games should be a no-brainer in this scenario. Here’s the video:

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Did you catch the last play of the Alouettes / Argonauts game on Friday night? Probably the most bizarre ending to a football game that you’ll ever see. I can’t even describe it properly, so I’ll only suggest that you check it out here.

Aaaaaand with that, I’m done talking about the CFL until the Division Finals.

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Somebody needs to tell me why Miami Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano goes ballistic when his team settles for a field goal, but stands like a statue when they score a touchdown that essentially salts away the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coach go wild for field goals like Sparano does. Ever. It would actually be funny if it weren’t so mystifying. Meanwhile, Dan Carpenter has gone 10/10 in field goals in the past 2 weeks, which would also be funny if it wasn’t so alarming. The Dolphins need to find a way to punch the ball in to the endzone more often.

You never want to see someone get their clock cleaned, but you have to wonder if Brett Favre had it coming. Whether he’s passionate about playing, too stubborn to step aside, or too proud to watch his consecutive games played streak die, you have to wonder if the football gods are starting to fix their glare on Favre. He was caught under the chin late in the game vs the Patriots and was taken to the dressing room on the cart. Seeing him curled up in a near-fetal position certainly isn’t funny, but it was probably overdue. No doubt he’ll be back behind center next Sunday, even if his brains are scrambled and his jaw is shattered. Makes you cringe wondering what the football gods will have in store next.

It was also fantastic to see the NFC finally win one over the AFC, especially when that AFC team is the rotten Jets. In the “Teams that Favre used to play for Bowl”, the Packers shut out the Jets AT HOME. That should make for a pleasant Monday morning in New York.

I’m never one to have pity for a divisional opponent, but I really do feel bad for the Bills. Nobody thought they’d even get a sniff at being competitive this season, but to lose in back-to-back weeks in overtime, on the road, against superior opponents, in games they could have (should have?) won just makes you shake your head. Given their misfortunes in the Super Bowl, and chronic inability to field a decent team in recent years, I wonder what the people of Buffalo have done to deserve this? Usually the Sabres are around to ease the suffering, but even they seem intent on sucking this year.

Congratulations to Ladanian Tomlinson, who joins Walter Payton as the only the second player with 13,000 yards rushing, and 4,000 yards receiving in their career. That’s incredible, and LT isn’t done yet. In fact, he’s been reborn this season with the Jets. He’s reminding everyone of how good he was in the early to middle part of this decade. I’ve never seen a running back as good as Tomlinson was about 5-6 years ago.

When did the Raiders go from pathetic to average? I like them better when they were a joke, but I’ll settle for the Cowboys. Watching them sink lower and lower in a sea of embarrassment is a sight to behold. I can’t wait for Mount Jones to erupt.

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With a game 4 victory, the San Francisco Giants return home with a 3-1 series lead and their ace, Tim Lincecum going in game 5. How fitting. It appears as though the Rangers should have saved some of the runs they used to trounce the Yankees for use in the World Series. Methinks there will be a parade in San Fran in the very near future.


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