2021 MLB Season

[UpstateSM]

Maybe the worst called game behind the plate I’ve ever seen. What a joke

 

[Alsacs]

Maybe the worst called game behind the plate I’ve ever seen. What a joke

I enjoyed the Red Sox team this year but I hate the Boston sports media so much and John W. Henry that I say they got what they deserve.
He was cheap at the trade deadline.
I used to care a lot. Now they are just a time filler if they lose I don’t care.
That stadium is full of Yankees fans that tells you what Boston thinks.
I am sure Henry is happy the Patriots suck right now.

I want to like the team but ownership ruins it.

 

[MSOrange]

I wish they’d just move to Montreal. The two cities thing is weird.

Agree. I know the players get paid a ton of money, but this would suck from their perspective. Already on the road for 81 games and now you're splitting home games between 2 cities?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I enjoyed the Red Sox team this year but I hate the Boston sports media so much and John W. Henry that I say they got what they deserve.
He was cheap at the trade deadline.
I used to care a lot. Now they are just a time filler if they lose I don’t care.
That stadium is full of Yankees fans that tells you what Boston thinks.
I am sure Henry is happy the Patriots suck right now.

I want to like the team but ownership ruins it.

Used to? Your words indicate you still care more than a little.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Agree. I know the players get paid a ton of money, but this would suck from their perspective. Already on the road for 81 games and now you're splitting home games between 2 cities?

And it would be great for guys like me who live about an hour and a half to Montreal. I'd be up there regularly for games.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I can't believe how long this "plan" has existed. It seemed so implausible and crazy since it started a few years back and you figured it would quickly go away and it was just a questionable leverage play. And here we are a few years later and the "plan" ihas not disappeared. Is it beyond just a leverage play at this point? I don't know what to believe, but I certainly won't get my hopes up for this.

That being said I will cheer for Tampa as long as they are not playing Toronto... even with that clown Kevin Keirmaier on the team.

It is not practical. Where would the team play in Montreal? Are they building a new stadium for half a team? Are they going to play at the old Olympic Stadium? They will go from playing in the worst stadium to playing in the two worst stadiums. The only potential positive for the franchise would be having two regional television deals.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

It is not practical. Where would the team play in Montreal? Are they building a new stadium for half a team? Are they going to play at the old Olympic Stadium? They will go from playing in the worst stadium to playing in the two worst stadiums. The only potential positive for the franchise would be having two regional television deals.

I'm assuming they would redo Olympic Stadium. Talk about a place that needs a facelift. But I know a decent hotel or two around there, so I'm good with it.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I'm assuming they would redo Olympic Stadium. Talk about a place that needs a facelift. But I know a decent hotel or two around there, so I'm good with it.

Do you think they would renovate Olympic Stadium for a part time team?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Do you think they would renovate Olympic Stadium for a part time team?

I think they realize Stade Olympique needs a renovation regardless of whether or not they get a full-time or part-time team. Getting the part time team will probably be enough of an incentive to get it done. Then it could be used for multiple other events again.

 

[Cowtown]

Agree. I know the players get paid a ton of money, but this would suck from their perspective. Already on the road for 81 games and now you're splitting home games between 2 cities?

But where would/will they play? The Big Owe is one of the big reasons fans didn't come out for the Expos. It's a big, cold, empty tomb in a seedy part of the city. And nobody there is going to foot the bill for a baseball-only stadium in a country where the fans buy tix in Cdn dollars ($.70), and the players get paid in $US. And it's only a matter of time before the snotty sports media there turns their backs on them because none of the players/staff speak French, and the players' kids all have to attend French language schools because their parents weren't educated in English in Quebec. I can see it now, the federal government will have to bail out the team, angering English Canada who already see a disproportionate amount of their tax dollars poured into a province whose only interest in still being in Canada lies in how much they can continue to extort from Ottawa.

It's a disaster in the making.

 

[Cowtown]

I'm assuming they would redo Olympic Stadium. Talk about a place that needs a facelift. But I know a decent hotel or two around there, so I'm good with it.

They should flatten the entire cold, ugly, unfinished structure.

 

[jncuse]

Apparently the plan is for Montreal and Tampa to both build new stadiums as part of this partnership. How that makes any sense I don’t know — do not shoot the messenger.

Not sure where they would build the new stadium in Montreal. They used to have a great piece of property downtown available when this idea came up in the late 1990s. That was a time when Montreal was suffering a bit — I am sure that prime piece of property is no longer available nor I am sure if anything similar available downtown.

The location of the Big Owe was always a problem. Not sure if area is particularly as seedy anymore… but it is not near downtown either. The Olympic stadium is fine as a 2 year transition, and since that property is so huge they could build a stadium besides it. But once again location. I can’t see renovating the Big Owe .. it’s beyond renovating. It was built structurally stupid and not for baseball.

If there was ever a worse time to ask for any funding to build a stadium in Quebec and really anywhere in Canada it was in the late 1990s when the Expos floated this idea … and that was when an American that had bought the team in Loria.

The appetite for some funding now would probably be a bit larger… but it would only be some funding … nothing like the amount of funding seen in some US cities.

Quebec would also be leery to build a stadium after the NHL issue.. they have a great new arena that is only used by a junior team.

If MLB is waiting for Montreal to build a stadium first then it will come, it will not happen. MLB then has to trust Montreal would build a new stadium.

 

[jncuse]

But where would/will they play? The Big Owe is one of the big reasons fans didn't come out for the Expos. It's a big, cold, empty tomb in a seedy part of the city. And nobody there is going to foot the bill for a baseball-only stadium in a country where the fans buy tix in Cdn dollars ($.70), and the players get paid in $US. And it's only a matter of time before the snotty sports media there turns their backs on them because none of the players/staff speak French, and the players' kids all have to attend French language schools because their parents weren't educated in English in Quebec. I can see it now, the federal government will have to bail out the team, angering English Canada who already see a disproportionate amount of their tax dollars poured into a province whose only interest in still being in Canada lies in how much they can continue to extort from Ottawa.

It's a disaster in the making.

1. The French Sports Media never caused an issue with Expos like the Hockey media does with the Canadiens. In Hockey there are so many Quebec born players and coaches and it causes issues... in baeball there is a couple of players from Quebec so there is never that same pressure or demands.

2. The Schooling Issue is generally not an issue with athletes as they fall under the temporary residents rule.

As to whether it will be a disaster. The big difference in sports now vs 1990s is how franchises across all sports have monopolized TV revenues. Now a successful franchise is much less gate driven.

So It really depends on 1) the strength of local ownership (to build a new stadium and provide some stability on payroll and 2) the TV revenue. Local partnership group is what killed them in the early 1990's in combination with the craptastic stadium (which was made worse by the fact that the "Skydome" was seen as a wonder at the time, and a piece of the OLympic stadium exterior falling apart)

I know that Stephen Bronfman seems to be in the front of the partnership to get the deal done. I personally have met Stephen on a few occasions in gatherings of passionate Expos fans. His passion for baseball would be as high as any owner in baseball. But how strong would that group be?

The consortium of owners led by Brochu failed the fans, the city, and the team in the early 90's. That was in large part because Brochu was the front of the consortium and was not really that rich -- and the rest of the consortium was not willing to invest and said that Brochu was personally responsible for any future cash calls. Bronfman as the front would be much more effective than Brochu but is it rich enough?

For the Expos to succeed I think they need BellMedia (owner of TSN) to become an investor in the franchise. We know that sports media properties have tremendous value right now.

But here is a big problem that can't be understated if it has not been resolved (and maybe it has been resolved). In the late 1980's the Blue Jays pulled a scummy move. At the time Expos games and Jays games were shown all across the country. The Blue Jays went to MLB and worked out a deal with the MLB office behind the Expos back, that shut the Expos out of the entire Canadian TV market west of Toronto -- the Expos received a small amount of compensation, There was only a limited number of games they were allowed to show nationally on TV after that. That was not as huge a deal at the time as the TV market was not monopolized like it is today. But TV revenues are huge today. If TSN were to become a primary/partner of investor I am sure they would want to be able to show all their games across Canada. Would Rogers allow that -- I think Toronto still has exclusive rights per that 1980s agreement to the full Canadian market west of Toronto and they will not give that right up cheaply.

 

[jncuse]

Do you think they would renovate Olympic Stadium for a part time team?

The Olympic stadium can be renovated, but it will never be meaningful enough to get to MLB standards long term.

The biggest problem with the stadium is how large it is, and you can't really adjust its structure because of the idiotic architect who insisted on the "Fingers" structure of the stadium which he was unwilling to bend from.

That fingers structure pushes all the seats back is the problem. In 2014, I went to the first preseason game back in Montreal that drew about 50K. It was a hot ticket, I decided to go to late and I had about the 40,000th best seat in the place. When you are in the upper deck down the 3rd base line you are well over 100 feet away from the field.

I would compare the experience to having the 30,000th best seat at the Carrier Dome. The sight lines are not friendly. But you can't do much about it.



The seating is decent enough right behind the plate (upper and lower) and in the lower section between first base and third base. But it gets bad very quickly after that. That being said you put 40,000 fans in the Owe and its louder then most stadiums and certainly the Skydome. Montreal fans across anything are loud -- be it hockey, baseball (heck some wrestling fans may remember the ovations they gave to Hogan in the early 2000's).

So now I will reminisce

The loudest sporting event I ever went to was mid September 1993, a Friday night against the Phillies when Montreal was pressing for the playoffs. When Curtis Pride, a deaf player making his debut in the Owe, hit a pinch hit double to tie the game the ovation for several minutes was unreal. The place felt like it was shaking... actually I am sure it was shaking for a few reasons.

The Expos would also get huge crowds for Opening night as their small remaining fanbase would see this as an annual gathering. The 2000 Home Opener also had one of the loudest moments I had ever experienced. Tim Raines was making his comeback with the Expos and the Expos fans were loud in his first at bat. Glendon Rusch was pitching for the Mets and was clearly flustered by the noise. The fans could sense this and after the count started at 1-0, the crowd got louder and louder. It was the largest continued ovation ever for a 4 pitch walk.

I was lucky enough to go to the 1993 Curtis Pride Game, the 1994 Cliff Floyd Homer against Maddux game, and the 2000 Tim Raines Walk. Unfortunately Expos fans never got a playoff stage after 1981, and don't have a Joe Carter moment. And those moments are more of our own, and not huge in MLB History. But for us, especially the ones that stuck to the end they are very special.

 

[Day2]

 

[cuseattle]

Got my Mariners tix for tomorrow. Beat the A's for the 10th straight time. 1.5 behind the Sox.

Let's Go Mariners! (And Orioles)

 

[bevosu]

Got my Mariners tix for tomorrow. Beat the A's for the 10th straight time. 1.5 behind the Sox.

Let's Go Mariners! (And Orioles)

I gave you a like even though I'm a Red Sox fan, but I like the Mariners and they've been fun to watch this year.

 

[Alsacs]

Got my Mariners tix for tomorrow. Beat the A's for the 10th straight time. 1.5 behind the Sox.

Let's Go Mariners! (And Orioles)

You will make up ground on either the Yankees or Jays the.nexr 3 days as long as you win as well.

 

[Briancuse]

Maybe the worst called game behind the plate I’ve ever seen. What a joke

Joe West is blind as a bat.

 

[MSOrange]

Which MLB managers are on the hot seat? Ranking four skippers most likely to be fired after 2021 season

There have been disappointing seasons in Queens, San Diego and elsewhere in 2021

www.cbssports.com

 

[MSOrange]

This should be a pretty exciting final week with the Phillies-Braves series starting tonight in the NL East, the AL wild card race and the Dodgers-Giants NL West division race.

 

[dasher]

I enjoyed the Red Sox team this year but I hate the Boston sports media so much and John W. Henry that I say they got what they deserve.
He was cheap at the trade deadline.
I used to care a lot. Now they are just a time filler if they lose I don’t care.
That stadium is full of Yankees fans that tells you what Boston thinks.
I am sure Henry is happy the Patriots suck right now.

I want to like the team but ownership ruins it.

LOL Is there some rule that Henry should root for the Pats that I don't know about? The stadium always has a lot of Yankee fans. Same as Yankee stadium when the Red Sox play there. I was at the playoff game in '78. Plenty of Yankee fans there as well. Did the Boston fans dislike the Red Sox then? Red Sox viewership on tv is way up over the last two years. It wasn't going cheap at the trade deadline. Henry has spent more than any Red Sox ownership ever when the team has a chance. They viewed it that they needed to built their farm system up after the last GM ran it in to the ground. We can disagree with that but it wasn't going cheap. It was a strategy.

 

[dasher]

If I ran the Red Sox, I would get rid of every player than didn't get vaccinated. They put the team in a competitive disadvantage that sunk their season. By the way, I don't care what players they they are

 

[kirbivore]

Thanks O’s!

 

[dasher]

Thanks O’s!

who do you root for? If the Red Sox don't make it, it won't be because of the O's or not making a deal at the deadline. It will be because the team didn't protect themselves against a virus. They got what they deserve. If I was a vaccinated player on that team, I would be furious with my ignorant teammates.