Who k*lled the Montreal Expos? (2025)

[bunniefuu]

The greatest pitcher in Expos history,

Pedro Martinez!

Expos win 6-5! Yeah!

They came back to win the match.

The success of the Expos

made Montreal known across America.

It was crazy in Montreal.

So long!

So long, she's gone! What a beaut!

How's it going? It's going well, yeah.

We had something huge on our hands.

Ladies and gents, our Expos, our darlings!

A Montreal Expos jersey.

Play that tape of the Chicago Cubs

against our Expos.

We never would have thought

that one day we'd lose that team.

For Montrealers, it was always,

"Our Expos, our darlings."

The Expos played

their final Montreal game.

It's the Expos' farewell game

in Montreal tonight.

The team is moving to Washington.

The Expos' death

is a bit like a big game of Clue.

There are a lot of suspects and motives.

There's a long list.

Is it the owner, Claude Brochu?

It's Claude Brochu.

The president, Jeffrey Loria.

Major League strike.

David Samson.

Who stumped the Quebecers?

It's your fault. You ruined everything.

The tough actions I took

were not Machiavellian.

Simply betrayed.

We have a special show tonight

with a bit of nostalgic flavor.

But no matter what your memories are,

20 years after the Expos' final match,

we want to hear from you.

Who am I speaking to?

The lines are full, and I'm not surprised.

I have to say I'm very sad.

Montreal won't be the same

without the Expos.

Sports fans need their dignity back

here in Quebec.

Because we were humiliated.

We never saw that again in Montreal.

Even today, when we go to the U.S.

and we meet baseball fans, they say,

"Oh yeah, you're the guys that had a team,

and then they left."

People talk to me

about the Expos every day.

"Do you think the Expos will come back?"

I can't say, "They were stolen from us,

we sold them. We had a fire sale."

You were robbed?

Of course we were robbed.

For sure, we should've never let it go.

But the real reason

There's somebody, somewhere

who's responsible.

Baseball was everyday life.

Home run!

My dad would fix stuff in the garage.

The radio was on,

and the Expos were playing.

We weren't missing an inning.

In a few moments,

we'll witness an incredible game, Rodger.

It's awesome for Montrealers.

Think of the biggest party you've been to.

That was it.

It was amazing.

Quebecers love to sing, dance, have fun

We love to drink, eat

And baseball games had all of it.

He's got him. He's safe!

The players were very endearing.

We called them our darlings for a reason.

Gary Carter, Warren Cromartie,

Andr Dawson, Larry Parrish

We could feel that this team

had what it took to be good.

It was unique.

The new players always noticed it.

They'd see the stands and say,

"What's all this about?"

He faced 27 batters and got them all out!

I really loved it!

I was always committed to do a good job

because our fans

were always there cheering us on,

either in Spanish

or in their own language.

Their support encouraged me

to play at my best.

As soon as I came into the stadium,

I saw people's reactions.

Their faces lit up.

A child running towards you for a hug?

Indescribable. You have to live it.

GIVE US YOUR YOUPPI! IMPRESSION!

This summer, come and see us.

MY SUMMER, MY EXPOS!

You get attached to the team

and the players.

When you've done this all your life,

then it stops existing,

it's like someone in your family died.

Ladies and gents, the Expos are here!

Montreal was the first city

to welcome a Major League Baseball team

outside the U.S.

We were getting into the American pastime.

For us in Quebec, it was a big deal.

In the '80s, everything changed.

Baseball went from being a pastime

to a real entertainment business.

Salaries skyrocketed,

and TV contracts went insane.

It was also a time

when the economic situation was poor

because the Canadian dollar wasn't strong.

This morning,

the Canadian dollar hit an all-time low,

at 71 American cents.

The players' salaries were paid in U.S.,

but the revenue was in Canadian.

So it's like the Expos were taxed

on every transaction they made.

Which meant that in 1999,

the Expos were last

in nearly every possible category

for revenue in the Major League.

In fact, the Expos were losing money,

year after year.

They needed money to save the club.

No one in Montreal

was ready to invest those millions.

You have to understand,

in the U.S., there are family fortunes

that have been built up

over five, six, seven generations.

In Quebec,

there were no billion dollar fortunes.

After 15 years of financial issues,

the Expos are looking for a new owner

to take over from Charles Bronfman

and Claude Brochu.

And since no Canadian investors

were interested,

the team had no other choice

but to turn to a potential American buyer.

In 1999, I was hired at La Presse,

and they said,

"Do you want to cover baseball?"

It's a bit ironic.

I joined as a baseball journalist

to cover the game.

In fact,

I wrote very little about the games.

But I wrote over 500

articles about Jeffrey Loria.

Major League Baseball

has approved Jeffrey Loria's candidacy,

a New York art dealer

who is prepared

to invest 75 million dollars himself

and become the chairman

of the board of directors.

He was a mysterious man.

When he came to Montreal, he hid.

He did everything in the shadows,

He was incognito.

People knew very little about him.

We were very hopeful

when Jeffrey Loria came to the Expos.

He was reported to have a lot of money.

A lot of clout.

I clearly recall

that he was called a "savior."

This is the Expos' savior.

Jeffrey Loria, 58 years old,

rich enough to invest

75 million dollars in a baseball team.

Like it or not, he comes from New York.

Americans know how things work.

I was excited. Everyone in the office was.

It's what we always wanted.

Like an angel coming down from heaven.

We didn't like

that he was American, it's true.

Listen, some guy, a Francophile,

shows up

with millions of dollars and says

Montreal will no longer be

Major League Baseball's farm team.

It was a strong statement

that made us hopeful.

During that press conference,

we learned about

the new vice president of the team.

You didn't know him. Tell me about him.

You mean David Samson?

David Samson arrived with a certain style.

David Samson was one of a kind.

He carried a mirror everywhere he went

so he could see himself.

Arrogant, self-satisfied,

he looked at you as if you were crap.

I've yet to meet someone who likes him.

I've never seen someone so despicable.

Jeffrey Loria's right-hand man

is his son, David Samson.

He'll be responsible

for the team's daily operations.

Expos, hello.

that I can speak French

with some of them.

I'm a Quebecker.

The Expos were my dream team.

I was always proud to wear the uniform.

Pierre Arsenault,

you know this place well. The bullpen.

I spend most games here,

warming up the players.

I had no reason not to believe

what Jeffrey Loria said,

and what David Samson added.

They said all the right things,

things we wanted to hear.

The second someone says,

"We'll open our wallet

and buy more players,"

Woah, we're not used to hearing that.

We're used to the opposite.

How much was it

to build the Montreal Expos team?

It was a very large sum,

but Major League Baseball is huge deal.

It's like they say, a big business.

The original owner

of the Expos is called Charles Bronfman.

He was a wealthy businessman

who loved baseball.

I played in teams

where I never met the owner.

Mr. Bronfman took the Expos to heart.

It was his team,

and we players were like his children.

He was like a father.

Mr. Bronfman had a big heart.

Forget money. He had heart.

Attention buyers, the Expos are for sale

for 100 million dollars, a pretty penny.

At first,

I didn't think that Mr. Bronfman

would actually sell the team.

It was his life. He loved it.

He said to me, "Baseball changes a lot."

The industry isn't profitable.

The surge in wages

was enough to shake up many owners.

He said, "I can lose 2-3 million a year,

I can soak it up."

"But now, we're heading to a future

where it could be losses

of 25-30 million a year."

He said,

"I don't have the means for that."

He put me in charge

of organizing the sale of the club.

The rules for a change in ownership

are handled by Major League Baseball.

What they want, first of all,

is a local owner.

Secondly, they will accept

an owner from elsewhere

who'll keep the franchise in Montreal.

It's only in third place

that they'll allow an owner

who'll move the franchise elsewhere.

Mr. Bronfman's hope was

for the club to stay in Montreal.

Between 1900 and 1940,

it was the most popular sport in Quebec.

Quebec welcomed many Black players

in the 40s, during segregation.

For 150 years, baseball

has been part of our social fabric.

It's true.

- One!

- Out!

Baseball and pro sports

bring people together.

People say, "It's just sports."

Yeah, it's just sports,

but it becomes part of our lives.

That ball is outta here!

A home run for Rick Monday

and the Dodgers' bench clears!

It's emotional, it's gripping.

You get so into it.

It was a family for us.

We were like a family.

It's a family.

The Expos belonged to Quebec,

but reality eventually caught up with me.

Quebec's wealth

was more institutional than private.

There wasn't anyone

strong enough in Montreal

to take over from Mr. Bronfman.

If Quebec investors don't speak up soon,

Mr. Bronfman will turn to the U.S.

where there have been some firm offers.

I was interested in becoming the owner,

but wow! You need money for that.

A lot of money.

So I started to think

about putting together

a group of investors to buy the club.

If we could get

around 15 Montreal companies involved,

it would belong to the people here,

and the club would stay.

Brochu had been successful

in management roles before.

Charles Bronfman really trusted him.

He had to find the money.

100 million to save the Expos.

That was his mission.

Not a day goes by

where I don't meet

potential new investors.

It's ongoing.

It's taking up a lot of my time.

They knocked on 235 doors

trying to find shareholders.

It was in small amounts.

One, two, or five million.

It was difficult at times

because the potential partners

weren't interested

in getting involved in something

that could cost them extra.

So I said to them, "I'm committed

to managing this very tightly."

It was an extremely complex

financial set up,

almost unprecedented. I mean, in sports.

It wasn't easy.

The survival

of the Montreal Expos is guaranteed.

The Expos will have new owners,

and they are from Quebec.

Not one American is investing.

It's thanks to an all-Quebecois board

guided by the firm hand

of the president, Claude Brochu,

that the sale was organized.

I was told that the best day of our lives

was when we became the owners

of a Major League Baseball club.

I couldn't believe

we'd managed to keep our club

in Montreal and not lose it.

The classic structure in baseball

is one strong owner.

That's how baseball worked

for its first 100 professional years.

But in the consortium,

there were all kinds of investors.

There were business people

who invested their own money,

but also the City of Montreal,

a bank, and even a trade union.

They were all business owners,

so the partners saw themselves

playing a decision-making role

where they would have a say in things.

But the Major League didn't agree.

They wanted one person

to have all the responsibility.

So baseball decided

to move forward on one condition.

There had to be one guarantor,

which was Claude Brochu.

Thanks.

You make decisions about the club,

and they don't have a say?

They don't have a say. Exactly.

For fans like me at the time,

we didn't care

what was happening upstairs.

All we wanted was our team,

and for it to be competitive.

We had crowds,

and there was a great atmosphere.

But with salaries increasing,

we had to find more people

and fill more seats.

The club had some good years.

We were always there,

but we were never first.

I knew that that would safeguard

the club's long-term future.

For the first time in a long time,

fans believe in the championship again.

They're back at the Olympic Stadium.

The team is even talking about profit.

At the heart of this rebirth

is new management,

and also a new leader

who has become a real treasure of Quebec.

A chess player in baseball.

Every move was calculated.

He'd done it all.

He'd managed in the minors and coached.

He arrived at the right time.

Everyone loved Felipe Alou.

He's a really great guy, very endearing,

very involved in the community.

Lived in Laval, married a Quebecker,

his children spoke French.

Is your dad good?

Yeah, really good.

- Really good?

- Yes.

- Why?

- He's not a player.

But he's the boss of all the players.

He's like my dad. In 1997,

even though I suffered many injuries,

he didn't send me to the minor leagues

but he kept me in the Major Leagues.

We saw good young players,

but we weren't ready

for a championship race.

Something was created

with the young players.

Marquis Grissom, Larry Walker.

Pedro Martinez.

Tim Scott, Mel Rojas and John Wetteland.

We should monitor this closely.

They could have a great future.

I didn't see this team as special

when in training camp.

I saw great potential.

But as the months went on,

we started to see "Oh!"

There's thousands today

at the Olympic Stadium.

This year the Expos have

what it takes to please their fans.

We are in the running

for the championship.

This team came out of nowhere.

They were so fast,

they were 1-0 up

during the national anthems.

Never ever in the history of the Expos

has the team performed so well.

Walker runs, dives and makes the catch!

Two out of three against the Braves.

They're one and a half

games away from the lead.

He's out!

In '94, we had a dream team.

People came to the stadium.

It was euphoric.

They were the best in Expo history.

I remember on August 3,

when I gave birth to my son at 4:09 p.m.

I had to have a TV in my room.

There was an Expos game at 7:00 p.m.,

and I couldn't miss it.

That desire to see Montreal,

perhaps the smallest Major League team,

in the World Series,

was something that drove us.

The chance of winning doesn't come often.

I was proud, I was enthusiastic,

but I knew, in the back of my mind,

bad news was coming.

We were heading for a big problem.

Strike in the MLB.

Everyone hoped there wouldn't be a strike,

because they'd discussed it for months.

I was so sure then.

There'll be a strike for ten days,

then it'll be sorted.

But it wasn't.

And we lost everything.

We'd not seen that since 1904,

90 years ago,

a season of baseball canceled,

including the World Series.

It was like a shovel to the face.

It was like

a sledgehammer.

Imagine the revenue they would have made.

It would have been phenomenal.

Ticket sales, games broadcasted on TV,

everything that comes with it.

Millionaires fighting each other.

And who is in the middle of it all?

You and me.

I still think today that that strike

pushed the Expos closer to the edge.

We looked for solutions, for sure.

But we found none.

I knew we wouldn't have TV revenue.

And our fans were so furious

that season tickets

wouldn't be renewed for the next year.

The Expos will lose

over 20 million dollars this year.

Wow, we're in deep sh*t.

I knew that I would be criticized.

But I didn't have a choice.

I was thinking about the club's survival

and about avoiding bankruptcy.

I had named players we needed to trade.

Ones who would be

earning high salaries next season.

At 11:10 a.m.,

the first transaction was completed.

Wetteland has been transferred

to the New York Yankees.

At 2:00 p.m., Malone is back on offense.

This time, he gave Ken Hill

to the St-Louis Cards.

We thought they'd let one or two go.

Not four.

You can't have a good explanation

for axing four of your best players

when you had the best team.

After just over five seasons

with the Expos and two Golden Gloves,

Marquis Grissom is returning

to his hometown of Atlanta.

He went back to Atlanta with the Braves.

The Braves?

You're not supposed to give

your best players to your sworn enemy.

That's not sports.

Larry Walker packed his bags for Colorado.

Even us in the Major League

often didn't know the players we had.

We realized that

not only did we not have the same team,

but we wouldn't be competitive.

Money spoke once again.

We talked more about cash than baseball.

Brochu is someone

who inherited a Mercedes,

but couldn't even afford to buy gas.

Lots of people said

that the '94 strike k*lled the Expos.

But the fire sale was harmful too,

because the fire sale k*lled hope.

When you k*ll hope, you k*ll the fans.

It was tough to lose players. I know that.

It was a tough blow.

But the shareholders

didn't want to put money in.

I wasn't able to put money in,

nor were they.

So where does that leave us?

To keep our club here in the long term,

we needed more revenue.

It seemed to me that if we had

a new stadium, it would all be fine.

The rain poured for two hours last night

onto the Montreal Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic Stadium

was literally falling to pieces.

This beam collapsed

just before 8:00 a.m. this morning.

It's an outdated stadium from the '70s.

No team will want to play there anymore.

Bad weather is wreaking havoc

on the stadium roof.

Oh boy.

On the other side of this door,

a dividing wall has collapsed.

After the roof was torn by snow,

it's now letting the rain in.

I think that, in our hands,

we have the finest project

in Quebec in the coming years.

We'll have TV cameras

from Atlanta, Chicago, New York

projecting images of Montreal

towards downtown, all lit up.

And elsewhere in North America,

teams in small markets

who were struggling

were building baseball stadiums.

They could generate revenue

to compete against top clubs.

How were we going to fund that?

Impossible.

I was a believer. I loved the plans.

It was extraordinary.

But it needed government support.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Lucien Bouchard!

Almost everywhere in the U.S.,

the new stadiums are funded by the state.

That's what we want in Quebec.

But during that era,

in Quebec specifically

Budget cuts of 1,169 million.

Quebec has no more money.

It's unprecedented.

At that time, they needed money

to keep hospitals and schools going.

We had a long way to go,

but Bouchard negotiated.

I worked with his head of cabinet.

We started to tie it all together.

It took time. It was a long-term plan,

but it progressed very well.

But he also said,

"Let's keep this between us."

"All your partners are gossips."

Many of them had loose tongues.

They said things they shouldn't have.

Often, it went to the media,

then we'd have to clean it up.

The more people there are in a room,

the greater the risk of a conflict.

It's hard to understand

the exact reasons for disputes

among Expos shareholders.

Friction quickly set in

among the shareholders.

The local shareholders didn't like

that Brochu made the decisions.

They had invested one,

two, or five million dollars,

but didn't have a say

in the day-to-day decisions of the club.

They never understood the rules.

Even if they did,

they wanted to be included.

Eventually, it blew up.

If we interfere in others' business,

we can end up as part of the problem.

The daily soap opera of baseball

turned into a soap opera of business.

That's rare.

We saw the bickering. We saw the ego wars.

I'm not saying I don't like being here.

There was more drama

than at a high school prom!

More and more,

in the newspapers, you'd read stories

from others who were fed up with him.

Perhaps he should step aside

and let someone else promote the stadium.

Claude Brochu became a sort of piata

the shareholders hit with a baseball bat,

taking turns to hold the bat.

It's the ultimatum

the shareholders gave him.

Here. Your turn. Go!

He wasn't liked, wasn't a visionary,

was a bad manager

In Montreal,

people are talking badly about you.

They destroyed his reputation,

his leadership,

and his stadium project.

I can't work like this.

Who do we believe?

It never ended. It was the Expos saga.

That's all we cared about.

So much so

that the team's results came second.

It's not complicated. Deep down,

I just want baseball to stay here.

There was so much talk in the media.

So many rumors.

Emotionally, it's difficult.

You want it to happen,

you want a new stadium.

It's out of your hands.

You don't control anything.

The government will decide.

I saw that it was serious.

I said, "We gotta do something."

He's such a big Expos fan

that his phone number

include the word "Expo."

Mr. Jeremy Filosa.

I encouraged Claude Brochu.

In my head, he had a good project.

Culturally, the Expos

are essential to the city of Montreal.

The fact that he put all this in motion,

I thought,

"Okay, this won't stop.

It won't die here."

I said, "I'll organize a gathering

on the site where

we want to build the stadium."

"I want people to come,

so the government

realizes that there are fans."

"They have the Expos at heart

and don't want it to end."

I didn't know what to expect. But I went.

I just hoped people would show up.

I saw the crowd coming down the street.

SAVE OUR EXPOS

THINK ABOUT THE JOBS

MY STADIUM MY VOTE

Hundreds of Expos fans have come together

to support construction

of a new stadium in the city center.

I wanna be there.

I love baseball.

I can't live without my Expos.

I want to

encourage them to stay in Montreal.

Before it's too late.

We gotta do something. Wake up.

MY STADIUM, MY VOTE

I got emotional, because I'm thinking,

"Yes, sir, it worked!"

I'm starting to It's the emotion.

Thanks to those who came to support us.

We had around 10,000 people

over the whole day.

What did you think about the new stadium?

I agreed with the new stadium being built.

It was a big toy.

They had the means

to have a baseball team.

Let's do it.

Let's take the plunge once and for all.

But don't just wait

for the government to do everything.

If it doesn't work, we won't survive.

A decision will have to be made.

We had funding for the stadium.

We knew how to do it.

We were close to succeeding.

We're aware of Quebec's financial state,

the priorities, etc.

If hospitals are closing,

we can't open stadiums.

IT'S A NO!

- It must have been disappointing.

- Yes, very.

Very disappointing.

What went through your head?

We were wondering what to do.

We need this to survive.

If we can't get it, we can't stay here.

Claude Brochu assumed

that the government would pay

for most of the stadium

because that's how it was in the U.S.

The government never let on publically

that they would support them.

We will not ask workers

to pay more taxes

so that baseball players can keep

making millions of American dollars.

He's the Premier, and it's his decision.

Claude Brochu couldn't stay.

Even publically,

the shareholders weren't shy

about wanting Claude Brochu out.

We're not doing a witch hunt today,

but we have to say

we didn't get the cooperation we hoped.

Brochu must resign. We can't move forward.

It's a time-out, it's clear.

We can't move forward

if Brochu is still here.

They blamed me. "It's your fault."

"You ruined it all." Absolutely not.

Lucien Bouchard played a part

in the Expos' downfall.

But it was them that k*lled the Expos.

They managed to embarrass me,

but by being so negative

about the franchise,

they damaged the brand.

I was sure that the damage

that had been done to the franchise

was irreparable.

I'm very happy to announce

that late last night

we came to an agreement,

which, I think, meets everyone's needs.

The shareholders' smear campaign worked,

because in the end,

Claude Brochu agreed to sell his shares.

I sincerely believe

that it is worth giving

the new owners a chance.

Do you think Brochu

was a victim of injustice?

Claude Brochu was not a victim.

He had a mandate.

Find funding to build the stadium.

He didn't do it.

- Mr. Loria, how are you?

- Very well.

- Do you trust David?

- Very much so.

We want to tell fans

that there will be great baseball

at the Montreal Olympic Stadium this year.

I knew him. I interviewed him

in the '90s to be part of the franchise

when I was looking for a partner.

He wanted to control the club,

so I let him go.

He's got an iron fist in a velvet glove.

He's tough.

I didn't trust him.

Are more good things coming

in the next few weeks?

It's possible.

Jeffrey appoints David Samson

as his second-in-command.

He knows the codes of business well,

but American business.

In Quebec, we like to reach a consensus.

He's clearly not someone

who tries to reach a consensus.

Treat us like a Major League team.

He's like a bull in a china shop,

and then

When you go to a new city,

you try your best to make friends.

They made enemies everywhere.

You had someone we didn't know

telling us what to do.

Quebecers don't like

being told what to do.

We became strangers in our own home.

When Jeffrey Loria arrived,

he held a big press conference.

I'm happy to be here again

to tell you about another important step

in the story of our team,

the Montreal Expos.

There must have been over 100 journalists.

You could feel the ambition.

It was really spectacular.

As we have done since the beginning,

we will spare no effort

in overcoming our challenges.

He started the press conference

by presenting a new stadium project.

Club president Jeffrey Loria

revealed a model

of the future stadium today.

Jeffrey Loria has another plan.

Claude Brochu's stadium plan

didn't exist anymore.

It was a glass stadium

that would cost

at least 50 million dollars.

That was already surprising.

The new Expos stadium

is designed specifically for baseball,

and for the people of Montreal and Quebec.

He undid everything

to create their own model,

their own project.

It wasn't amazing, but I didn't care.

I wanted a stadium.

He then said,

"The agreement we just signed

with Labatt Brewery"

Labatt is a big brewery

that had sponsored the Expos for years.

Claude Brochu had negotiated this deal.

Labatt agreed

to spend 100 million over 20 years.

"We signed it last year.

We're going to rip it up."

The deal with Labatt fell through.

The name is the "Expos Downtown Stadium"

in the city center.

Loria didn't think

it was lucrative enough.

There'll be another name.

But for now, it's not the Labatt Park.

Jeffrey Loria has just met with the press.

What did he have to say?

We learned in the next few days

that the Expos games

wouldn't be broadcast in French.

Wait a minute. No matches on TV?

Baseball is a soap opera.

How will people keep up?

TV rights are your lifeline.

He thought he'd have

TV contracts like in the U.S.

Doesn't work like that.

They said radio is possible,

but not TV this season,

but I'll keep negotiating.

WHEN WILL BASEBALL BE ON TV?

We felt like we were

watching a live act of sabotage.

And all that happened

in the space of ten days.

We thought, "Okay, did he come to Montreal

to shut down the team and relocate?"

Is he here just to make money?

Is he here to flip the club

and resell it quickly,

like flipping a house?

What's the real plan?

Can we talk after the meeting?

Is that possible?

The rumor had been around for a while.

In fact, since the arrival

of the new owner, Jeffrey Loria.

Exactly. Since the first training camp

under Loria's leadership.

He invited Jeff Torborg,

a former bench coach for the Yankees,

to coach players during the training camp.

That's when it started.

It was kind of impossible

to fire Felipe Alou,

because he was the club's popular figure.

He was the guy.

They never kept their promises.

I don't have any comment.

We felt like

we had been cheated by those men.

There are people

who have never forgiven Samson and Loria.

I'm really having a hard time

with the whole ending

With the sale to Jeffrey Loria,

and how we got played.

People thought he was the savior,

but to me he's a crook.

The MLB's commissioner made it clear

that a downtown stadium

was crucial to the Expos' survival.

The whole Expos survival plan

hinges on a new stadium.

- The Expos saga.

- The Expos saga.

All is not well for the Expos.

Loria said there was no money to be made

keeping the Expos in Montreal.

The stadium would not be built

and they had to let the land go.

The club was

over 100 million dollars in debt.

There wasn't much of a future.

There was nobody in the stadium.

Clearly, the local shareholders

all underestimated Jeffrey Loria

across the board.

In dealing with

the American financial system,

there are sharks.

I saw it happen.

I never thought that Loria would carry on.

I'm sure that in the contract,

there was an exit clause.

Radio-Canada has learned

that Jeffrey Loria had a clause added

that allowed him to force shareholders

to sell their shares.

After these two unsuccessful appeals

for capital from local shareholders,

we learned yesterday that Jeffrey Loria

now holds 92% of the team's shares.

Unbelievable. He was the club.

At that moment, they lost everything.

The group of Expos owners

had all lost their money.

He diluted Quebec Inc.'s money.

Why? Because they stopped

putting money into it.

The never-ending Expos saga

has taken a new turn.

The minority shareholders of the team

are suing Loria for fraud.

They think that he lied to them all along.

- Mr. Mnard.

- Hi, how are you?

We're talking about 14 corporations.

Who are they?

All the shareholders

who thought it was smart

to get rid of Claude Brochu.

Maybe they changed their minds.

The lawsuit hits hard,

citing laws against influence peddling

and corrupt organizations.

It's often used

against organized crime and drug cartels.

He tried to create an economic crisis.

The way they treated

the minority shareholders,

I would say, was a bit Soviet, in that

A total 180 in the world of baseball,

Jeffrey Loria is selling the Expos,

and buying the Florida Marlins.

When Loria and Samson

left for the Marlins, I had a computer.

They told me, "Marc,

I need to take your computer."

"Why?"

"Well, it's part of the things

they're bringing with them to Florida."

A computer!

Legend has it they took

all they could get through customs.

Eighteen million dollars,

that's how much Loria spent in 1999

to become the co-owner

of the Montreal Expos.

Barely two years later,

he surprised everyone

and gave up the team

for 120 million dollars.

What does that mean for the Montreal team?

He is selling the Expos to a new entity,

either a corporation or company

belonging to the other 29 MLB owners.

The team is under guardianship of the MLB

for part, or all of next season,

we don't know yet.

Major League Baseball

has become the owner of a team

which is a bit strange.

We were truly caught with our pants down.

There was no-one

in our corner to defend us.

STADIUM

It could make a difference.

We just need to let people know

that the Expos do have fans and do count.

They were under guardianship

of the MLB for three seasons.

It was an extremely long time,

extremely painful.

It wasn't the end, it was death.

My love was dead.

We were in palliative care.

The Expos were on life support.

And when that happens, you keep going

because the end is near.

The enthusiasm was gone.

In the last few years,

despite the situation we had ended up in,

everyone still kept pushing forward.

We still hoped

that things would get fixed.

I arrived at the office at about 9:00 a.m.

There was already talk

of a press conference

in Washington at midday.

Of course, no one could work.

The rumor was true. It was over.

It was over.

Oh, yeah. It was Yeah.

Sorry.

It is confirmed.

In less than 30 minutes,

the Expos will play their last game

in Montreal history.

We now join Chantal Machabe

at the Olympic Stadium.

- Good evening.

- Hello, Franois.

The Expos confirmed the bad news

at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.

DON'T GO, YOUPPI!

We saw the message from the fans.

Some showed their discontent.

Even I don't know if I'm going to cry,

but I think I will.

EXPOS ALWAYS #1 IN OUR HEARTS

During the whole match,

we were tearing up.

People were crying their eyes out.

It feels like a funeral here.

A lot of people have

come together with heavy hearts.

The Expos' departure

was a collective mourning.

It was extremely difficult.

I'm sure it took some people

years to get over it.

For sure.

We knew it was over.

My whole world was crumbling.

I GREW UP WITH THE EXPOS

I grew up with baseball.

Whatever was happening in our family,

I could always talk

to my dad about baseball.

We'd always have something to talk about.

I thought, "If I have a son one day,

I won't have that."

Being a fan was part of our identity.

Part of our identity was taken away.

It's almost unthinkable

to lose a team like that after 36 years.

I really loved my career.

I loved my 36 years with the Expos.

All of a sudden,

there's no baseball in your life.

There's no more work.

I was really sad.

I gathered all my courage

through the tears.

Goodbye, and thank you so much

for everything you've done

for us and the team

over the last 36 years.

I hope that one day, we'll have a miracle

and it will come back here.

Thank you so much

on behalf of all the players.

Thanks a lot.

For me, the death of the Expos

was a shared responsibility.

There were the local shareholders

who clearly lacked vision.

Claude Brochu was not able

to bring people to the stadium,

although it was his job as team president.

Jeffrey Loria and David Samson

are clearly responsible as well

for the end of the Expos.

They could have saved the club.

THANKS FOR NOTHING

OUR LOVES

But what really k*lled them

is much more simple than that.

What k*lled the Expos was money.

Thank you for being here.

And if we ever

pass each other in the street,

I'll happily shake your hand,

because you were a proud baseball fan,

and an Expos supporter. Thank you.

Thank you very much

to Jacques Doucet, and again,

the final score, 1969-2004.

There were ups and downs.

Because I grew up with this team,

I was such a loyal fan.

I was a loyal employee

when I worked with them.

Hey, my friend! How are you?

Even in the difficult years,

even on the darkest days,

I always wore the Expos logo with pride.

I haven't watched

a baseball match in ten years.

That was the case

for the majority of baseball fans.

They were so angry

that even though they love the game,

they just couldn't watch.

It was like that for me.

Until at a certain point

My son became a baseball fan.

Father-son relationships

aren't always easy.

Even if it's baseball, it doesn't matter.

We throw the ball and we talk about life.

I just wanted to give my son

what my dad gave me.

And I'm able to do it today,

so for that, I'm very grateful.

Since the team's

crushing departure over 20 years ago,

fans who dream

of a team returning to Quebec soil

are increasing their efforts

to convince the MLB.

In Montreal,

we talk about the Expos coming back.

My son is a fan of the Blue Jays.

We talked about the Expos coming back.

He said,

"Dad, if they do, who will we root for?"

Ladies and gentlemen, the best team

in Major League Baseball in 1994!

Do you really believe they'll return?

Do I believe?

I hope.

Do you believe they'll come back?

You have to.

I'd love it. You have no idea.

I miss it in Montreal.

Yes, it would be good.

To feel like coming back,

not necessarily to play,

but just to see a game again.

Watch it with the fans who saw us play.

I'm hopeful.

But they better do it fast. At my age,

I don't want to be there in a wheelchair.