Rays 4 – Blue Jays 3

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay Rays	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	12	1
Toronto Blue Jays	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	6	1

W: Hellickson (9-3) | L: Buehrle (5-7) | S: Rodney (23)

Toronto Blue Jays 2013 Season, Game 96
7:07 pm ET: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON
Starting: Jeremy Hellickson vs. Mark Buehrle
Game Wrap / Box Score
Attendance: 42,639 | Time: 3:17 | Weather: 75°f
Section 138L, Row 12, Seat 104

The first game I booked to anchor my Baseball Week travels was a Saturday Blue Jays game against the Rays. You may be wondering why you would attend yet another game in Toronto? As a lifelong Montrealer, there are 2 words that will explain everything.

Expos Nation

There is a small but growing movement in Montreal seeking to generate interest in bringing Major League Baseball back to the city. While anyone who knows the story of the Expos knows how badly it ended for everyone involved and that there is 0% chance a team will ever return here until a few key things happen, some of us have finally gotten over the bitterness and embraced the idea of getting a team back in our fair city. So last year, a few people decided to organize a trip to Toronto to attend a Jays game and a few hundred Montrealers accepted. This year, in what seems to have been an even more organized effort, roughly 1,000 Expos fans attended the game against the Rays on Saturday. Taking up a large chunk of the left field bleachers, the fans cheered, reminisced and celebrated the team that left Montreal for Washington almost ten years ago.

I decided this year to join in the fun and brought along 3 ex-Montrealers who now live in Toronto. We took in the game (Toronto lost for the 2nd day in a row) and participated in what will hopefully become an annual event.

I’m unsure if Montreal will ever get a team again, or whether baseball can work there. I do feel that if it’s going to happen, it’s not going to be next year or even in 5 years, but more like 10-20 years out. A series of important things have to happen for this to be possible:

1. The team will need a new, modern ballpark. Playing at the Olympic Stadium is not an option.
2. The new ballpark will have to be somewhere downtown. It has to be within walking distance of the city’s commercial centre.
3. There has to be a serious ownership group, with deep pockets who is invested in the long-term viability of a team in Montreal. It has to be majority-owned by one of the short list of Canadian companies that can afford it.
4. The owners have to be prepared from day one to invest in building a winning, enjoyable team to watch.
5. A quality farm system needs to be developed.
6. The fanbase has to be built back up slowly and carefully to ensure that all the city’s communities are excited about the game.
7. Amateur baseball has to be encouraged throughout the region.
8. We have to accept it’s going to cost a billion dollars.
9. And of course, Bud Selig needs to retire.

As for what others are saying about the Expos Nation game and how the Jays and Rays played on Saturday, please check out this link, this link, this link, or this link.