Editing Montreal Expos (section)

==Relationship with the Toronto Blue Jays==
The [[Toronto Blue Jays]] joined the [[American League]] as an expansion franchise in 1977, and one year later met the Expos for the first time in an exhibition contest, the first of an annual series that became known as the [[Pearson Cup]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/pearson-cup-again-up-for-grabs-1.398298 |title=Pearson Cup again up for grabs |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2003-06-16 |access-date=2015-05-29 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924215523/http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/pearson-cup-again-up-for-grabs-1.398298 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Expos won that first game, 5–4, in front of 20,221 fans on June 29.<ref>{{citation |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-jgyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3686%2C4471017 |title=Jays kept it close, but finally blew it |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1978-06-30 |access-date=2015-05-29 |page=53 |archive-date=October 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030220354/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-jgyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3686%2C4471017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Eight annual exhibitions (except for 1981, due to the strike) were played between 1978 and 1986, as each team won three games, with two contests ending as ties.<ref>{{citation |last=MacCarl |first=Neil |title=Little excitement as Jays down Expos |work=Toronto Star |date=1986-04-29 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/435431036 |id={{ProQuest|435431036}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref> The teams did not meet again until 1997: With the advent of [[interleague play]] that year the first regular season meetings were held between the two ballclubs.<ref>{{citation|title=Rivalry could be over before it gets started|first=David|last=Shoalts|work=The Globe and Mail|date=1997-07-01|page=D10}}</ref> The games boosted attendance in both Montreal and Toronto.<ref>{{cite news|title=A series without rivals|first=Joe|last=O'Connor|work=National Post|date=2002-06-28|page=S1}}</ref>

[[File:Bring back Expos sign.png|thumb|right|A fan calls for a return of the Expos during the Jays-Reds exhibition series at Olympic Stadium in 2015.|alt=A fan holds a sign that reads "BRING BACK EXPOS".]]
[[John McHale (baseball)|John McHale]], then president of the Expos, was a strong proponent of adding a second Canadian Major League team, in Toronto.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=212}}</ref> The Expos remained Canada's most popular team until their mid-1980s downturn coincided with the Blue Jays' rise, culminating in the Jays' first [[American League East]] division championship, in 1985.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=212–213}}</ref> At the same time, the Blue Jays grew perturbed that the Expos were able to air their games in several markets in southern Ontario—such as [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Belleville, Ontario|Belleville]], and Toronto itself. The Jays lobbied MLB to designate southern Ontario as their exclusive home television territory. Bronfman opposed the request, as he feared that shutting the Expos out of Canada's largest and most lucrative television market would limit the team's fan base. As a part of the territorial changes, MLB allowed the Expos to air 15 games in the Jays' television market for free, and purchase the rights to air additional games. For the remainder of their existence, the Expos only had full broadcast rights in Quebec and [[Atlantic Canada]].<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=213}}</ref> The loss of viewership in southern Ontario diminished the Expos' ability to attract sponsors and corporate partners. Indeed, Keri later wrote that the Expos miscalculated when they considered the Blue Jays an ally rather than a potential threat, and missed a chance to cement their right to air their games across Canada. Keri added that the loss of this revenue stream, along with "many other poor business decisions" over the years, made it difficult for the Expos to be viable in Montreal.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=215}}</ref> Longtime Expos play-by-play broadcaster [[Dave Van Horne]] later argued that the loss of badly-needed corporate support "really started a long, downward spiral" for the team.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=215–216}}</ref>

Regardless of their disagreements over television rights, when the Blue Jays reached the [[1992 World Series]], the team honoured Bronfman's contributions in bringing Major League Baseball to the country by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch for the first [[World Series]] game played in Canada.<ref>{{citation |last=Farber |first=Michael |title=Ol' No. 83 gets his moment at the World Series; Bronfman throws out the first ball as Jays generously discard old rivalry |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1992-10-21 |page=E1}}</ref> However, and while Blue Jays president [[Paul Godfrey]] again acknowledged the Expos' role in his own team's existence, Godfrey nonetheless voted with the other teams to support contracting the Expos in 2001 and relocating them in 2004: "I know if it wasn't for the success of the Expos in those early years there would not be major-league baseball <!-- "major-league baseball" is how it is worded in the original text.-->in Toronto. That wasn't an emotional or a baseball vote. It was a business decision."<ref>{{citation |last=Blair |first=Jeff |title=Nationals' visit reopens old wounds |work=The Globe and Mail |date=2005-05-20 |page=S3}}</ref> The Blue Jays' failure to stand with their fellow Canadian team offended many Expos fans.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=365}}</ref>

Ten years after the Expos relocated to Washington, a two-game exhibition series between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets was held at the Olympic Stadium to conclude the spring training schedule prior to the {{mlby|2014}} season. For the Blue Jays, the series was intended, in part, to increase the team's following in Quebec.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=381}}</ref> For others, the goal was to demonstrate that Montreal had an interest in returning to Major League Baseball.<ref name="2014JaysMetsG2">{{citation |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/baseball/mlb/game/1381412/recap/ |title=Blue Jays complete sweep of Mets in Montreal |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2014-03-29 |access-date=2015-07-27 |archive-date=October 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005122025/http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/baseball/mlb/game/1381412/recap/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Former Expos player [[Warren Cromartie]], who leads the Montreal Baseball Project, was among the organizers.<ref>{{citation |last=Beacon |first=Bill |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-win-as-baseball-returns-before-46121-in-montreal/article17728181/ |title=Blue Jays win as baseball returns before 46,121 in Montreal |work=The Globe and Mail |date=2014-03-28 |access-date=2015-07-27 |archive-date=March 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311080210/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-win-as-baseball-returns-before-46121-in-montreal/article17728181/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The series was a success: A combined 96,350 fans, frequently chanting "Lets go Expos!" and "We want baseball!", attended the two games.<ref name="2014JaysMetsG2" /> The Blue Jays returned for a two-game series in {{mlby|2015}}, against the Cincinnati Reds, which was attended by a combined total of 96,545 fans.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/baseball/mlb/game/1502122/recap/ |title=Blue Jays close out Montreal trip with blowout win over Reds |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2015-04-04 |access-date=2015-07-27 |archive-date=May 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509021214/http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/baseball/mlb/game/1502122/recap |url-status=live }}</ref> The success of the series' bolstered the Montreal Baseball Project's efforts: retiring commissioner Bud Selig was impressed by the fans in 2014 and said the city would be an "excellent candidate" for a new team.<ref>{{citation |last=Griffin |first=Richard |url=https://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/2014/07/15/montreals_mlb_hopes_get_surprising_boost_from_bud_selig_griffin.html |title=Montreal's MLB hopes get surprising boost from Bud Selig |work=Toronto Star |date=2014-07-15 |access-date=2015-07-27 |archive-date=March 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305200327/https://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/2014/07/15/montreals_mlb_hopes_get_surprising_boost_from_bud_selig_griffin.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His replacement, [[Rob Manfred]], echoed those comments in 2015.<ref>{{citation |last=Nicholson-Smith |first=Ben |url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/manfred-return-to-montreal-possible-for-mlb/ |title=Manfred: Return to Montreal 'possible' for MLB |publisher=Rogers Sportsnet |date=2015-01-26 |access-date=2015-07-27 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924105049/http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/manfred-return-to-montreal-possible-for-mlb/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Olympic Stadium again hosted two spring training games prior to the beginning of the 2016 season between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox, with a combined attendance of over 106,000 fans. Since 2014, the Blue Jays have made it an annual tradition to host two spring training games in Montreal before the start of each season.<ref>{{citation |last=Davidi |first=Shi |url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/manfred-settling-stadium-issues-tampa-oakland-priority/ |title=Manfred: Settling stadium issues in Tampa, Oakland a priority |work=Sportsnet |date=2016-04-03 |access-date=2016-04-03 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405071719/http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/manfred-settling-stadium-issues-tampa-oakland-priority/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, [[Vladimir Guerrero Jr.]] of the Blue Jays - whose father, [[Vladimir Guerrero]], starred for the Expos in the 1990s - hit a game-winning home run against the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] in an exhibition game, to the delight of the Montreal crowd.<ref>{{cite news|last=Farrell|first=Sean|title=Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits homer in Montreal|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-hits-homer-in-montreal/c-269868668|publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]|website=[[MLB.com]]|date=March 28, 2018|access-date=February 16, 2018|archive-date=March 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328080447/https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-hits-homer-in-montreal/c-269868668|url-status=live}}</ref>