Editing Montreal Expos (section)

===Jarry Park years (1969–1976)===
[[File:Jarry night.jpg|thumb|right|A game at Jarry Park, 1969|alt=Fans watch a game from the third base line; the scoreboard is visible beyond the right field wall.]]
With [[Gene Mauch]] as their inaugural manager, the Expos made their debut on April 8, 1969: an 11–10 victory over the [[1969 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] at [[Shea Stadium]].<ref>{{citation |last=Blackman |first=Ted |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gYMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1498%2C1743045 |title=Expos take the opener |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1969-04-09 |access-date=2015-05-28 |page=1 |archive-date=October 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030221505/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gYMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1498%2C1743045 |url-status=live }}</ref> The team played its first home game—and the first Major League game outside the United States—on April 14; it was an 8–7 victory over the [[1969 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] before 29,184 fans at [[Jarry Park Stadium]].<ref>{{citation |last=Blackman |first=Ted |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19690415&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=Big league ball fever has Expos' fans in a quiver |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1969-04-14 |access-date=2015-05-28 |page=1 |archive-date=September 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918164759/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19690415&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> Three days later, on April 17, in just the team's ninth game played in their history up to that point, [[Bill Stoneman]] pitched the first [[no-hitter]] in Expos history with a 7–0 victory over the [[1969 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]].<ref name="Stoneman1969NoHitter">{{citation |last=Blackman |first=Ted |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iIMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1468%2C4151186 |title=Stoneman no-hits Philadelphia |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1969-04-18 |access-date=2015-05-28 |page=1 |archive-date=October 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030220651/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iIMuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1468%2C4151186 |url-status=live }}</ref> The excitement of the early-season heroics quickly gave way to the realities of being an expansion team as the Expos struggled for much of their inaugural season.<ref name="Keri25">{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=25}}</ref> Montreal tied their expansion cousins, the [[1969 San Diego Padres season|San Diego Padres]] for the worst record in the NL with a record of {{winpct|52|110|record=y}}.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1969.shtml |title=1969 National League team statistics and standings |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=2015-05-28 |archive-date=May 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506045945/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1969.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The team fared little better in the following seasons; the Expos went 73–89 in [[1970 Montreal Expos season|1970]] and 71–90 in [[1971 Montreal Expos season|1971]].<ref name="BRSeasonbySeason">{{citation |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/ |title=Washington Nationals team history & encyclopedia |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=2015-05-28 |archive-date=February 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222032439/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The team's best player, and first star, in its early seasons was [[Rusty Staub]]. Acquired from the [[1969 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]] in a trade prior to the Expos' inaugural season,<ref name="Keri25" /> he led the Expos with 30 home runs in 1970 and, owing to his red hair, was nicknamed ''Le Grand Orange''.<ref name="Humber123">{{harvnb|Humber|1995|p=123}}</ref> Staub was Montreal's lone representative at the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] in the team's first three seasons, and endeared himself to the local fans by learning French.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|pp=54–56}}</ref> Also popular was pitcher [[Claude Raymond (baseball)|Claude Raymond]], who completed his major league career with Montreal in [[1972 Montreal Expos season|1972]] and was the team's first French-Canadian star.<ref name="Humber123" /> Pitcher [[Carl Morton]], who posted an 18–11 record in 1970, was the first player in franchise history to be named [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|National League Rookie of the Year]].<ref>{{cite web|title=All-time winners: Rookie of the Year|url=http://m.mlb.com/awards/history-winners/?award_id=NLROY|publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]]|website=[[MLB.com]]|access-date=May 28, 2015|archive-date=September 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906140801/http://m.mlb.com/awards/history-winners/?award_id=NLROY|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bill Stoneman threw his second no-hitter, and the first pitched outside the United States, in a 7–0 win over the [[1972 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] in Montreal on October 2, 1972.<ref name="Stoneman1972NoHitter">{{citation |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qhMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=826%2C404438 |title=Stoneman repeats his no-hit gem |work=Montreal Gazette |date=1972-10-03 |access-date=2015-05-28 |page=27 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126180811/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qhMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=826,404438 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The team failed to post a winning season in its first ten years and finished fifth or sixth in the six-team NL East eight times.<ref name="BRSeasonbySeason" /> Attendance declined as the initial excitement of having a team wore off. It recovered briefly in [[1973 Montreal Expos season|1973]] as the Expos mounted an unsuccessful charge at the NL East pennant, before declining sharply in [[1974 Montreal Expos season|1974]] and beyond.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=61}}</ref> By [[1976 Montreal Expos season|1976]], attendance had dropped to just over 600,000 fans over the course of the season, less than half of what the Expos drew in their inaugural season.<ref name="Humber123" />

The on-field performance was not the only concern for the Expos. Jarry Park was only intended to serve as a temporary home until 1971 at the latest.<ref name=SABROlympicStadium/> Even allowing for this, it left much to be desired as a baseball venue. The grandstands were completely exposed to the elements, forcing the Expos to postpone a number of early-season games. Additionally, the sun set directly in the face of first basemen, forcing delays. Due to numerous delays and cost overruns with its intended replacement, [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]], the Expos were forced to stay in Jarry through 1976.<ref>Costello, Ryan. [http://sabr.org/bioproj/park/be7dd3d0 Jarry Park (Montreal)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112061857/http://sabr.org/bioproj/park/be7dd3d0 |date=January 12, 2016 }}. [[Society for American Baseball Research]], 2011.</ref>

The team's future was also placed in doubt following an angry speech by Bronfman in which he threatened to relocate his family and the [[Seagram]] company outside Quebec if the separatist [[Parti Québécois]] (PQ) won a majority government in the [[1976 Quebec general election|1976 Quebec election]].<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=99}}</ref> The Parti Québécois did win the election; however, Bronfman and the Expos remained in Quebec.<ref>{{harvnb|Keri|2014|p=100}}</ref>