Bring the Expos to town

Bring the Expos to town

I read recently online somewhere (sorry to whomever is the originator of the idea. I would credit you if I remembered.) of a proposal to move the Montreal Expos to Boston. The Expos are the unhappy stepchild of Major League Baseball, in the unenviable position of being run by MLB because it has no capable owner. Part of the problem, the experts say, is that they are in baseball unfriendly Montreal and this year MLB has experimented with having half of the Expos home games in Puerto Rico. I gather it has played havoc with both the Expos and the visiting teams. Puerto Rico is not exactly around the corner, especially if you’re the San Francisco Giants.

Anyway, I think moving the Expos to Boston would make a lot of sense. For one thing, the stadium would not have to be in the city itself, but perhaps a suburb, perhaps west or north of the city, maybe right off a major highway for easy access. They likely wouldn’t draw as many fans as the Red Sox, but it could be a lower cost alternative, providing some overflow capacity for baseball fans. Fenway Park is wonderful, but even with the modest addition of seats in recent years, its capacity is not going to increase radically.

And it would allow New England fans to see National League teams play in person at times other than during the interminable interleague play. So all those Dodger or Diamondback or Cub fans could see their teams on the diamond without having to fly to *grr* New York or Montreal.

Finally, there is an old National League tradition in Boston, with the dearly departed (for Atlanta) Boston Braves having played at what is now Boston University’s Nickerson Field. Back then it was called Braves Field and there are still Boston Braves fans out there.

If they move the Expos here, they will come (to use a cliche that actually applies directly here.)

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