Hard to believe it has been 10 years since the Montreal Expo

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Hard to believe it has been 10 years since the Montreal Expos were getting set to begin their final spring training at Space Coast Stadium at Viera, Florida before relocating in Washington as the Nationals in 2005. Air Max 97 Italia . There are actually eight - possibly nine - players still active who played on that final Montreal team in 2004. Five of those had ties to the Blue Jays, including lefty reliever Scott Downs, righty reliever Jon Rauch, Tomo Ohka whos trying a comeback this year with the Blue Jays as a knuckleballer, shortstop Alex Gonzalez (the first one) who was a contemporary of Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green and current Jays utility infielder Maicer Izturis. The others include reliever Luis Ayala, infielder Jamey Carroll and outfielder Endy Chavez, and Canadian-born pitcher Shawn Hill who pitched last season and may still be active. The Expos knew they were in trouble going into that final season. Major League Baseball was running the team, and rumours were running rampant they were either going to be relocated or contracted, folded if you will. The Expos played 22 of their games in Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, either to try and make more money for MLB, or expose the game on a more international level, or kill off the Expos even faster. Take your pick. In any event their attendance in 2004 was the worst in the Majors at 748,550. The Expos dropped their final five home games at Stad Olympique and went 2-7 on their final homestand ever. The Expos final home game ever was on September 29 against the Florida Marlins. Before the game they were presented with a banner by MLB, that proclaimed them as the best team in baseball in 1994. That of course was the year of the players strike that stretched into early 2005. The Expos had the best record in the Majors when play was halted in August of 1994 and most pundits felt they would have won the World Series that year. That banner was raised in centre field during that final game in Montreal. But mere hours later, word leaked out that the Expos would be relocating to Washington for the next season as the Nationals. To complete that washout of a day, Florida won the final game played in Montreal, 9-1. Korean-born pitcher Sun-Woo Kim, who finished with an appropriate career record of 13-13 took the loss giving up five runs on five hits in just two innings. Veteran catcher Todd Zeile hit the final home run at Olympic Stadium, a three-run shot off Claudio Vargas in the 6th inning. But it wasnt quite over from the Expos as they had to go to Shea Stadium in New York to play out the season in the very park where they played their first-ever game in 1969. After dropping the first game, Montreal won its final game under the Expos banner on Saturday, October 2. It had plenty of drama too. Brad Wilkerson, who spent some time with the Blue Jays in 2008, slammed a three-run tie-breaking homer in the top of the 9th off Braden Looper to propel Montreal to a 6-3 victory. On the Sunday, they didnt fare as well. The Mets crushed them 8-1. Jamey Carroll scored the final run in Expos history and Endy Chavez made the final out. Five players who had ties to the Blue Jays were involved in that game: Jose Reyes, Wilkerson, Tony Bautista, Jon Rauch and Maicer Izturis. Not only that, Randy St. Claire, Montreals pitching coach on that day, is now the Blue Jays Triple-A pitching coach at Buffalo. Also of note, the winning pitcher that day for the Mets was Tom Glavine, winding down his Hall of Fame career, who climbed to 11-14 with the victory. Montreal finished that final season at 67-95. A couple of more notes on that final Expos season. They were involved in one of the biggest trades of the year at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. It was a nine-player, four-team swap that involved Montreal, Boston, the Cubs and Minnesota. The Expos sent shortstop Orlando Cabrera to Boston. The Red Sox sent one of their all-time greats, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Cubs as part of the package and Alex Gonzalez was one of the three players that went from the Cubs to Montreal. Strangely enough, Gonzalez, the ex-Jay, was the final Expos player ever dealt. He was sent to San Diego as part of a conditional deal on September 16. The Expos left us with some great memories, and there are many who believe a team will return to Montreal, including a group fronted by former Expos left fielder Warren Cromartie. For that to happen though, a new downtown stadium has to be built, and that is nowhere near happening yet. For now Montreal fans will have to be content with two pre-season games at the Olympic Stadium in late March between the Blue Jays and the New York Mets. Midsummer Plans This years All-Star game is slated for Target Field in Minnesota. In 2015, the Midsummer Classic will be in Cincinnati. Commissioner Bud Selig says Washington is a front-runner for 2017. However 2016 is open and if the rotation is followed would go to an American League team. That would be the perfect fit for the Blue Jays, on the 25th anniversary of the first All-Star Classic they hosted in 1991. Heres hoping. Air Max 97 Scontate Uomo . -- The Minnesota Vikings have signed Jerome Simpson, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver recently convicted on a felony drug charge. Air Max 97 Prezzi Bassi . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. http://www.airmax97italia.it/ . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest.DENVER - On a rough shooting night for both teams, one solid offensive stretch late in the game helped the Denver Nuggets come out on top.Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, including a 3-pointer to spark the critical fourth-quarter run, and the Nuggets hung on to beat the Indiana Pacers 76-73 on Saturday night.Thats what we needed, Gallinari said. We knew that if we kept our defence up, once our offence clicked for two or three possessions, well be fine.Ty Lawson added 15 points and 10 assists for the Nuggets, who won games on successive nights after losing six of seven coming into the back-to-back set.I think we were happy with our defensive effort, said the Nuggets Arron Afflalo. Obviously, offensively, some guys struggled, including myself. Just had to fight through it, maintain the defensive effort, which was solid. Fortunately, we hit some shots down the stretch.David West had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pacers, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Indiana also dropped its sixth straight game in Denver.Both teams were held to season lows in scoring with Indiana hitting just 30.7 per cent of its shots from the field and Denver making 36.6 per cent.We competed at a high level, got a lot of great looks, Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. I wasnt unhappy with the quality of shots we got. Tough shooting night. I think our whole team was ineffective.With 27.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter, C.J. Miles, who finished with 16 points, made a 3-pointer to even the score at 55-55 heading into the fourth quarter.Indiana went in front 60-55 on another basket by Miles, but Denver then went on its best offensive stretch of the night. Gallinari hit a 3-pointer, the fiirst by Denver on the night after nine misses, to start a 10-0 run that carried the Nuggets to a 65-60 lead with 7:04 remaining. Air Max 97 Scontate. Indiana twice cut the deficit to one in the waning minutes, the last on a desperation 3-pointer by Donald Sloan that pulled the Pacers 74-73 with 1.2 seconds left.The Pacers fouled Afflalo on the inbounds with .6 seconds left and Afflalo made both free throws. Time ran out on the inbounds without Indiana getting a shot off.Both teams struggled to convert shots in the first half. Indiana matched its season low in taking a 33-32 halftime lead. Denver had a season first-half low in points. Both squads made only about one third of their shots in the first two quarters.___TIP INSPacers: C.J. Watson missed the game because of an upper respiratory illness. ... George Hill, who has yet to play this season because of a left knee injury, is nearing a return. George Hill is close, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said before the game. Hes been practicing but hes not going to play tonight or tomorrow. Well see where hes at when we get back home. ... The Pacers also had 33 first half points at Portland on Dec. 4.Nuggets: Darrell Arthur missed a second straight game because of a lower left leg strain. ... Nuggets coach Brian Shaw was the associate head coach with the Pacers under Vogel before being hired by Denver before last season. ... The previous first-half scoring low was 33 points at Oklahoma City on Nov. 1.SUMMING IT UPWe had stuff rattle in and out, halfway down. It wasnt good enough. They made some key shots and we werent able to respond. -- David WestUP NEXTNuggets: at Charlotte on Monday night.Pacers: at Minnesota on Sunday night. ' ' '