Will Montrealers cheer: ‘Go, Jays, go!’?
Sportsnet duo breaks down why they should
It was a bizarre scene at Olympic Stadium last weekend: Montreal sports fans actually cheering for a Toronto team.
On Friday night, most of the 46,121 fans were on their feet roaring as Ricardo Nanita hit a ninth-inning single to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 win over the New York Mets in the first of two preseason games at the Big O. On Saturday afternoon, 50,229 cheered as the Blue Jays beat the Mets 2-0. Sacré bleu! Go, Leafs, go? ... Of course not.
It was a special weekend as Major League Baseball returned to Montreal for the first time since the Expos left town for Washington following the 2004 season. But the Blue Jays might have grown their fan base a bit by agreeing to play the preseason games in Montreal.
If you’re a Montreal baseball fan who has decided to cheer for the Blue Jays after last weekend (you don’t have to tell anyone), what can you expect this season?
“The great thing about baseball, no matter what team you’re affiliated with, hope springs eternal,” Gregg Zaun, a former Blue Jays catcher who is now a Sportsnet TV studio analyst for the team’s games, said last week while sitting in the lobby of the Château Champlain hotel.
“We have basically the same roster as last year,” Zaun added. “I was excited about the roster last year, so was (broadcast partner Jamie Campbell) … the whole country was excited about it. And you know what, they’re very talented. We found out last year that there were a lot of guys on the roster who don’t know how to play to win. They know how to play to make money, but they don’t know how to play to win.
“The one thing that everybody in Canada should be excited about is the fact there are a few changes here and there … subtle changes … and they may pay massive dividends, they may end up being nothing. But the infinitesimal chance that they might end up being good: new hitting coach (Kevin Seitzer), new year, new attitude. The Blue Jays might find their Duck Dynasty. They might find something to rally around. You never know. And that’s the great thing about baseball. It could be the dumbest thing, it could be the biggest thing, you just never know what guys are going to gravitate toward. But I can tell you right now, if you get a group of guys like the Blue Jays, who are as talented as they are, if you get them all rowing the boat in the same direction, special things can happen.
“The bottom line is the Jays need two breakouts and a comeback in order to contend.”
Sitting beside Zaun in the hotel lobby, Campbell added that the Jays have one of the best bullpens in baseball and they can score runs.
“It comes down to the rotation,” he said. “Pitching and defence.”
For Campbell, being Sportsnet’s TV host for all 162 Jays games is a dream job. He grew up in Oakville, Ont., and remembers many days as a teenager taking a commuter train to downtown Toronto after school and hanging out in a hotel lobby looking for major-league players. He’d introduce himself, ask for autographs and even land tickets to some games. And before the Blue Jays landed in Toronto in 1977, he was a young Expos fan.
“I have very distinct memories of my father, growing up in the Toronto area, going on business trips to Montreal and always coming back with something related to the Expos,” said Campbell, adding that he still sees Montreal as a baseball city.
Zaun, a California native, remembers the culture shock he felt the first time he came to Quebec as an 18-year-old to play at the world junior championship in Trois-Rivières. And he’ll never forget the road trips to Montreal during his 16-year major-league career, which included a World Series championship with the Florida Marlins in 1997.
“We never slept in this town,” he said. “When guys came to Montreal, we already knew (the city) was the 26th man. Everybody would rest up to come to Montreal. It was like, ‘Save your energy for Montreal.’
“This city has always held a special place in my heart and the hearts of other major-league players. There’s just so much fun to be had here. Great shopping, great restaurants, great culture, great nightlife. This is a great place.”
Zaun added that while there were major-leaguers who didn’t want to play with the Expos, they all wanted to come to Montreal on road trips.
“God, did we have a great time every time we came to this city,” he said.
Zaun also remembers the powerhouse farm system the Expos once had.
“There were some times when I played (in the minors) in 1993 against the Harrisburg Senators, which was the Double-A team for the Montreal Expos, there were like five first-round picks on that team,” he said.
“We always looked at the Expos as ridiculously talented and talent rich as an organization.”
Zaun almost played for the Expos during their final season in Montreal. He thought he had the job as backup catcher, but was cut on the final day of spring training in 2004 after the Expos acquired Einar Diaz from the Texas Rangers. Zaun went to Toronto instead and spent six seasons with the Blue Jays. He started his broadcasting career with Sportsnet during the 2006 postseason, while still an active player. His last major-league season was 2010 with the Milwaukee Brewers and he is now in his fourth season as a full-time broadcaster.
The Blue Jays haven’t been very good the last three years, never finishing above .500. And Zaun has been criticized by Jays players and management — including general manager Alex Anthopoulos, a Montreal native — for being overly critical.
Zaun says the 162-game major-league grind is tougher for him as a broadcaster than it was as a player. Especially when the team is losing.
“Broadcasting isn’t always fun,” he said. “I am, beyond popular belief, an eternal optimist. I believe the Jays can be great, I want the Jays to be great, I’m a huge fan. But everybody says I’m Negative Nancy, I’m like Mr. Debbie Downer because I’m always talking the Jays down. The only reason why I talk the Jays down is because I’m being honest. … I have to do my job. I want the Jays to be fantastic, (Campbell) wants the Jays to be fantastic. That would make for the eternal summer for us. The fact that he and I get paid to talk about a good baseball team would be the greatest job in the history of mankind.”
The question now is will Montrealers still be cheering for them?