The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets are set to square off in two spring-training games at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, former home of the Expos until the franchise moved to Washington, D.C. at the start of the 2005 season.
According to baseball columnist Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, the official announcement of the two games is slated for Tuesday. It will be the first time that a Major League Baseball game is held at the park since the Expos departed Montreal following the 2004 season. The games are to be held at the tail end of the Blue Jays and Mets' exhibition schedules.
Davidi broke the news via Twitter Monday afternoon:
#BlueJays expected to announce tomorrow plans for two exhibition games next spring vs #Mets at Big O: https://t.co/Haaq6Yi9WB
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) September 9, 2013
Davidi notes that the Blue Jays are trying to gather more of a following throughout the entire country of Canada, and not just the Toronto area. The Blue Jays hope the strategy of bringing baseball back to Montreal--even if it's just for an exhibition contest--will lead to more countrywide interest in the sport of baseball and the Blue Jays franchise throughout Canada.
Davidi wrote: "The contests, to be held right at the end of the pre-season, will bring big-league baseball back to the Big O for the first time since the Expos left for Washington after the 2004 season. Hosting games in Montreal makes sense under the Blue Jays' strategy of building a country-wide fan-base."
Teams often close-out spring-training in a non-Florida or Arizona area, and the Blue Jays closed out their 2013 campaign in Philadelphia. The Mets last played their NL east rival Expos in Montreal on Sept. 23, 2004, according to ESPN.
The Expos finished fifth in the National League East in their final season in Montreal, posting a 67-95 record.
One of the more memorable moments to happen for the Mets at Olympic Stadium occured when former Mets outfiedler Darryl Strawberry took Randy St. Claire deep in a shot that hit the top of the stadium.
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