Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, reacts after throwing a ceremonial pitch during a pre-game ceremony as the Toronto Blue Jays face the Cincinnati Reds in a MLB exhibition game on April 3, 2015 in Montreal.

Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, reacts after throwing a ceremonial pitch during a pre-game ceremony as the Toronto Blue Jays face the Cincinnati Reds in a MLB exhibition game on April 3, 2015 in Montreal.
Photo Credit: CP / Paul Chiasson

Denis Coderre getting baseball… back to Montreal

Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal, is on a mission to bring baseball back to the city.  The Montreal Expo‘s were a fixture in the city from 1969 until 2004, when they were sold to Washington, D. C.

But the love of baseball has never really abated, and rival city, Toronto, with its Blue Jay team, the only major league baseball team in Canada, just isn’t enough for Montrealers.

Denis Coderre took the first step yesterday in New York City in a private meeting with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

“The message that I tried to send is that the Montreal baseball games that we had in the last two years [were] not just about nostalgia. It was about DNA,” Coderre told reporters after his meeting with Manfred.

In mid-April, more than 46,000 fans attended a pre-season game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cincinnati Reds. More than 50,000 fans showed up to watch the teams play again the next day.

“I started with what I wanted to tell him: ‘Listen, Montreal is a great place to be. You’d see more and more people who love the sport,” Coderre said.

“There is a buzz right now, but it’s more than just a trend. People are pulling out their caps from the Expos, and they are wearing the logo.”

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