User:Resolute/Montreal Expos

The Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League as an expansion franchise in 1977, and one year later, met the Expos for the first time in an exhibition contest, the first of an annual series that became known as the Pearson Cup. The Expos won that first game, 5–4, in front of 20,221 fans on June 29. Eight annual exhibitions (except for 1981 due to the strike) were played between 1978 and 1986 as each team won three games with two contests ending as ties. The teams did not meet again until 1997 with the advent of interleague play, and the first regular season meetings between the two. The games boosted attendance in both Montreal and Toronto, but the two teams failed to develop a serious rivalry.

John McHale, then president of the Expos, was a strong proponent of adding a second Major League team in Toronto. Eight years older, the Expos remained the more popular team across Canada until their early-1980s downturn coincided with the Blue Jays' improvement and first American League East pennant in 1985. At the same time, the Blue Jays lobbied MLB to designate southern Ontario – the most populous region of Canada – as territory exclusive to the Toronto for television purposes. Bronfman opposed the request as he feared that shutting the Expos out of the region would limit the team's fan base. As a part of the territorial changes, MLB allowed a total of 15 Expos games to be broadcast in the Jays' television market. The loss of the southern Ontario viewership diminished the Expos' ability to attract sponsors and corporate partners. Longtime Expos' play by play broadcaster Dave Van Horne later argued that the decision "really started a long, downward spiral" for the team.

Regardless of their disagreements over television rights, when the Blue Jays reached the 1992 World Series, the team recognized Bronfman's contributions in bringing Major League Baseball to the country by giving him the honour of throwing the ceremonial first pitch for the first World Series game played in Canada. However, and while Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey again acknowledged the Expos' role in this own team's existence, Godfrey nonetheless voted with the other teams to support contracting the Expos in 2001 and relocating them in 2004: "I know if it wasn't for the success of the Expos in those early years there would not be major-league baseball in Toronto. That wasn't an emotional or a baseball vote. It was a business decision." The Blue Jays' failure to stand with their fellow Canadian team offended many Expos fans.

A after the Expos relocated to Washington, a two-game exhibition series between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets was held at the Olympic Stadium to conclude the spring training schedule prior to the season. For the Blue Jays, the series was intended, in part, to increase the team's following in Quebec. For others, the goal was to demonstrate that Montreal had an interest in returning to Major League Baseball. Former Expos player Warren Cromartie, who leads the Montreal Baseball Project, was among the organizers. The series was a success: 96,350 fans, frequently chanting "Lets go Expos!" and "We want baseball!" attended the two games. The Blue Jays returned for another two-game series in, against the Cincinnati Reds, which was attended by 96,545 fans. The success of the series' bolstered the Montreal Baseball Project's efforts: retiring commissioner Bud Selig was impressed by the fans in 2014 and said the city would be an "excellent candidate" for a new team. His replacement, Rob Manfred, echoed those comments in 2015.