Another voice chimed in to support the return of Major League Baseball to Montreal.

For the past six years Steve Rogers, the special advisor for player services for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, has been involved in the preseason exhibition series played at the Olympic Stadium. While he has usually displayed cautious enthusiasm when asked about the return of MLB to the city, on Tuesday he spoke with optimism about the future.

“Certainly, the first year was new, the games were on the weekend and it was packed,” he said of the 2014 series of games played between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets. “To see weekday games like we have tonight, played in front of 25,000 people and it’s a preseason game, not a regular season game, you can translate the interest of Montrealers and their ability to support a club. This is what has happened here in the last six years. It’s remarkable.

“It’s not as if (the possible Montreal ownership group) had to make people believe in an interest in baseball. It’s been proven with numbers. The question will be, can it be done for 81 games. I think the last six years have proven that yes, the interest is there.”

Rogers would know about the enthusiasm for baseball in Montreal. He spent 13 years as a pitcher for the Expos, racking up a club record 158 career wins.

“This city has what it takes. Everything that’s been done over the years has been done so that this stadium meets the standards. Certainly, we would have to make other changes if a franchise were to play a few seasons here while waiting for a new stadium, but that will be settled later. I believe, however, that later will be soon. I honestly believe they could play here no matter how much time they need to build their new stadium.”

Rogers participated in pre-game ceremonies on Tuesday, along with other former Expos Mike Fitzgerald, Steve Renko, Coco Laboy, Derek Aucoin, Denis Boucher, Javier Vasquez and former manager Felipe Alou.

“It’s always a pleasure to come back here, to see my teammates that I haven’t seen in years,” said Rogers.