For the second straight year baseball fans jammed the Olympic Stadium for major league baseball, as a staggering total of almost 100,000 watched a pair of weekend exhibition games.

About 46,314 attended the exhibition game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds Friday evening and  50,231 attended the rematch at Saturday at 1 p.m., sizeable crowds that left many observers impressed.

Prior to Saturday's game some worried that a cancelation might be in the works due to a delicate roof not always coping well with snow. But Olympic Stadium rules allow events to take place in the stadium as long as three centimetres of snow or more do not fall during the event. So was game on, as skies cleared just before noon.

Countless fans sported Montreal Expos gear at the game Friday and many interviewed by CTV Montreal expressed enthusiasm with the prospect of the return of the much-loved Expos or another MLB team to fill the void left when MLB moved the team to Washington in 2004.

One star player in the game was actually one of the fans in his younger years.

"We could see a bunch of games at the Big O," said Montreal native and Old Montreal wintertime resident Russell Martin, who now catches for the Jays. "Traveling here by metro just brought back memories. Walking down the alleyway seeing where the old team store was and where we used to get the tickets."

Major League Baseball brass recently hinted that it would be receptive to any proposal to bring baseball back to Montreal but insisted that a new stadium would be required first.

Former Expo Orlando Cabrera, who along with Vladimir Guerrero and several other former Expos were in attendance for the special weekend, said that the a proper owner needs to step up.

"I think ownership is what we need, somebody who really loves baseball and really wants to win and keep things together and people are going to support it," said Cabrera.

A decreased attendance compared to last year would not have been seen in a bad light due to the Easter holiday season, MLB Senior VP John McHale said Saturday but the turnstiles churned at a near sellout pace, impressing brass all the more.

McHale hinted that MLB would schedule some regular season games in Montreal, although he didn’t specify which team might play.

The baseball union said that they would open to playing some games in Montreal. Former Expos pitcher Steve Rogers, who represents the baseball players association, praised the organizers for ironing out all wrinkles from last year.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred also noted that the impressive crowd proved that Montreal had passed the test for an eventual return to the majors.

Honourees support Montreal

Three players honoured before the game expressed support for the return of baseball to Montreal.

Former Blue Jays Roberto Alomar and longtime Manager Cito Gaston as well as Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who played three seasons for the Expos, all said that the big crowds were evidence that the city is ripe for a MLB team.

Gaston - who visited Montreal often while playing for the Padres, Braves and Pirates - said that a downtown stadium would help in the quest for a franchise. He noted that the 1994 players strike might have doomed the team as many fans were left disenchanted after the season was cancelled while the Expos were far ahead of all other clubs with a record of 74-40.

Josh Donaldson homered to lead a 15-hit Toronto attack as the Blue Jays downed the Cincinnati Reds 9-1 Saturday, giving the Jays a split of a two-game set with Cincinnati.

 

-With a file from The Canadian Press