Why Write Leaving Town Sports?

Autumn was and still is my favourite time of the year, except when I was a kid which meant a return to school.

September was the kickoff to a new NFL season, with College Football thrown in as a starter on Saturdays. Major League Baseball was in the final stretch to determine winners of each league pennant. October is the month of the World Series, which prior to 1971, was exclusively played during the day time. I would rush home from school in hope of catching the last half of each game. October also as any Canadian can attest, is the start of a new hockey season.

Now in retirement, I like to regale to anyone under the age of 50 that I remember the 60’s when the Toronto Maple Leafs won four Stanley Cups! Of the four major professional sports, basketball was the one sport that I took the least number of interest in as a youth. There are only so much sports to take in while trying to still pass in school (this was the time before computers and the internet, even calculators were forbidden in some instances).

Growing up with sports

In the sixties, regional broadcasting rights meant the New York Yankees were televised for the majority of Saturday afternoon games in my hometown of Toronto. Saturday nights was the time to watch the Maple Leafs. Sunday afternoons were dedicated to watching the Cleveland Browns on CBS because they were the team tuned into my market. The Yankees and Browns became my home teams by default. My baseball allegiance switched to the Toronto Blue Jays when the city was awarded an expansion franchise in 1977.

There are different levels of support, varying from the quiet season ticket holder who has attended every home game for decades, to the crazed supporter who can only afford to witness a game a season, but dresses up in full costume (think of Darth Vader attending an NFL Raiders contest). The one common factor they share is the love of their team. Fans, derived from the word fanatics, is not based on personal wealth, but from a passion and a sense of pride. When your team wins the World Series, the Stanley Cup or any championship, it feels like you have won with them. Supporting a team is a very personal experience.

Attending my first baseball game is different than most, as I was an employee at the event. April 7, 1977 Major League Baseball came to Toronto with the Blue Jays playing the Chicago White Sox. Working in the concessions I recall pouring endless coffee and hot chocolate to try and warm up the nearly frozen fans. Under normal circumstances the umpires would have cancelled the game due to the amount of snow, with no arguments from the players. Other than the snow, the game is best remembered by journeyman Doug Ault’s two home runs and a Blue Jays victory.

For six years I worked at Exhibition Stadium (nicknamed the mistake by the lake) home of the Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League (CFL) Toronto Argonauts. During my tenure I worked my way into management for the catering company and had some dealings with the administration of both of the professional organizations. It was in this environment that I learned there was a lot more in operating a successful sports team than putting together a winning team and providing quality entertainment.

The Montreal Expos Relocation

In 1984 I was transferred to Ottawa to operate the foodservice at Lansdowne Park, home of the CFL Ottawa Rough Riders.  The Montreal Expos were now the closest MLB team ( a two hour drive) to my home. The first baseball game that I attended at Olympic Stadium was two years prior,  the 1982 All-Star game. Although a far cry from an ideal ballpark, the “Big O” was leaps and bounds ahead of Exhibition Stadium.

Patrons could exit the subway system and enter the stadium via a tunnel without having to go outside (an April blessing in Canada). Fans making their way to the turnstiles were greeted with the music from a German Oompah band. Another revelation at least from an Ontarian, was the ability to drink a beer at a ball game. Although the Blue Jays were owned by the Labatt’s Brewery, from their founding in 1977 to July 29, 1982, it was illegal to sell or drink beer at Exhibition Stadium. Americans visiting Toronto to cheer their team on in those days, were in disbelief from the draconian law. Attending a Blue Jays game was an enjoyable experience, but going to a game in Montreal took it to a different level.

The Blue Jays remained my favourite team, but I drew a close affiliation with the Expos and made visits to Olympic Stadium as an annual rite of summer.  The Expos fielded some quality squads that gave their fanbase hope, but failed to reach the World Series.  Expos rosters were filled with All-Stars that included Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, pitchers Steve Rogers and a young Randy Johnson. At the time of the 1994 players strike, the Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball, the World Series finally seemed within their grasp. Unable to reach a settlement, the remainder of the schedule and along with it the World Series was cancelled. To this day, Expos fans believe the strike was a primary cause for the eventual departure of their beloved team.

Expos owner Charles Bronfman’s decision to sell the team was the beginning of the end of their tenure in Montreal. As the case with a majority of clubs that are uprooted, it was a combination of factors that led to baseball leaving Quebec. It is the  proximity of Montreal to where I live that provided me with close exposure to the feeling of loss when the Expos . I had experienced first hand the anguish of a community when it lost its precious team.

The Ottawa Senators — too close to home

Closer to home, the NHL Ottawa Senators twice under two different ownerships were on the verge of bankruptcy. On both occasions the team was purchased and saved from folding or transitioning to another city. Decades before I was born, Ottawa had an NHL team called the Senators, that rendition won seven Stanley Cups, still the fourth most in the history of the NHL.

It was the relocation of the Expos combined with the possible move of the Senators that began my questioning as to why clubs leave a city. Franchises with long histories like the MLB Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics or the NFL Chicago Cardinals had established themselves for decades in their city of origin before departing. Movement of clubs were not isolated to just losing teams. The NBA Minneapolis Lakers were the most successful team during their infancy as a franchise in the National Basketball League. Al Davis owner of the Raiders claimed two Super Bowls in Oakland prior to shifting down the coast to Los Angeles.

Prior to 1946 any professional team movement was a result of playing in too small of a market or the proprietor faced the prospect of bankruptcy. Although the NFL Cleveland Rams were the first professional team to transition (they moved to Los Angeles) in 1946, it was the Braves departure from Boston than started a trend that continues on today. 

Is examining these movements reverent?

Consider the NFL Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans already having new stadiums under construction after their respective cities faced the possibility of losing their team. NFL proprietors in Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Washington, are in discussions or have reached preliminary agreements for facility upgrades or new stadiums.

In MLB, the Tampa Rays at minimum will have ballpark renovations due to the damages caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, is considered the worst stadium in baseball and a new area ballpark or team repositioning is not out of the question. Owners of the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals are pressing the most with their respective politicians for renovations or a possible new facility altogether. Dodgers’ stakeholders are pushing for upgrades to the ballpark at Chavez Ravine, one of the sports oldest settings.

The Golden State Warriors left Oakland in 2019 to transition into a brand new arena across the bay in San Francisco. Teams in New Orleans, Minnesota, Memphis, Orlando and Sacramento are rumoured as considering a change of venues.

Relocation today is as reverent as it was in the 1950’s when 5 Major League Baseball Teams shifted to new homes in a 6 year span.