Former Expos back to boost baseball movement in Montreal

Baseball will enjoy a renaissance of sorts this weekend, when, for the second year in a row, fans will flock to the Big O to watch two exhibition games.

The Toronto Blue Jays will face the Cincinnati Reds Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 1pm, with more than 80,000 tickets sold – and counting.

It's not the Expos, but the movement to get Montreal's team back is certainly part of the conversation.

To help sell the idea, some Expos legends who are in town for the games are also giving the inotion a major boost.

Former MLBer Warren Cromartie has been leading the movement to bring baseball back, with the Montreal Baseball Project.

Also here to be honoured at a special 'Montreal Baseball Project' gala are players Rusty Staub, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Andres Galarraga, Vladimir Guerrero and sportscaster Jacques Doucet.

Earlier this week, Major League Baseball’s new commissioner Rob Manfred said that a new stadium has to be part of any plan to bring the Expos back.

Cromartie said he’s encouraged by Manfred’s words, but knows there's still much work to do.

“I like the hurdles, life is not easy,” he said. “If it was easy we'd be done already, so I don't mind competition, I don't mind distractions but I'm focused and right now I think the city of Montreal has to get focused also because, listen, we get our team back here we're going to be a destination again,” he said.

Andre Dawson also piped in, adding:“It's going to be an uphill battle, I think, but of course now we have direction and I'm sure the fans are starved. They want baseball back. I know they'll support it.”

Cromartie can't yet put a timeline on the project. One concern, he said, is that there won't be a team available when the time comes.