The Toronto Blue Jays play Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 20. A win would send them to the World Series for the first time since 1993. Some call the Jays “Canada’s Team,” but how do fans of the Montreal Expos feel? Anthony Fraietta’s basement is filled with cherished memorabilia. He’s a true sports fan — but he has his limits. “As a diehard Montreal fan, Habs fan, Expos fan, it’s hard to root for a team from Toronto,” says Fraietta. Meanwhile, his father-in-law, Jeff Goodman, is headed to Game 7 in Toronto, paying $850 a ticket — plus airfare. “I’m torn because I’m not a Jays fan. I would like anybody but the Jays. But in this circumstance, being at the game for the excitement and the experience, I’d like to see the Jays win. And then when they play the Dodgers in the World Series, I could cheer for them to lose!” says Goodman. On Ste-Catherine Street West in downtown Montreal, at Sports Crescent, store owner Santana Enrique says Jays jerseys are selling well. “This is our national team now. We don’t have any baseball team, so they are becoming the national team. All of Canada is cheering for them.” Perry Giannis, organizer of Expos Fest, agrees with a caveat. “They are a national team by default! Baseball is so much more fun when you have a team to cheer for, and that team is the Toronto Blue Jays, so what the heck, why not?” Giannis’s extensive collection of memorabilia includes only one non-Expos item: current Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. “When it comes to baseball, it’s Junior. It’s Junior and the Jays!” he says. Though he’s still heartbroken Montreal doesn’t have a team, the Guerrero connection gives him a reason to cheer. “When Junior started playing for Toronto…it just gave me this connection to his dad,” says Giannis. The American League Championship Series will be decided Oct. 20 in Toronto, but by whom? Montrealers we spoke to have differing opinions. Giannis predicts, “I think they’re going to go host the Dodgers in the World Series!” Fraietta, meanwhile, says, “I’m really hoping the Mariners win. Yeah, I’d like to see the Mariners go to the World Series!”
