Le Stade Olympique-Montréal, QC: 2 trips- 5.13.89, 6.29.94

Over the course of my teenage years, I shifted baseball allegiances a few more times than I'd like to admit. At times, I've considered myself a fan of one of 3 teams: The Mets (who I now bleed Blue and Orange for) and the 2 teams it's probably hardest for a Mets fan to root for- The Yankees and the Braves. I'll get to more of those origins as time goes on. But the important part is that I never for a moment considered myself a fan of Les Expos. So it's a bit bizarre that the first TWO baseball games I went to were in Montréal.

When a kid dreams of his first baseball game, it usually involves hot dogs, popcorn, sunny skies, your favorite team beating up on the hated Whats-their-faces, Dad catching you a foul ball, that kind of stuff. My first game wasn't anything like that.

The details are a bit fuzzy, but my mom and I have talked about this a lot, so I think it's mostly accurate. I went on a church youth group trip to Montréal on a long weekend in May of 1989. I was in 6th grade. I believe there were 8 of us kids on that trip: Seven 7th Grade girls and myself. Most adolescent boys would kill to be in that position. But I was shy, with braces, pimples, really bad glasses and a sweet cowlick. So while it was kinda cool, I wasn't. I was just sort of along for the ride. From what I remember, the trip also didn't have much of an itinerary. All I can really remember is that Montréal seemed to have an endless supply of underground malls. And 7th Grade girls love malls. So this 6th grade boy got dragged along from store to store most of the weekend, wishing his hair could look more like Bryan Adams or Alasdair from "You Can't Do That on Television."

Regardless, as reward for my patience, our chaperone decided on a whim to look at the Expos schedule, and discovered that there was a Saturday game with the Giants. I honestly don't remember if it was a day or night game- the joys of a retractable roof that almost never retracted. I don't have my ticket stub for the game either (it's the only one I didn't save). The only reason I remember it was Saturday is because I remember we spent the whole next morning at the mall before we went home. My memory couldn't tell you much about what happened in the game, although I have looked back on the box score a couple times (Will Clark went 3-4 with 2 triples for SF, Tim Raines had a HR). I got an Expos BBQ Apron as a giveaway. And I bought an Expos baseball- the only thing I purchased during all that shopping. But that's about all I remember about my first game.

My second trip to see Youppi and the 'Spos came the week after I finished 10th Grade. My friend Paul was going to Ottawa and Montréal with his parents, and I got to tag along with them. We had a nice time overall, but this time the highlight was getting to go to the Expos vs. Braves game.

Growing up in Upstate New York, in die-hard Yankee territory and in the days before teams had their own networks, a kid could usually watch the Yanks 2 or 3 times a week and the forgotten Mets on Sunday. But with Ted Turner owning a baseball team AND a few television networks, the Atlanta Braves could be seen in every home in the U.S. every single night. Plus they were a really excellent team, having gone from worst to first in 1991, and subsequently staying in first place in the NL West and then East for a decade and a half. So, misguided as it may seem now, I was a Braves fan. I dressed up as Tom Glavine one year for Halloween, I had a foam tomahawk, and I actually rooted for players such as Greg Maddux, Javy Lopez and David Justice. (I know, I know...I've been hearing about it for over a decade now).

In 1994, the Expos were also a good team. They had All-stars in Moises Alou and Marquis Grissom to name a couple, guys like Cliff Floyd, Larry Walker and Pedro Martinez (who unfortunately didn't pitch the game I saw). They were coming off consecutive winning seasons, and they were predicted to be a contender. The day this game was played, The Expos had a record of 46-29, while the Braves were 46-28. (Thanks, baseball-almanac.com). The Expos continued their winning ways (this game aside), finishing the season 34 games over .500 and 6 games up on the Braves.

The only trouble was that after 114 games, MLB shut down operations due to a player's strike in response to the owners' salary cap requests and other issues. The season ended abruptly and the World Series was called off. I, like many others, became very angry at baseball. I didn't watch a single game in the 1995 season. I didn't even watch much in '96 until the playoffs, which coincided with my freshman year of college (and nearly all my roommates and friends were Yankee fans). So when I started watching ball again, I was following those late-'90s Yankees, along with much of the country. But that's for another post.

My most vivid memory of my 2nd MLB game was John Smoltz hitting a Home Run en route to a 6-2 Braves win. I also recall that we had ridiculously good seats-maybe 15 rows back from 1st base-which we walked up and bought at the window. Even a first-place team couldn't get bodies into those seats up there. And I remember thinking that it was a shame I didn't live closer to a ballpark, because a baseball game was a pretty great way to spend an afternoon.

When I officially declared my intention to see all the stadiums in Major League Baseball, the Expos had already been in D.C. for 2 years. In retrospect, I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring a camera to either game. But despite the foggy memories and relative lack of proof, I'm happy that when my journey is complete, it will account for all 31 markets in North America where baseball has been played in my lifetime.