July 20, 2002 [LINK]

[ Expos are struggling again ]

As of last weekend the Montreal Expos were definitely alive and kickin', but now they're sliding again. They split the four-game series with Atlanta (which has the best overall record in the Majors right now) last weekend, and probably should have won three of four. The team is "owned" by Major League Baseball under a weird temporary arrangement this year, in the wake of a failed attempt at contraction. Even though the management is under strict constraints in terms of player salaries, they managed to acquire two star players in the last two weeks: pitcher Bartolo Colon from Cleveland and outfielder Floyd from Florida. All of a sudden, the city of Montreal is experiencing a brief surge of baseball fever, evidenced by attendance climbing over 20,000 for the Saturday and Sunday games, about three times more than normal in the usually dead-silent Olympic Stadium. Can this last? This might call into question the hopes of Washingtonians to grab the Expos franchise for next season, which will depend on the outcome of the labor negotiations in any case. In honor of the Expos, I've put up an "under construction" page for Olympic Stadium featuring a photo I took there in 1987, just after the weird cable-suspended roof was finally completed.