Next to the Mets, my favorite team is (was) the Montreal Expos.
My maternal side comes from Montreal and I consider the time spent there on vacations and the five summers working at a sleep-away camp in the Laurentians among the happiest of my life.
My Aunt Lily lived in Outremont, a neighborhood a long walk away from Jarry Park (or Parc Jarry, if you prefer). I attended several games and always sat on the first base side, which could be hazardous to the player at that position when the sun was setting over the left field fence. Then, in 2003, when the team — having long since moved into the cavernous Olympic Stadium — was in danger of contraction by Major League Baseball, I spent the last home stand of the season in the Expos’ press box gathering material for a manuscript that never panned out because they hung around for one more year before relocating to Washington, DC, in 2005.
The main reason for the move was lack of fan interest. But that’s only true when you are counting fannies in the seats. Expos fans were (are) among the most loyal anywhere. ExposFest is still held every year and many are hoping that an expansion franchise might one day play in the city again.
Danny Gallagher is among that group. He has to be the foremost authority on the Expos, having published several books about the team, including:
- You Don’t Forget Homers Like That: Memories of Strawberry, Cosby, and the Expos (1997)
- Remembering the Montreal Expos with Bill Young (2005)
- Ecstasy to Agony: The 1994 Montreal Expos with Bill Young (2014)
- Blue Monday: The Expos, the Dodgers, and the Home Run That Changed Everything (2018)
- Always Remembered: New Revelations and Old Tales about Those Fabulous Expos (2020)
- Never Forgotten: Tales about Ron LeFlore, Ron Hunt and Other Expos Yarns from 1969-2004 (2021)
- Bases Loaded: Inside stories about Eli, Cro, Cy, Terminator and the Expos (2022)
- Around The Horn: Cash, Boots, Duq, Gully and the Expos (2023)
- Explosion: Genesis to relocation, 1994 saga, contraction, the dying days, Moises, Lenny, Schneids and the Expos (2024)
As you can see, he’s been a busy boy, especially over the last five years.
I figured it was high time to connect with Gallagher to discuss our mutual love.
is available on Amazon.com,
