The Expos Fest tour made a nostalgic visit to Quebec City on Saturday, where the Montreal Expos alumni faced off against the Capitals alumni at Stade Canac. Many of them had stars in their eyes for this meeting.
• Read also: Denis Boucher welcomes former Expos to his stadium
The Caps players, for the most part, got interested in baseball by watching the Expos. They found the space of a day their former teammates, with the chance to face their idols. Let’s say we’ve seen worse day!
“It’s a ritual that we have every year, in collaboration with the Capitals. We bring them back for a reunion and it’s always for good causes, ”explained the head of the alumni, Stéphane Dionne, on the phone.
“With the guys, we talk on Messenger and they were excited like children. They are really kids returning to the fold, ”he added, the pleasure showing in his voice.
Magical
Everyone was treated to a good show despite the grueling heat. About a thousand fans came to see this game before the one between the Capitals and the Aigles de Trois-Rivières, in the Frontier League.
It was close, with the former Expos winning 9-8. Vance Law started the game on the mound replacing the legendary Claude Raymond, and it was the inimitable Bill “Spaceman” Lee who made the save. In this softball match, the septuagenarian threw rapids and curves over the shoulder to close the books.
“It was magical,” admitted Dionne.
“Win or lose, we all won in this. At least we had a game. It was like a gang of kids in the alley, like when we were young”, illustrated with nostalgia the 52-year-old man.
For the cause
The Expos Fest allows you to reconnect with the pleasure of playing baseball, but it is also a great initiative to raise funds. The Kat D DIPG Foundation, which fights childhood brain cancer, is approaching $1 million in donations.
That says a lot for everyone involved in the tour.
“We are all parents of children and the children are the apple of our eyes”, recognized Stéphane Dionne.
“We always do it for the cause, and when the cause is the children, it’s always [important], said former Expos pitcher Denis Boucher. I had four and my daughter works at the children’s hospital. It’s always a “no brainer” to participate in this and at the same time, we have fun doing what we love, playing baseball and seeing our former teammates again.