New Expos documentary and Blue Jays’ success: Q&A with Expos Fest founder

A new documentary billed as a true love letter to Montreal is being released on Netflix Tuesday.

“Who Killed the Montreal Expos?” pays tribute to Canada’s first Major League Baseball team through rare archival footage and interviews with some of the greatest figures of the game.

The release of the documentary coincides with a swell of passion for baseball in Canada after the Toronto Blue Jays punched their ticket to the World Series.

CityNews sat down with Perry Giannias, the founder of Expos Fest and a participant in the documentary, to talk all things Expos, Jays, and Vladdy (father and son).

---

Why should Montrealers check out this documentary that’s getting released today on Netflix?

Well I think people should tune in because I think a lot of us forgot the reasons why the Expos left and the culprits behind it. It goes a little more in depth than most people know. So I think they’ll enjoy – well I guess maybe enjoy is not the operative word – but I think they’ll find it interesting how this perfect storm came about and everything went to heck. And yeah, I think they’re going to find it really interesting because like I said, there’s a lot of moving parts and the only spoiler alert I can tell you is like it’s a sad ending.

Did you get the answers you wanted? Did you learn anything from it?

A lot of people talk about (Jeffrey) Loria and (David) Samson, but it even goes way beyond that. It goes back to (Claude) Brochu and I think that’s where the problems really all started in the 1990s. It wasn’t even 1994, it was really 1995.

When we went to the premiere, we got to see Claude Brochu for the first time, which I found fascinating that he came because whoever sees it is going to know that he was a little bit maligned during the talk and I give him credit for showing up.

I think the documentary will also bring out the Expos pride in people. And you know what, it’s been what, 20 years and it still hasn’t gone away. We’re still a proud people and we can always dream that one day we’ll have baseball back in Montreal.

Do you think that would ever happen?

Until I hear the two expansion franchises aren’t named Montreal, I’ll hold out hope.

How do you remember the Expos? Can you put into words what the team meant or still means to you?

My God, it meant my childhood. It meant no matter how grungy the Olympic Stadium was, it was still great to go to the ball games and go with your friends and hop on the Metro, get off at Pie-IX, and it was affordable and it was fun. And we had the greatest players in my era. I grew up on Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Gary Carter. And, you know, God love the Blue Jays, but they only have one Hall of Famer in Cooperstown and we have three. So our history runs deep. We’ve produced so many awesome players that went into the Hall of Fame and they didn’t go with Expos jerseys. There’s Randy Johnson, there’s Pedro Martinez, Vlad went in as an Angel, but for all intents and purposes, he could have easily gone in as an Expo. So those guys, the ‘80s guys were just phenomenal. And I still to this day can’t figure out how we didn’t win. There was no wild card. If there was a wild card, I think the Expos would still be around.

Moving to the Blue Jays, they won last night, they’re going to the World Series. You’re an Expos fan, but can you talk us through what that was like for you to see them get that win?

You know what? I’m just so happy for (Vladimir Guerrero) Junior because from 2004 to 2019 when he became a Blue Jay, I didn’t watch baseball. I didn’t want to know anything about baseball. I was bitter and baseball is just so much more fun when you have a team to cheer for. And people think, ‘how silly is that? You think that it’s like watching Vlad, like watching his dad?’ No, but it’s just that connection. I want him to succeed because he’s Vlad’s son. So that’s what makes it exciting for me. And yeah, it’s hard to root for a team from Toronto. Yeah, blasphemy. But Junior makes it a lot easier. So, you know, with their huge win last night, like get on the bandwagon because it’s going to be fun. It’ll be rough with the Dodgers, but hey, it’s going to be a good time.

It wasn’t Vlad but it was George Springer who got the big hit last night. What was your reaction when you saw that?

Oh my God, we were with a bunch of friends. We were at a bar and we just freaked there because it really seemed hopeless because nothing was happening. And then they got a couple of runners on and then you’re just hoping for a base hit where guys on second and third and just to tie it up. And Springer, it’s so funny, the summer of George continues. And the three-run bomb and then the Jays’ much maligned bullpen was able to close it out. It was a storybook game and I was really happy to be able to watch it.

After the game, Vlad had some tears in his eyes. What was that like to see that he’s going to the World Series? And I don’t think his dad ever did.

Never. No, no. And Junior said that he wants to win a ring for his dad. … To see him that emotional was something. I’ve known the kid since he was 16 and you always saw him with a smile on his face. But to see him that emotional with tears in his eyes was a wow moment for sure.

What are some of the similarities and differences between father and son? Are they just two different players?

I think they’re two different players. Vlad, like dad had more power. Junior is a different kind of guy. He’s not a typical home run guy. You ain’t going to hit 40 home runs. He hit 51 and people expected him to do that every year because they played in a smaller ballpark, but Junior is a 30 home run, 100 RBI guy. He’ll hit for average, but he still got a ways to go to be like his dad because Senior was a beast. A lot of people ask me that question, who’s better or who’s whatever. But you know what, at this age, Senior was killing it. Absolutely killing it. But Junior is, he’s still young. He’s 26 years old. He’s got a heck of a lot of baseball ahead of him.

Do you see any parallels between the ’94 Expos and today’s Blue Jays?

I do because the ‘94 Expos, we had a lot of players that weren’t expected to do a heck of a lot. Like if you looked at that lineup, especially the pitching staff, there weren’t many big names. Even Pedro Martinez was just starting out with the Expos. People didn’t expect them to do much. And that’s the story of the Jays. You have Clement, you have Lukes, you have Barger. I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I think they said 15 of the guys on this roster were in triple A at the beginning of the season before they broke for camp. That’s insane. These guys just came out of nowhere. And I think that’s the only hope they have (in the World Series). This dangerous chemistry could maybe do some damage against the Dodgers.

What do the Jays have to do to beat this behemoth, the Dodgers

I think it comes down to pitching. You got Ohtani, you have Freeman, you have Betts. It just doesn’t end with these guys. You have to find a way to shut these guys down. And that’s going to be the challenge. And scratch out a few runs because that’s what the Jays do the best, they scratch out runs. They’ll hit a few bombs and stuff like that. But, they got to keep these games low scoring and try to try to beat them like 3-1, 2-1, 4-3, stuff like that. If you start getting into a slugfest with the Dodgers, you’re not going to win.

Do you have a prediction?

I just hope that they’re competitive. And whatever happens, I had the Jays not even making the playoffs this year. I had them as an 87, 88-win team, and, they won the division. And they won the pennant. So what the heck do I know.