Expos grateful for fans' send-off, despite losing last home game

MONTREAL (AP) — The last baseball crowd at Olympic Stadium gave the Montreal Expos a rousing send-off.

Brad Wilkerson and his teammates were grateful for the gesture.

”It's a tough night to see something like this happen and to spend four years of your life here,” said Wilkerson, his eyes reddened by tears.

The Montreal first baseman, who needed a few moments to compose himself, wasn't alone in his sorrow. Some fans stood with tears in their eyes, and others waved flags and signs during the final inning of the Expos' 9-1 loss to Florida in the last major league game in Montreal on Wednesday night.

Hours earlier, baseball announced that the 36-year-old team will be moved next season to Washington, D.C.

When it was over, Expos coach Claude Raymond, a Quebec native who was traded by Atlanta to Montreal during the team's inaugural season in 1969, stood alone before all the Expos poured onto the field to wave goodbye.

”Luckily Wilkerson came over to me and he hugged me,” Raymond said. ”I love him like my son. I couldn't say anything and I couldn't do anything. All of a sudden this is over — I can't believe it.”

It made for a touching scene, even a wrenching one. A season-high crowd of 31,395 — nearly four times Montreal's season average — stayed and cheered well beyond the final out, but the last-minute show of support came far too late to save a franchise doomed in recent years by dwindling attendance.

”Now it can't be undone,” Expos manager Frank Robinson said. ”That reaction makes it tougher to move on. It's like you want to stand still right now and not rush out of here, savor every moment you can be here.

”You know when you walk out of this ballpark tonight, it will be the last time taking off the uniform,” he said.

The last major league team to move was the Washington Senators, who became the Texas Rangers for the 1972 season. The Senators' final home game was forfeited on Sept. 30, 1971, when fans rushed onto the field with Washington one out away from beating the New York Yankees.

The Expos' end also almost came more abruptly than expected. There was a 10-minute delay in the third inning when players were pulled off the field after a fan threw a golf ball that landed near second base, and the crowd was warned the game could be forfeited if there were any more problems.

Three plastic bottles were tossed into left field in the sixth, one near Florida's Miguel Cabrera. But the teams remained on the field and no announcement was made. The game was held up for a few minutes as the bottles were retrieved by a ball boy.

With two outs in the ninth, a fan jumped onto the field near Florida's on-deck circle and was quickly escorted off by two security guards.

”I think there were some minor things that happened, which is understandable,” Wilkerson said. ”But I think, for the most part, give credit to the fans for being smart about things, coming out and watching a ballgame, and cheering and not doing anything too serious.”

The Marlins were unsympathetic visitors, at least on the field.

Former Expos pitcher Carl Pavano (18-8) set a Florida record for wins. Cabrera hit his 32nd homer, giving him 108 RBIs.

”I feel bad for the fans and the people that really worked hard to hold all of this together for so long,” Pavano said.

Juan Pierre and Alex Gonzalez each drove in two runs and Cabrera, Jeff Conine and Luis Castillo all scored twice.

The Marlins put it away early, scoring four times in the second inning and four more in the fifth for a 9-1 lead.

Sun-woo Kim (4-6) lasted only two-plus innings.

Flashbulbs popped as Terrmel Sledge popped up for the final out. Marlins coach Perry Hill took the ball from third baseman Mike Mordecai and tossed it across the field to Robinson.

Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, addressed the Expos in the clubhouse after the game.

”He was just letting us know that they hoped that they would get an owner as soon as possible. That's basically all he told us,” reliever Chad Cordero said.

Cordero became the last pitcher in Montreal history. His cap is going to the Hall of Fame.

Back in their heyday, the Expos used to draw big crowds. Montreal was a hotbed for baseball in the early 1980s, when the team featured stars such as Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.

Even in 1994, when the Expos had the best record in baseball before the players' strike wiped out the end of the season and the World Series, they were doing fine at the gate. But as big names such as Pedro Martinez, Moises Alou and Larry Walker left, interest faded.

Peter McStravick, an Ottawa native and lifelong Expos fan now living in Boston, held a sign with pictures of commissioner Bud Selig, former team president Claude Brochu and Florida owner Jeffrey Loria, who sold the franchise to the other 29 teams to purchase the Marlins in 2002.

”Expos Hall of Shame,” read the sign, ”Merci de Rien (Thanks for Nothing.)”

”It's a funeral,” said McStravick, who made a five-hour drive to attend the game.