Many profound diagnoses will be forthcoming about cause of death. But, really, the most intelligent remorse is to accept the team's departure as inevitable, and appreciate that the 37-year history of the franchise has given some wonderful moments to Canadian sports culture.

While many seize upon Toronto's World Series era as the cradle of Canada's pro baseball lore, purists know it ain't so. Years before Joe Carter hit his fabulous home run over the left field fence, back when the Blue Jays were a laughable expansion team, it was the Expos who captured hearts and minds and magazine covers across the land. The Expos introduced us to something wonderful and new, something called baseball fever.

By the late 1970s and early'80s, fans watched in agony and ecstasy as the Montreal franchise, then locally owned by the Bronfmans, matured into a true contender. The red-and-blue were no longer a joke; the bandwagon just got bigger and more exciting. Steve Rogers, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter became schoolboy idols, household names, stoking a love affair with a nation intrigued at seeing a Canadian-based team get ready to win it all. Surely it must be only a matter of time.

Besides a fixated national TV audience, the Expos routinely jammed 50,000 people into Olympic Stadium, dancing and singing Ob-la-di Ob-la-da at the top of their lungs. It was a passion never felt in Toronto, even in those trendy years of maximum ticket sales at SkyDome. Source.

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