Remembering the Montreal Expos' first game

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On April 8, 1969, the Montreal Expos took on the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in the first official Major League Baseball game by a team based in Canada.

Expos nostalgia remains strong across the country, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that it's now been 20 years since the team moved to Washington. Every once in a while, overly optimistic fans will get excited about the prospect of an Expos revival, but the possibility seems to be getting more and more remote.

A few years ago, the Tampa Bay Rays pursued a quixotic plan to split their home games between Florida and Montreal before MLB, predictably, quashed the idea in 2022. Recently, commissioner Rob Manfred said he wants to add two expansion teams before stepping down in five years. But the Canadian city with the best chance to land one is reportedly Vancouver, not Montreal.

Barring an improbable series of events, it seems we'll have to make do with our Expos memories. So here's a look back at that inaugural game, which had a lot of neat storylines.

It ended in dramatic fashion.

Montreal led 11-6 with two out in the ninth that day at Shea before Don Shaw gave up an RBI single followed by a three-run homer by Duffy Dyer. Carroll Sembera came out of the bullpen and promptly gave up a single and a walk to put the tying run on second. But he settled down to strike out Rod Gaspar to end the game and give the Expos an 11-10 win in their first-ever game.

Montreal reliever Dan McGinn had a crazy day.

He was pretty bad on the mound, giving up three runs on three hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. But he also hit