Baseball in Montreal: City Hall exhibit explores game's local history from Champ de Mars to Gary Carter

The debate began in the mid-1990swhenattendance at Expos games started to plummet, and the team eventually packed up and headed to Washington.

Is Montreal a baseball city?

There are more than a few ways to delve into that question, but when it comes to the history of the sport in this city, an exhibit nowset up inthe Hall of Honour at Montreal City Hall makes a pretty good case for the affirmative.

"People really don't know the history of baseball [in Montreal] goes way back to the middle of the 19th century," explained Mario Robert, head archivistat the Archives de Montralanda big baseball fan who helped put the exhibit together.

The project was a long time coming, Robert said, but it was the city's baseball-loving mayor who gave the OK to get itoff the ground.

The exhibit is bilingual to make sure everyone, including English-speaking tourists, will be able to take it in.

"It's for everyone, not just people who like the sport," Robert said.

Champde Mars once a baseball field

Montralcoup sr, or Montreal is a hit,looks at the history of baseball in the city, starting in 1860.

And the location of the free, bilingual exhibit is fitting the first recorded game of baseball played in Montreal took place in 1860 at Champ de Mars, the green space just behind city hall.

That game wouldn't have looked the same as the baseball played today, because they were playing a precursor modelled after the Massachusetts game, Robert explained.

Modern baseball is an offshoot of the New York-style game.

The city's first team, the Montreal Baseball Club, was created in 1869.

The first iteration of the Montreal Royals, the franchise that would eventually make history as Jackie Robinson's final stepping stone toward breaking the MLB's colour barrier, was created in 1879.

• Jackie Robinson talks about playing baseball in Montreal

Big summer for Montreal baseball

There are about 120 objects in the exhibit, which includes sections dedicated to Robinson and women's baseball, the original Youppi! outfit, the helmet worn by Gary Carter in his last at-bat, andjerseys wornby Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez.

The items come from, among other places, the Archives de Montral, the Quebec sports hall of fame, the Panthon desSports du Qubec,and the private collection of Montrealer Perry Giannias.

Giannias isn't just any collector he claims to have the biggest Exposmemorabilia collection "in the universe."

Usually, the hundreds of items in his collection are displayed in his Laval home. This is the first time they will be displayed at an event that he didn't organize himself.

Some of his items are also on display at the Grvin Museum.

He said he's been asked before to lend his memorabiliato different events and declined. He agreed this year because of a confluence of events: it's a big year for the city, its 375thanniversary, and two Exposhave been singled out for honours, withthe election of Tim Raines to the Baseball Hall of Fameand induction of Vladimir Guerrero to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

"I just feel like this summer was really important for Montreal baseball," Gianniassaid.

Giannias has been to the exhibit andsaysit's a must-see.

Ever-optimistic about the eventual return of the Expos, he's hoping to be able to display the items in his collection on a more permanent basis maybe even at amuseum inside the revived team's stadium one day.

• Why the Montreal Exposcould make a comeback

Montralcoup srorMontreal is a hitis free. It'sopenMonday to Fridayfrom 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 to 4 p.m. at Montreal City Hall,275 Notre-DameSt E. The exhibitruns until Aug. 19.