Shi Davidi of Sportsnet Canada is reporting that the Mets and Blue Jays will meet up in Montreal at the end of the 2014 spring training schedule. New York and Toronto will face off in two exhibition games at resplendent Olympic Stadium, marking the first time Major League Baseball of any kind will be played in Montreal since the Expos relocated to DC after the 2004 season.
As you may recall, Bud Selig couldn't wait for MLB to abandon Montreal, so much so that he allowed Jeff Loria to run the Expos into the ground and awarded him the Marlins for his service. So why are these games happening? Basically, it's because the Blue Jays want to expand their reach and lay claim to the title of Canada's Team. Getting a foothold in Montreal—the second-largest city in the country and still home to a baseball fan or two—would surely help accomplish that goal. The Blue Jays have had their sights on the city for a while; Davidi reminds us that Toronto team president Paul Beeston publicly expressed interest in seeing the Blue Jays play in Montreal two years ago.
The Mets made many a trip to Montreal over the years, as they played in the NL East for the entirety of the Expos' existence. Shea Stadium was the site of both the first game the Expos ever played (an opening day 11-10 victory for Montreal on April 8. 1969) and the last (an 8-1 loss to the Mets on October 3, 2004).