Stade Olympique

Stade Olympique / Olympic Stadium

Stade Olympique, or Olympic Stadium, was the first modern stadium designed with a retractable roof. The concept was similar to an umbrella being open and closed over the playing field. However, the system was never quite able to work, hence the Expose usually played indoors.

The tower which houses the riggings and support cables to retract the dome is the largest inclined structure ever built.

This panoramic image actually makes the scoreboard look smaller that it appears in person. Note that the dark blue areas of the upper deck are actually seats that are tarped over.

The Image below shows some interesting aspects of Stade Olympique. The foul poles are actually suspended from the roof, and adorned with a Canadian Maple Leaf emblem. Could the day be far off when advertisers look to emblazon their logo in a similar manner at all ballparks. Another interesting aspect is that either home plate was repositioned, or the original dotted line marker on the underside of the roof was mispainted.

Here is a close up view of the auxiliary scoreboard. Note the dual annotations for runs, hits, errors, etc.

By our count, there are 25 Expos, 2 Diamondbacks, a security guard, and a ball boy on the field. 4 security guards and less than 100 fans in stands the behind third base.

An ebaseballparks.com staffer in front of the Expos Hall of Fame under the stands at Olympic Stadium. You can count 20 plaques on the wall, not bad for 35 years (this image was taken in 2003).

Outside Olympic Stadium is a statue of Jackie Robinson who played minor league ball in the Dodgers farm system in Montreal, before being called up to Brooklyn in 1947.

Not 30 minutes after the last home game of the 2003 season, and all the banners have been stripped off of the outfield wall.

Au revoir et adieu, Stade Olympique; 29 Sep 2004

Fans were allowed onto the field prior to the start of the final Expos home game at Stade Olympique. It had been officially announced earlier in the day before that the franchise would be moving to Washington D.C. for the 2005 season.

In a pre-game ceremony honoring the 1994 Expos team, as the best in baseball (in the year without a World Series), a banner was placed onto the left field wall. It was interesting that the honor would last for just the final game, rather than having done so earlier in the season. Also note the the Brewers logo on the left field wall, to immediate right of the banner, was out of use for at least 5 seasons.

The new field turf seems to have been laid out in a rectangular fashion, much as one would place sheet rock on a wall. The effect is actually more noticeable than the following image illustrates. It is; however; more esthetically pleasing than the solid green carpet that preceded it (see the earlier images above).

The final pitch has been delivered by Rudy Seanez to Terrmel Sledge, who popped up the pitch.

3rd baseman Mike Mordecai cradles the baseball, having just recorded the final out at Stade Olympique.

Expos players, coaches, and mascot come onto the field, for a post game ceremony to say a final thanks and adieu to the fans in English (Joey Eischen), French (coach Claude Raymond) and Spanish (Livan Hernandez).

The not so happy final line score.

The Single Season and All Time Batting and Pitching Leaders of Stade Olympique.

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