IBL's Toronto Maple Leafs' fan forum to feature three Expos' legends
An upcoming Intercounty Baseball League Toronto Maple Leafs’ fundraising dinner will feature former Montreal Expos Andre Dawson (second from left), Steve Rogers (third from left) and Tim Raines (second from right). Expos legends Gary Carter (first on left) and Al Oliver (last on right) are also featured in this photo.
April 29, 2019
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
All three are Expos legends and members of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont.
Two of them, Tim Raines and his close friend Andre Dawson, are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Raines, Dawson and Steve Rogers are getting together May 4 as guests at the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team's fan forum and reception at the Marriott Hotel on Dixon Road near Pearson Airport.
It's a rare treat for Toronto-area fans to see Expos icons up close, where they can get autographs and engage in a Q & A while sitting down to a meal, all of which takes place between 7-10. Tickets are $85 each and can be purchased by calling 416-631-2600.
Off and on over the years, all three of these Expos have attended this function and it never gets old for any of them. The only person missing is the late Gary Carter, the beloved Expos catching star. Also on hand will be Canadian icon Fergie Jenkins and fellow Cooperstown legend Goose Gossage.
Raines, Dawson and Rogers also may appear on the field at Christie Pits May 5 prior to the Leafs' home opener in the Intercounty Major Baseball League.
Rogers is also scheduled to sign for fans at the annual Sport Card Expo event scheduled for the International Centre on Airport Road in west-end Toronto next weekend. He will sign May 3 from 5:30-7. Initially, Dawson and Raines had also been scheduled to be at the card show but that scenario has been squashed due to intervention by representatives of Expos superstar Vlad Guerrero Sr. and Blue Jays great Roberto Alomar.
What transpired also prompted Jenkins and Gossage to bow out of the Sport Card Expo event. Both Guerrero and Alomar are signing from 2-3 on May 4.
Carl Kovacs, who works tirelessly on behalf of Jenkins, told me that he tried lining up a number of former players, including Expos reliever Lee Smith for the card show but he couldn't get a deal done.
"The show director did not want our entire group there, only Fergie and Goose, so we passed on attending this show as well as the November one,'' Kovacs said in an email exchange.
"Some decisions were made and some people decided they would not be coming,'' said show organizer Steve Menzie.
Danny Gallagher will be signing copies of his Expos' books at the Maple Leafs' function May 4.