First, let me say Happy Canada
Day to all my fellow Canadians. It was 149 years ago today that we officially
became a nation, and what better way to celebrate than remembering the Pearson
Cup.
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| The Pearson Cup |
I’m just wondering how many
Toronto Blue Jays’ fans or Montreal Expos’ even know what the Pearson Cup was,
never mind remembering it. I barely remember it myself, save for reading about
one of the games in an old Scorebook from the seventies that I found in a box
in the mid to late 1980s.
But it was an exhibition game
that was played annually between the Jays and the Expos, created to raise money
for minor league baseball in Canada. The games didn’t count in the standings and
were merely for bragging rights. In 2003, after interleague play had started
and the Jays and Expos would play each other for real in 1997, the Pearson Cup
was re-introduced but would cease after 2004 when the Expos moved to Washington
and became the Nationals.
There is not much information
out there about the Pearson Cup games that were played from 1978 until 1986. I
doubt any video exists and there are very few pictures on google. While the
scores from the games are available online, an extensive search that I
undertook brought me no newspaper stories that would describe in detail what
transpired during the games.
From what I gathered, the first
game was played at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal on June 29, 1978, before a
crowd of 20,221 fans. The Expos won the game 5-4 in ten innings. The first game
in Toronto was held on April 19, 1979 at Exhibition Stadium with the game
called after 11 innings with the score tied at four. The game was called
because the Expos had a flight to catch to their next scheduled National League
game.
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| Program from the 1982 Pearson Cup Game |
Montreal won the 1980 edition of
the game, 3-1, back in the Olympic Stadium and the 1981 game was cancelled due
to the players’ strike. On September 2, 1982, the series resumed in Toronto,
with the Expos winning again 7-3. The Blue Jays finally won a game in the
Pearson Cup series in 1983 in Montreal, winning by a 7-5 score. On May 24,
1984, Toronto made it two straight when they won 6-5 in 13 innings at
Exhibition Stadium.
In 1985, the game was played on
May 9 and it was stopped after 11 innings in a 2-2 tie as this time it was the
Jays who had to catch a flight out of town. The final game of the original
series was played in Toronto on April 28, 1986, with the Jays winning 5-2. The
eight games of the Pearson Cup were split right down the middle with three wins
a piece and two ties.
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| Game action during the 1982 Pearson Cup |
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