Delorimier Stadium Custom

 Hello Friends!

Today I'm back with another custom card I made up. Ultimately, I'm looking at this ending up being a set of stadium cards

Today, as the title mentions, it's Delorimier Stadium that was in Montreal, Quebec. 

So, before the Expos were in Montreal, the city had minor league teams called the Royals dating back to 1897. Starting in the Eastern League (Not the same one as current) the Royals followed along as the League changed names in 1912 to the International League. It was a Double A league until 1945 when it became the current version, Triple A..

From 1928 to 1960, the Royals played in a stadium in a residential area called DeLorimier Stadium.

It was located at 2101 Ontraio Street in Montreal

The block in the middle of this map from Google shows where the park sat. 

When the park opened, the Royals were a co-op team until 1933 when the Athletics selected Montreal as a farm team for two years. (1933-1934)

From 1937-1938, the Pirates sent prospects here. 

Then.. From 1939-1960, the remainder of the lifespan of the Royals and the park, the Brooklyn Dodgers had this as one of their Triple A homes.

From 1946-1960, the Dodgers had Two Triple A teams. The Royals, and the St. Paul Saints. 1949 and 1950 had the Hollywood Stars join them as a third Triple A team. 1958-1960, St Paul and Montreal were joined by Spokane. 

By time 1960 rolled around, the Dodgers were in Los Angeles and wanted to keep their Triple A players closer to the team, making the Royals expendable. The team ended up being sold and moved to Syracuse to become the Chiefs. 

When the Expos were being welcomed into Major League Baseball in 1969, there was talk of using Delorimier Stadium as their temporary home. However, at 20000 seats, it was too small. Its location meant it could not be renovated or expanded. Instead, the Expos moved into a hastily expanded Jarry Park, and Delorimier Downs, the place where Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in Organized Baseball, met the wrecking ball. A school went up on the site. 

The Dodgers affiliation meant that many great players, including several Hall of Famers, passed through Montreal on their way to Brooklyn.

Walter Alston, Ed Barrow, Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Jocko Conlan, Don Drysdale, Burleigh Grimes, Waite Hoyt, Rabbit Maranville (Manager) and Duke Snider. 

Other great managers and eventual Hall of Fame managers that played here include Gene Mauch, Joe Altobelli, Tommy Lasorda, Sparky Anderson, and Dick Williams. 

The Royals won 7 Governor's Cup trophies as the Winner of the International League Playoffs and won 3 Junior World Series. 

So, here is the custom card I created for Delorimier Downs. 

What do you think? 

Also, did you enjoy the little stadium writeup I did with this card? It kind of combines the Stadium Series I've been working on and the custom cards I've been working on.