BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: My Year in Beer, 2019.

This is me drinking Pilsner Urquell, which is always on tap at Pints&union. In 2019 it's probably what I drank most often while haunting the pub.

Loving the world's classic pilsner beer as much today as I did 35 or more years ago is an undisputed highlight of my year in beer. I believe the hash tag is #winning.

Following are nine other mile markers for 2019, some stateside and others abroad, united by being situational -- of the moment, at a place, with good people, in a special time.

Like ...

Getting behind the bar at P&u and pouring 18 liters and 24 half-liters of Weihenstephaner Festbier in a little more than an hour as we celebrated Oktoberfest.

Visiting the Union brewery in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I walked past it in 1987, and 32 years later went inside. It engendered a strong sense of accomplishment.

Discovering the existence of an Italian beer brand called Theresianer Antica Birreria di Trieste 1766, and drinking the Vienna lager with pizza in Trieste. We see so few Vienna styles; it was quite good, and I toasted the late, lamented Michael "Beer Hunter" Jackson, who I'm sure would have approved.

Enjoying a perfect pint of Guinness, albeit in a plastic cup, at a pint-sized Irish pub called Spike Milligan's by the Lake Erie shore in Dunkirk, New York on the 4th of July.

Having the great pleasure of dining on regional pork specialties at the Gostilna Pri Planincu ("Mountaineer's Restaurant") in Bled, Slovenia, and drinking Komunajzer Broz, and unfiltered draft lager named after Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavia's longtime head of state.

Visiting Diana's niece and family in July, which provided the opportunity for a field trip to Northampton's (Massachusetts) namesake brewery and a pint of its wonderful Daniel Shays Best Bitter.

Being allowed by Food & Dining Magazine's publisher John Carlos White to write about myself and the idea behind the "retro" beer program at Pints&union.

Resuming diplomatic relations in April with L.C. Nadorff & Son, wholesaler of AB-InBev brands in Floyd County, but also a family-owned business in New Albany for 148 years, including a lengthy period prior to Prohibition as an active brewery. While it's probably impossible for an AB-InBev wholesaler to be a true underdog, local family ownership qualifies Nadorff as a dying breed in corporate franchise-happy America, and it's scrambling like all the rest of us to find a place in the crazy patchwork quilt of the Post-Craft Beer Era.

My year in beer wouldn't be complete without the bittersweet reality of NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse closing in May. I drank hundreds of gallons of beer in that building prior to my departure from the company I helped found, and have the pleasure of knowing we left this little corner of New Albany better off than we found it.

Here's what I've been drinking while compiling this list: Schlenkerla Eiche (oak-smoked) Doppelbock from Brauerei Heller-Trum in beautiful Bamberg, Germany.

Helluva way to get my 2020 year in beer off, up, and rolling.

City Hall's trip hazards on Market Street lead the Top Ten list for December 2019.

As noted yesterday:

The NA Confidential blog is being scaled back. Writing for pay as I'm doing now takes time, and the blogging quota will fall to two posts per day, down from four in 2017. If a news item takes more than 20 minutes to write and format, it won't be posted. I'll be riffing off the rising generation of dissidents, and doing longer-form commentary less often. I no longer have 25 hours a week to devote to research.

I haven't decided what this means for the monthly Top Ten wrap-up, and there's a chance I won't do it at all. Probably it will be scaled back to Top Three or Top Five.

For now, the usual drill, in ascending order. Thanks for reading.

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FIVE (5) HONORABLE MENTION for December 2019

609

Marcus Green at WDRB: " ‘Shermageddon’ 2? New Albany waits for Sherman Minton Bridge plan."

It's ironic. The next five years of life in New Albany, especially downtown, will be determined by the ripple effects of the bridge repair project, given that we're a purely automobile-centric metropolitan area. It is of immense significance, but had a space alien been monitoring the recently concluded municipal election, she'd have noted almost no mention of it.

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636

An anchor-free public art tale of two dragons, in New Albany and far away to the east of Silver Creek.

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667

Best wishes to Susan Kerber, as "Bridge Liquors in New Albany has new owner."

GREAT JOB, GUYS. That's endurance. Now have some fun without having to reply to the alarm at 4:00 a.m. when a stray moth activated the sensor.

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682

ON THE AVENUES: These parents oppose their children's exposure to the PURE Initiative as part of the NA-FC Schools curriculum. Here's why.

Let’s have a look at faith-based abstinence as a component of health education in New Albany-Floyd County Schools. But first, just a bit of background to explain how the topic came to my attention.

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687

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: Why is Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout on tap at Pints&union?

When Nadorff's Jason Mott asked me if we'd like to have the only 1/6 barrel of Bourbon County Brand Stout that his wholesale house was allocated, I thought about it long and hard before immediately agreeing to purchase it. By doing so I was happily patronizing a locally-owned business with deep roots in New Albany.

TOP TEN (10) for December 2019

695

ON THE AVENUES: He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day.

Anyone that clueless with so much money should be opposed on general principle alone, and to repeat, I’ve no regrets at having written the alternative history and formulated the case against Gahan from precepts ranging far beyond simple contrarianism, even if I inherited my father’s stubbornness. Posterity will be kind to me, indeed, and all I need do is live long enough to see it happen.

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713

"Barack Obama is using his post-presidency to attack the Left and protect the status quo."

In the beginning, I was a fan, but in the end, one must allow facts to be facts. It isn't always easy. Maybe we learn something, maybe not. Barack Obama disappointed while in office, and continues to do so amid his post-presidency.

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736

ON THE AVENUES: Four more years? Heaven help us all, but there are five reasons to be optimistic.

My innate stubbornness eliminates the possibility that these kingpin nitwits will ever govern MY head space. Rather than dwell on the dipshittsian dysfunctionals, let’s see if there is a case to be made for this municipal glass being half-full with our delicious Pilsner Urquell, rather than half depleted of their Bud Light Mang-o-Rita pet shampoo. Because I promised ... here are FIVE POSITIVE TAKEWAYS FROM THE NOVEMBER 5 ELECTION.

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825

Forget the ugly sweaters, because here's the winner of the NA Confidential Ugly Christmas Greeting Banner Contest for 2019.

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869

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Social media reports indicate that New Albany's venerable Red Men club will vacate its Main Street space.

Folks are saying that New Albany's 120-year-old Red Men club is giving up its storefront on Main Street (at the very least) or perhaps even calling it quits permanently in the face of declining membership, aging and mortality.

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1,125

The morning after the return from Croatia, Slovenia and Trieste.

We took seven flights in all, four outbound (to Zagreb) and three inbound returning to Louisville. All seven were delayed, five of them significantly. In terms of actual time in the air, these series of flights theoretically total 24 hours, or twelve hours each way. The sum total of the delays, not including the usual time spent waiting, cost us 28 hours, including an overnight stay on the way back.

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1,148

Gahan's public records scandal: WDRB's Marcus Green breaks it down as the News and Tribune flails ineffectually.

On Christmas Eve, Marcus Green of WDRB broke down Jeff Gahan's public records scandal; the screenshots and transcriptions follow. Green concludes with three questions:

Why didn't (city hall) respond to the citizens' request before (the judge's ruling)?
Does it believe it doesn't have to respond to requests it deems politically motivated?
Why didn't it respond to the access counselor?

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1,349

Todd Coleman's Classic Furniture (corner Pearl and Main) is sprouting windows.

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1,519

Sadly, Bliss Artisan is closed. The franchise lasted ten months at The Breakwater.

I have little to say; this closing seems to have escaped notice, and I thought it should be noted. As for whether it "means" anything, my hunch is the terms of the lease might tell us a lot. This isn't a good space for a business like this, at least in my estimation.

Martini bar, anyone?

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3,227

ASK THE BORED: The wonderful world of Market Street trip hazards.

These stakes jut up from the cute gravel on the north side of Market Street between Pearl and State, where in 2019 Team Gahan spent lots more money than the Horseshoe Foundation donated to them in order to beautify according to the suburban design templates of HWC Engineering. It's an aesthetic atrocity overall, more reminiscent of Mussolini's fascist Italy than anything belonging in a Midwestern city, but that's a topic for future archaeologists to consider.

New Albany's restaurant and bar openings and closings for 2019.

I had to pick one of them for the photo.

Following is our crowd-sourced list of restaurant/bar openings and closings in New Albany for 2019: Indies only; no chains, and just businesses within city limits.

Here's a special category: Floyd County Brewing, which expanded into the Biergarten after launching Grain Haus in 2018. They're still all common ownership, but deserving of note for organization of available space. 

Did we miss anyone? There are two reasons why Our Lady of Perpetual Hops isn't on this list: (1) it doesn't have a kitchen, and (b) I'm still not sure whether it's city, fringe area or county. The beers are good, though.

OPENING IN 2019 ... 8 + 3 (see below) = 11
Boomtown Kitchen
Chicago City Pizza
Fistful of Tacos
Get It on a Bun at Booty’s
La Catrina
Tacolicious To Go
The Earl
The Standard Plate & Pour

CLOSING IN 2019 ... 6 + 3 (see below) = 9 
Bank Street Brewhouse/Taco Steve
Cox’s Hot Chicken
Hull & High Water
Mandarin Cafe
Red Men Club
Sinaloa

BOTH OPENING AND CLOSING IN 2019 ... 3
Bliss Artisan
El Rico Taco
Mirin

There are little bits of many things in NA Confidential's Top Ten posts list for 2019.

Rather than undertake a more elaborate accounting, I went back and calculated the Top Ten posts at NA Confidential for the year 2019. They're a mixed bag, indeed.

The most obvious update in need of appending has to do with the My Scratch & Dent building. Not only did it change hands, but the buyer (the city itself, duh) unceremoniously demolished the building late in the year. More acreage off the tax rolls, eh?

Without further ado, here they are. I've already compiled a list of the top columns of the year.

A six-pack of the most-read ON THE AVENUES columns from 2019.

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2,269 (September 9)

Return of the Fork in the Road public art installation -- bad location, but it's Gahanism, after all.

It's a horrendous location; there's no literal "fork in the road," and the installation will be overshadowed by the parking garage, but in New Gahania we save the best spots for the most generic structures -- because that's how pay-to-play gets done, whippersnapper.

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2,570 (March 23)

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: The My Scratch & Dent building has not changed ownership -- at least yet, but Loop Island luxury might depend on it.

On the one hand, Tiger Trucking is no fan of Gahan's; on the other, everyone has their price. It appears that Nickelin LLC purchased these two properties in 2004 for $2.4 million. It's hard to imagine Flaherty and Collins, or any other well-heeled developers, buying these on their own dime. Tax Increment Financing? That's another story, even before the sewer tap-in waiver gifting.

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2,768 (April 15)

Recbar in Jeffersontown to open second location in downtown New Albany.

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2,855 (April 16)

But didn't taxpayers already forward $750,000 to Denton Floyd to "stabilize" the Reisz Luxury City Hall?

Of course, they might be maypoles. They're certainly not giants.

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2,921 (May 25)

Just another driver "flipping" over the beauty of the East Main Street Project median.

It is a matter of genuine curiosity for me as to why so many drivers bounce off the median eastbound at the starting point of beautification. I'd guess the drag strip speeds coming out of the stop light at Pearl, given that the city refuses to calm the section of Main Street between Pearl and 5th.

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2,949 (October 21)

Hull & High Water is winding down, so go over there and say goodbye.

As I reported earlier at Food & Dining Magazine, Hull & High Water is winding down. Owner Eric Morris made the announcement earlier today at Facebook.

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3,034 (October 8)

Democrat David White: "I am asking ALL the people who have supported me over the years to help Mark Seabrook put People First!"

Finally, it is my belief that Mark will surround himself with people of decency, integrity and a desire to put the best interest of our community first.

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3,103 (March 24)

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Why is the New Albany Housing Authority buying commercial property at the dumping grounds downtown on State Street?

That's right: It's the New Albany Housing Authority, and a "Power to Grab Today" scratch sheet presumably lying atop Gauleiter Duggins' desk next to the moldering Arby's wrappers.

The Green Mouse can find no evidence indicating that Andres has donated to Gahan4Life for the privilege of playing, but maybe the bunker drain trust is taking no chances and hiring him to work at NAHA, as they did councilman Matt Nash.

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4,267 (April 9)

NA Social's about to be dead, so "Long Live NA Social."

Never mind that NA Social did it better than that other organization, because the latter had the official stamp from approval from the "cool kids," and NA Social didn't.

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5,496 (January 15)

We Are All Family In Kentucky (and Indiana): Schedule of restaurants providing meals as a show of support for federal employees.

"We Are All Family In Kentucky

"In an effort to help employees of the Federal Government who are not getting paid through the shutdown, a group of restaurants has banded together to provide meals as a show of support and appreciation for the dedicated men and women who keep our community safe.

"Together, we strive to be better and to overcome adversity as one community."

The books I read in 2019.

One year ago I resolved to spend more time in 2019 engaged in reading, not from a Kindle or similarly soul-numbing modern electronic gadget, but old-school and tactile.

Mission (perhaps surprisingly) accomplished.

I wouldn't know how to go about choosing a favorite from among the books listed below. "Light" reading is largely alien to me, and generally I'm not seeking to be "entertained" in any conventional sense.  There are exceptions, although in large measure I read to learn. 

Having said this, and conceding that seven of these books pertain in greater or smaller measure to the European locales we recently toured (Croatia, Slovenia and particularly Trieste), it seems clear that the latter half of 2019 was a tantamount to a university course on the history of these areas.

No credit hours will be awarded, but those aren't necessary to learn something, and I did -- and Pynchon's Vineland was, yes, very entertaining.

Back in August, I also got around to updating a list.

ON THE AVENUES: The 32 most influential books in my life.

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2019 Reading List

Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, a novel by James Joyce

James Joyce and Italo Svevo: The Story of a Friendship, by Stanley Price

Yugoslavia, My Fatherland, a novel by Goran Vojnovic

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, by Mark Kurlansky

Sicilian Summer, a travelogue by Brian Johnston

Stalingrad, a novel by Vassily Grossman

Comrade Baron: A Journey through the Vanishing World of the Transylvanian Aristocracy, by Jaap Scholten

Confessions of Zeno (Zeno’s Conscience), a novel by Italo Svevo

Slovenia – Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture, by Jason Blake

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, travel/history by Jan Morris

Vineland, a novel by Thomas Pynchon

Slobodan Milosevic and the Destruction of Yugoslavia, non-fiction by Louis Sell

Baudolino, a novel by Umberto Eco

Dreamers, a fact-based novel by Volker Weidermann

Baseball in a River Town, local history by Justin Endres

Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece, a travelogue by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Avignon Quintet, five novels by Lawrence Durrell

• Monsieur (1974)

• Livia (1978)

• Constance (1982)

• Sebastian (1983)

• Quinx (1985)

Forget the ugly sweaters, because here's the winner of the NA Confidential Ugly Christmas Greeting Banner Contest for 2019.

So VERY corporate of Dear Leader.

Steinert's redevelopment fix tops an abbreviated Top Five most-read posts for November, 2019.

The timing of our trip to Europe, coupled with post-election regrouping and an accompanying contemplation regarding a possible move to anywhere in the fucking world except doltish New Gahania, suggests a quick compilation of top posts in November.

First, an honorable mention.

All hail the victorious drinkers of Gahan's Kool-Aid BUT let the record show that the pirate bested the copperhead.

And here they are, in ascending order.

NOVEMBER TOP FIVE

912

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Is this the next public art installation in New Albany?

(December 7 update: I'm told it is. Follow-up coming)

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964

Indiana mayor, a Democrat, is arrested after an FBI investigation.

Did I mention the mayor in question is Dennis Tyler, the mayor of Muncie?

For all of those who have ever asked why some of us pose the questions we do, Muncie is the reason.

What's happening in Muncie could happen in any city in the state. All the potential moving parts for malfeasance are there, defined in terms of business as usual, behind the scenes and out of view; there's lots of money, and precious little transparency.

This is why a municipal habit of ignoring and obfuscating public information requests is worrisome.

Someone in Muncie wouldn't let it go, and the feds got involved.

Were it so, just a little bit closer to home.

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996

But wait -- I thought there aren't any homeless people in NA, much less a need to feed them.

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1,078

Reader differs with Team Gahan: "They're disrespectful of other peoples' time, dismissive, arrogant and secretive."

"I've also worked with other city administrations as a freelancer and it's easy to compare how others do it with TRANSPARENCY, versus how the Gahan team goes about things. We don't have the benefit of TRANSPARENCY, FAIRNESS, or RESPECT in our current administration, and I think we deserve better."

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1,844

The Tell-Tale Fart: This peachy "apartments at Steinert's" project may seem to be free-market capitalism, but the deal's a lot more tangled than it first appeared.

Our Shopping Cart Napoleon already had this Steinert's fix quite firmly into place. Before linking to the local chain newspaper's story, let's have a look at the interconnected participants.

Here's Vitor Bueno.

David White's endorsement of Mark Seabrook wins the Top Ten post review for October.

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany.

Otherwise your only choice would be the Jeffersonville News and Tom May's Evangel-bune, and that's a fate almost as unrewarding as insipid light beer consumption. In fact, judging from the strong numbers for posts about local politics, there is considerable interest in the topic that the local chain newspaper simply refuses to serve.

As Bluegill noted just the other day:

Another story of a Gahan administration refusal to provide public information to the public. This was pretty early in Gahan’s tenure. Nothing has changed and refusals are ongoing regardless of who asks or how much money is involved. The News and Tribune has been aware of these refusals for years on end but never bothered to report the behavior. Now that a formal lawsuit has been filed, though, they give Gahan whatever column inches he needs to claim the suit is just an election year stunt - something the News and Tribune has long known isn’t true. An actual newspaper doing its job would’ve demanded information for years, accurately reported the refusals, and likely filed their own suit. This is front page news that the “newspaper” simply chose to ignore in favor of ongoing advertising dollars.

Yep. Sad but true.

October was a fine month by the numbers. Following are five honorable mentions, followed by the top ten posts.

Last month: Gahan's ineptly reinstalled "fork on the sidewalk hidden by cars" leads September's Top Ten at NA Confidential.

OCTOBER HONORABLE MENTION (5)

733

Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast 2019: "That is one hell of a big tent right there!"

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738

Gahan can't even tell the truth about Warro the K-9 dog's tenure. Seems a desperate Slick Jeffie will say ANYTHING to get re-elected.

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741

In a mounting sign of desperation, Gahan and the DemoDisneyDixiecrats are going full-tilt negative slimeball against Mark Seabrook.

Read about Tricky's latest Goebbels moment, right here -- and don't forget that at least one DemoDisneyDixiecratic council candidate has told the truth this campaign season.

Jason is said to be a close friend of Seabrook's. I wonder how he feels about his party's decision to plunge to rock bottom with negative campaigning?

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749

These 30 free-spending special interest donors top Jeff Gahan's 2019 pay-to-play campaign finance windfall of $150,000 (so far).

827

Election 2019: The buying and selling of a city, or our updated master list of 73 Gahan wheel-greasers, a veritable pornographic potpourri of pay-to-play.

We've been plumbing the depths revealed by almost nine full years of the Committee to Elect Gahan's CFA-4 campaign finance reports, and I'm happy to announce that my gag reflex has been tamed by the sheer numbness of repetition -- and gin.

Let's repeat some numbers.

2011: $56,515
2012: $16,575
2013: $30,350
2014: $58,795
2015: $103,532
2016: $51,799
2017: $56,225
2018: $64,250
2019: $147,739 (first three quarters)

Total: $585,780

OCTOBER TOP TEN

907

Gahan predictably AWOL from Sherman Minton repair meeting as Republicans seek to avoid a total bridge closure.

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977

PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Kind words at my workplace, and I'm touched.

It was a fine Guinness pour on my part, and I'm reminded that it's time to lose thirty pounds; a few too many chins, but I'm almost 60, and nowadays my primary vice seems to be gluttony, not drunkenness. Anyway, Cassie gave me advance notice of my turn as subject of the employee profile, and she did a fantastic job with it. It hasn't always been easy finding my footing these past four years, but verily, it's getting better all the time.

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991

ON THE AVENUES: In which Team Gahan's looming appointment with unemployment is examined.

Against this backdrop we see that Gahan dropped 1,000 votes between 2011 and 2015, then hemorrhaged another 300 in the 2019 primary. Some of these departing voters succumbed to low-turnout indifference. Others sided with David White during his two Democratic Party primary insurgencies and did not return in the fall. Some died; some moved.

Some may have found a different religion. Others want to know when they can vote for Trump again. Conversely, perhaps getting to know Gahan better isn't a tremendously positive experience.

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1,113

The curious question of 3rd district candidate Alex Bilbrey's yard signs.

It's hard to imagine Bilbrey (R) breaking 40% of the vote in the 3rd council district against two-term incumbent Phipps (D); after all, the 3rd district is to pretend-progressive Kool Aid as Porto is to vintage port wine, and Bilbrey -- who registered to run at the last possible minute without the knowledge of his party's chairman -- has been all but invisible for the entirety of 2019.

Except for yard signs.

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1,142

CFA-4 Follies: OMG, just look at Gahan's huge pile of special interest donor cash flowing to out-of-towners.

So far in 2019, Jeff Gahan has raised $147,000 (on top of roughly $128,000 cash on hand) and spent $204,800 to remain mayor.

$140,000 of these expenditures has gone to companies and individuals outside New Albany's city limits.

That's 68%.

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1,163

Time erases: Signs, signs, everywhere signs; some coming, some going.

Quite a few of us always will love Chef Israel Landin and his food, and we enjoyed his ill-fated previous restaurant, La Rosita's, but isn't it pleasant at long last to see the old sign gone, the building being painted and a business (RecBar 812) coming close to occupying it? Next up: That annoyingly permanent Preston's signage, always a decaying reminder of the store's demise eight years ago.

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1,447

Homelessness, 8th Street Pizza's move, Clean Socks Hope's mission and an addendum by Exit 0.

Interestingly, this is one of those infrequent times when food and social issues actively collide, because to put it bluntly, City Hall's stance on homelessness is as clear as alluvial mud -- not at all clean like white socks. Ronald Reagan famously avoided saying the word "AIDS" aloud; Jeff Gahan's bugaboo is the word "homelessness," as he doesn't communicate well and as a suburbanite generally avoids topics he finds personally distasteful.

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1,546

River Run Family Water Park: Why won't the city of New Albany comply with the law and grant Randy Smith's public records request to view the financials?

NAC: Do you think River Run is losing money?

RS: That’s actually beside the point. The city’s water recreation facility probably loses money — a lot of money. That’s OK. Elected officials can choose to lose money to provide a wading pool, splash pads, waterslides, and a “lazy river.” Those of us who thought the “pool” was a poor use of borrowed money can but criticize it now.

But, we are entitled to see the numbers.

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2,949

Hull & High Water is winding down, so go over there and say goodbye.

As I reported earlier at Food & Dining Magazine, Hull & High Water is winding down. Owner Eric Morris made the announcement earlier today at Facebook.

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3,034

Democrat David White: "I am asking ALL the people who have supported me over the years to help Mark Seabrook put People First!"

In our country’s current political climate, we have seen so many being marginalized. I find it important now more than ever to stand on the right side of history, even if it means standing alone.

After much thought and prayer, I have decided to endorse Mark Seabrook for mayor of New Albany. Mark clearly understands and shares my passion and vision for the future of our city. I am asking ALL the people who have supported me over the years to help Mark put People First!

Your participation in this election cycle is supremely important and every single vote will matter.

Happy Yankees Elimination Day! Now let's remember the flair and hotness of the Montreal Expos, forerunners of the Washington Nationals.

"Now there were no more doubts. Everybody knew that big league baseball was in Montreal to stay."

Well, not exactly. The Expos of Canada were acquired by the nation's capital in the USA (itself an ignominious two-time loser when it came to keeping its major league baseball team), and the team's final game as the Expos was played in Montreal in 2004.

Now the newly minted Washington Nationals are in the World Series against Houston; it is the first championship match-up for the franchise in either Montreal or Washington, leaving the Seattle Pilots as the only team that has not been to the Series.

Baseball fans are looking back at the history of the Montreal Expos, and I must say that my nine-year-old self was enamored of the uniforms 50 years ago when the Expos debuted. I still love the logo. There is an effort underway to place another expansion team in Montreal or move an existing one, as both Tampa Bay and Oakland are vulnerable for so long as new stadiums don't come to their respective cities.

Montreal is back in the running. The first time around, ballpark poutine wasn't even a thing.

The Luckless Expos Gave Birth to the Nationals, and a Lot More, by Tyler Kepner (New York Times)

The heritage of the Expos includes a devastating end to their brilliant 1994 season, but also spectacular players who made good elsewhere while never forgetting Montreal.

 ... (Pedro) Martinez is one of eight Hall of Famers who played for the Expos, along with Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Vladimir Guerrero, Randy Johnson, Tony Perez, Tim Raines and Lee Smith. It is an impressive legacy for a team that reached the playoffs just once and that began with 10 losing seasons, starting at 52-110 in 1969.

And just what caused those inaugural Expos to struggle? “Any team that had a different uniform on,” Ron Fairly said with a laugh over the phone from his home in Indian Wells, Calif. Fairly, an outfielder, won three World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was traded to Montreal for Manny Mota and Maury Wills in June 1969. It was a culture shock.

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m coming from the beaches and warm weather and a team expected to win 100 games, and I’m going to cold weather and a team expected to lose 100 games,’” Fairly said. “They got rid of me, so they might as well send me to Siberia.”

The Expos played their first eight seasons at Parc Jarry, with a capacity below 30,000, a swimming pool beyond the right field fence (Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey dunked homers into it) and, for outfielders, a piercing glare off metal benches in the seating bowl.

After the city hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics, the Expos moved to Olympic Stadium, with a Metro station below, a malfunctioning retractable roof above, a running track as the warning track behind the plate and a peculiar vibe all over.

(snip)

 ... (Warren) Cromartie is now the hitting coach for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, but he has maintained close ties to Montreal, gathering an investment group to bring a team back to the city, which has staged popular spring training exhibitions and is targeting the Yankees for a visit next spring.

“We’d rather not split games, but we have to be realistic with what’s going on in M.L.B. right now,” Cromartie said on the phone from Tokyo, where he was preparing for the Japan Series. “The commissioner’s made it very clear that until the Tampa and Oakland situations are rectified, they’re trying to come up with other solutions. But M.L.B. has played in London and Mexico, and internationally is where the game is going. We are already an established franchise, and we’re ready for a team now.”

Montreal would have to show solid funding for a new ballpark, of course, but with more than 4 million people in the metropolitan area, it has obvious appeal to M.L.B. And while there are no former Expos left in the majors — Bartolo Colon was the last — some vestiges remain.

The Nationals recognize Carter, Dawson and Raines in the ring of honor at Nationals Park — with the Expos logo beside their names — and the team wore Montreal uniforms in a victory on July 6.

It was a stylish gesture, but the Nationals were just renting the look. Ancestry is one thing, but the pennant flies in Washington — and the throwback uniforms belong to Montreal.

“It was good to see them again,” Cromartie said. “I tried to compare them to all the uniforms now, and those uniforms were hot — and they’re still hot. When we eventually come back, we’re going to have some of the hottest uniforms in the game.”