Nats’ World Series win bittersweet for Expos fan in Saskatoon

The Washington Nationals’ first World Series title was bittersweet for some baseball fans in Canada.

The Nats defeated the Houston Astros 6-2 in Wednesday’s decisive seventh game in Houston.

Linda Walker, a self-proclaimed Montreal Expos nut, reluctantly watched the game from her Saskatoon home.

“Man, we couldn’t really watch for very long,” Walker said. “I could tune in to watch the score and then it was like ,‘I can’t watch this anymore. It’s just too tough.’ ”

Walker’s love for her Expos has remained strong even after the team relocated to D.C. in 2005. She has a living room full of Expos memorabilia and every March, for the past six years, Walker visits Montreal for the annual pilgrimage of Expos fans.

Walker said she couldn’t help but feel robbed watching the final out on Wednesday.

“I guess I still feel like this should’ve been an Expos team still playing and this should’ve been the Expos in the World Series and winning it all,” she said.

Walker still holds bad feelings about how the team left Montreal after the 2004 season. Rubbing salt in the wound is how the Nationals have never embraced the history of the franchise from its Montreal days, she says.

“It really has felt hollow,” she said. “The only reason they did the uniforms or put the plaques up really is because Major League Baseball got them to do it.”

Walker said she might feel differently toward the Nationals had the baseball strike of 1994 not happened.

That year the Expos were arguably the favourite to win the World Series before the season was cancelled.