Area of fair territory: 112,000 sq. ft.

Area of foul territory: Large

Fences: 12 ft

Elevation: 90 feet

Who Plays Here: Montreal Expos (NL); Montreal Alouettes (CFL)
First Opened: Summer 1976
First Expos game: April 15, 1977
Style: Retractable roof
Surface: Astroturf
Capacity: 43,739 (baseball); 56,245 (football)

Architect: Roger Taillibert (Paris, France)
Construction: n/a
Owner: City of Montreal
Cost: Over $1 billion

History

   Olympic Stadium Montreal's version of the Vietnam War - and we all know how the French fight wars: when they do "military maneuvers," they practice surrendering their weapons.

   Le Stade Olympique was built for the 1976 Olympic Games and has been the home of the Expos since the start of the 1977 season.  It was supposed to be a retractable roof stadium, the first of its kind, but all kinds of problems delayed completion of the roof until 1987 - the 552-foot leaning tower ( comparable to a 55-story building and is the world's tallest inclined structure) used to retract the roof stood half finished until then, when the roof was finally completed.  It took another 2 years before it became retractable, just missing out on the honor of first retractable roof in Canada when the SkyDome opened in Toronto in June of 1989.

   Due to problems with opening and closing the roof, it had been permanently closed for several seasons.  In the spring of 1998, the orange Kavlar roof was removed and a $26 million opaque blue roof replaced it later in the year.  The stadium’s total cost has exceeded $1 billion.  The distance from the field to the apex of the dome is 171 feet.

   In 1983, the Expos brought in a franchise high 2.3 million fans, but by 1991 that had sunk to 978,000.  

Analysis

   The park has generally boosted hitting over the past few seasons - although the dimensions are not exactly cozy, the beat-up carpet is slick and fast, and there are plenty of bumps and seams.  The high outfield walls can turn some home runs into doubles, and the slick turf can turn singles into doubles - the result is plenty of two-base hits.

   When the roof is closed (as it has been since 1998) it keeps out the extreme cold and boosts run production.  Between 1997 and 1999, the park cut down on home runs by more than any other NL park except Pro Player in Florida and the AstroDome in Houston.  Over the last two seasons, however, it has increased home runs by about 10%.

Defense: The stadium's ancient carpet is notorious for bad hops and odd caroms.  Life is tough on the infielders, and speed is at a premium in the outfield where line drives can skid to the wall.  The turf is about 10 years old, and has many gaping holes and lips around the dirt surface.  Between first base and second there is a strange metal door under the turf - woe to the first baseman who isn't ready for a radical bounce. 

   The park's slick turf boosts doubles and triples considerably, because low liners can go all the way to the wall.  A low set of long, square lights below the stadium's roof creates a glare, and the occasional liner gets lost in them.  Several pitchers have complained about the reflection of lights off the windows of the Catcher's Club behind home plate.

© 2001 STATS, Inc.

Who benefits: Line drive hitters, who can split the outfielders and smack the ball to the wall. 

     Oddly, in 2000 this ballpark significantly boosted left-handed home run power but depressed right-handed power; in 2001, it did just the opposite, boasting the third highest RHB home run factor but depressing left-handed home runs by almost 20%.

     Over the last two seasons, Vladimir Guerrero has hot 46 HR at home but just 32 HR on the road.  Tony Armas, Jr., posted a 3.21 ERA at home but a 5.05 ERA on the road.  

Who gets hurt: Power hitters, perhaps.  The park doesn't really harm any one category of hitter because of its symmetry.

Location

Montreal, Quebec: Left field (NW), Rue Sherbrooke; third base (SW), Boulevard Pie IX; first base (SE), Avenue Pierre-de-Coubertin; right field (NE), Boulevard Viau.

Park Factors

Seating Chart

Dimensions

Foul lines: 325 (1977), 330 (1981), 325 (1983)

Power alleys: 375

Center field: 404 (1977), 405 (1979), 404 (1980), 400 (1981), 404 (1983); 

Apex of dome: 180

Backstop: 62 (1977), 65 (1983), 53 (1989)

Foul territory: Large.

Fences

1977: 12 ft - wood

1989: 12 ft - foam

Fun Facts

• Third highest hit and run factors in NL in 1999, 2001
• Highest walk factor in NL in 1999
• Second lowest walk factor in NL in 2000

• The Canadian and American national anthems are sung before each game.
• The tower is angled at 45 degrees, and is one foot taller than the Washington Monument.
• The observation deck at the top of the tower can be reached by a 2-minute ride in a 90-passenger cable car.
• The retractable dome was silver on top and orange on the bottom with 26 white cones that linked the roof to the tower. Retracted like a large umbrella, it took 25 minutes to hoist the roof up or down on its 26 cables and could not be deployed when the wind was greater than 25 miles per hour.
• An orange line was painted on the technical ring, which surrounds the stadium on the inside of the roof, after Dave Kingman hit it with a controversial foul ball. Since then, Darryl Strawberry and Henry Rodriguez have hit the technical ring with balls that were ruled fair, and therefore home runs, because of the orange line.