Expos Chair Jacques Menard said yesterday that he hopes
to have an extension of the June 30 deadline for ballpark
financing announced about June 22 or 23, according to Jeff
Blair of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. Menard: "I'm optimistic
we can get it extended to some time in the fall, but it must
be done with the understanding that it won't be done another
time." Expos President Claude Brochu "seemed a little
surprised" about Menard's statement: "An extension for the
sake of a deadline doesn't make sense." Menard also said
"that he doubted whether it would be logistically possible
for the Expos to make a decision to move in time for the
1999 season," since the NL and AL schedules will be sent to
the MLBPA on July 1 for approval (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/11).
PERCEPTION PROBLEM: Blair writes that most public
debate on the Expos "has focused on Brochu's unpopularity
and perceived dispassion. Brochu is now seen less as the
man who put together the effort to keep the club in Montreal
when it was purchased ... in 1991 than as the man who has
overseen three fire sales of talent" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/11).
