Former Expos GM and manager JIM FANNING, who "spent over 60 years in a variety of roles in professional baseball," died Saturday at the age of 87, according to the CP. Fanning most recently had "worked as an ambassador" for the Blue Jays. He was named the Expos' first GM in '68 and "spent 25 years with the franchise" before it moved to DC in '05. He also served as VP, scout and "had two stints" as manager. In his run with the Expos, Fanning "established himself as a top talent evaluator and signed players" such as LARRY WALKER, ANDRES GALARRAGA and RANDY JOHNSON (CP, 4/25). In Toronto, Richard Griffin notes Fanning as Expos GM was "part of an original front-office triumvirate" that included club President JOHN MCHALE and manager GENE MAUCH. Without the trio’s "existing MLB profile and respect they each brought with them from previous jobs, the early problems the franchise encountered could have been enough to scuttle MLB’s international experiment" (TORONTO STAR, 4/27). In Montreal, Jack Todd writes Fanning was "intimately involved with the Expos almost every step of the way." If late Hockey HOFer JEAN BELIVEAU "was the epitome of the hockey gentleman, Fanning was the same in the world of baseball." Fanning "quite literally did everything you could do for the club and the city he loved." He was the Expos' first GM, but he was also at Jarry Park the "day the Expos played their first home game, helping to shovel out the park after a spring snowstorm and to set up 6,000 extra folding chairs to accommodate the crowd" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 4/27). In Toronto, Bob Elliott wrote Fanning was a "passionate statesman of the game and one of the wisest baseball men we ever encountered" (TORONTO SUN, 4/26).
