Claude Brochu
Encyclopedia
Claude Brochu, CM
(born October 29, 1944), is a Quebec
businessman.
He was named president of the Montreal Expos
baseball club by Charles Bronfman
in 1986, replacing John McHale
.
On June 14, 1991, he formed a group of thirteen investors to buy the team and prevent a threatened move to Arizona. He paid two million dollars from his own pocket in this purchase.
He was the largest shareholder of the team with 7% of the shares. In 1995, he carried out a "fire sale" of the team's best players, including Marquis Grissom
, Larry Walker
and John Wetteland
.
His plan to save the team from bankruptcy was to build a new stadium in downtown Montreal
, which would be named the Labatt stadium.
He asked for subsidies from the Canadian and Quebec governments of the time, but when this attempt failed, he resigned in 1998 and sold his shares to New York businessman Jeffrey Loria
.
In 2001, he published the book My Turn at Bat: The Sad Saga of the Expos, which blamed Quebec ex-premier Lucien Bouchard
for the sale of the baseball team.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born October 29, 1944), is a Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
businessman.
He was named president of the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
baseball club by Charles Bronfman
Charles Bronfman
Charles Rosner Bronfman, is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. With an estimated net worth of $US 2.0 billion , Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 15th wealthiest Canadian and 595th in the world....
in 1986, replacing John McHale
John McHale
John Joseph McHale was an American first baseman and executive in Major League Baseball who served as the general manager of three teams: the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, and Montreal Expos...
.
On June 14, 1991, he formed a group of thirteen investors to buy the team and prevent a threatened move to Arizona. He paid two million dollars from his own pocket in this purchase.
He was the largest shareholder of the team with 7% of the shares. In 1995, he carried out a "fire sale" of the team's best players, including Marquis Grissom
Marquis Grissom
Marquis Deon Grissom is a former Major League Baseball player. He excelled in baseball at Lakeshore High School, under the tutelage of baseball coach Mike Juenger. He currently resides in College Park, Georgia...
, Larry Walker
Larry Walker
Larry Kenneth Robert Walker is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1989 through 2005, Walker played for the Montreal Expos , Colorado Rockies , and St. Louis Cardinals...
and John Wetteland
John Wetteland
John Karl Wetteland is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who specialized as a closer. During a 12-year career , he pitched for four different teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers.-Playing career:Wetteland was signed by the Dodgers as their second...
.
His plan to save the team from bankruptcy was to build a new stadium in downtown Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, which would be named the Labatt stadium.
He asked for subsidies from the Canadian and Quebec governments of the time, but when this attempt failed, he resigned in 1998 and sold his shares to New York businessman Jeffrey Loria
Jeffrey Loria
Jeffrey H. Loria is an art dealer and is the owner of the Miami Marlins. Raised in Manhattan, Loria took an early interest in baseball, attending his first New York Yankees game in the late 1940s. Loria attended New York City's Stuyvesant High School and Yale University, where he initially took...
.
In 2001, he published the book My Turn at Bat: The Sad Saga of the Expos, which blamed Quebec ex-premier Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
for the sale of the baseball team.
Awards and honors
- Canada's Baseball Man of the Year, 1990
- In 1996, he received the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
along with Angèle DubeauAngèle DubeauAngèle Dubeau, CM, CQ is a Québécoise violinist.Dubeau is a graduate and First Prize winner of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. She studied at the Juilliard School of Music with Dorothy DeLay and later went to Romania to work with Ştefan Gheorghiu...
, Gordon A. SmithGordon A. SmithGordon Appelbe Smith, born in East Brighton, England, is a Canadian painter, printmaker, sculptor, and teacher living in West Vancouver, British Columbia. Smith taught with contemporaries Alistair Bell, B.C...
and Trevor Payne.