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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Baseball Picture of the Day: YOUPPI post-Expos

It is now approximately 9 days until Pitchers and Catchers!

Today’s image shows us Youppi! Briefly out of work when the Expos split for DC, Youppi was able to quickly find a new home.

Youppi realized quickly that Canadians only care about Hockey, and so he would have to adapt. So he became the mascot for the Montreal Canadiens. But he still wears a Baseball Cap (albeit one with the Canadiens logo on it), showing his roots as the mascot of the late Les Expos…..

Creative Commons:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/themensp/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Tomorrow: Mascots are fun. Maybe I’ll do another mascot image.

Gamingboy Posted: February 09, 2010 at 03:16 PM | 37 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: expos, special topics

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1. Enrico Pallazzo Posted: February 09, 2010 at 03:56 PM (#3456755)

Merveilleux!

2. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:02 PM (#3456759)

Possibly because I'm a sucker for big, cuddly looking things, I've always thought this was such a nice story. Orphaned mascot finds new home.

3. crict Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:17 PM (#3456774)

As much as I hate the Montreal Canadiens, (I was a Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Expos fan. Yeah, that's lucky.) they've done some very nice things since the Expos left. There's Youppi!, but also the banner with the Expos retired numbers. It's there somewhere if you ever go see a Habs game. I'm pretty sure they're going to honor Andre Dawson at a home game at some point (if Dawson wants to).

4. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:18 PM (#3456777)

What exactly is Youppi supposed to be?

5. Vida Blew Over the Legal Limit Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:21 PM (#3456781)

That's right hockey fans...I'm naked in here.

6. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:24 PM (#3456784)

What exactly is Youppi supposed to be?

he's supposed to be just like a regular mascot, only Canadian

7. Cris E Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:28 PM (#3456790)

I'm thinking of rooting for the refs...

8. Famous Original Joe C Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:28 PM (#3456791)

he's supposed to be just like a regular mascot, only Canadian

It means he drinks Molson (or maybe Sleeman's?) and he's really nice.

9. crict Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:28 PM (#3456792)

But what happened to Souki?

10. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:31 PM (#3456796)

But what happened to Souki?

Yarr! That's going to replace the whale in my nightmares.

11. God Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:33 PM (#3456797)

I never understood why Montreal teams insisted on using logos with initials that make no sense -- the Canadiens with "HC" and Les Expos with "ELB." (And don't tell me that's an "M," I'm not buying it.)

12. Enrico Pallazzo Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:40 PM (#3456803)

It means he drinks Molson (or maybe Sleeman's?) and he's really nice.

Sleeman, Molson, Labatt. If you're talking Canadian, you can't go wrong with any of those.

the Canadiens with "HC"

They technically aren't the Montreal Canadiens. They're actually Le Club de Hockey Canadien. The CH is for Club de hockey.

13. Tim Wallach was my Hero Posted: February 09, 2010 at 04:46 PM (#3456810)

@crict
Same here... former Nordiques and Expos fan. That really s***s.

@God
Well, I wanted to explain the meaning of "HC", but Spaceman beat me to it.

14. The elusive Robert Denby Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:09 PM (#3456819)

Mere seconds before Youppi gives a beatdown to that Bruins fan, Crane-style...

15. Crispix Attacks Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:25 PM (#3456831)

I always heard that "HC" meant "Habitants de Canada". Apparently not.

16. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:34 PM (#3456833)

My best guess is that Youppi is supposed to be an anthropomorphic bowl of poutine?

But what happened to Souki?

Is that Randy Johnson?

17. Petuniaviles Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:38 PM (#3456837)

(And don't tell me that's an "M," I'm not buying it.)

It's a big cursive "M" for Montreal, containing an "e" for Expos and a "b" for baseball.

18. winnipegwhip Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:51 PM (#3456839)

I was a Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Expos fan. Yeah, that's lucky

Equals, Expos/Winnipeg Jets/ Cleveland Browns fan. Although I have had a reprieve with the Browns (or have I)?

19. winnipegwhip Posted: February 09, 2010 at 05:52 PM (#3456842)

I thought the CH on the ice stood for "Centre Hice"?

20. Scientist guy Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:00 PM (#3456855)

I thought CH stood for "Calice Hostie..."

21. Gamingboy Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:06 PM (#3456859)

From the Wikipedia page on Youppi:

Youppi!, a creation of Acme Mascots, Inc. (a division of Harrison/Erickson, Inc.), was commissioned by Expos vice-president Roger D. Landry. Originally leased by the team in 1979, the mascot was eventually purchased by the Montreal Expos baseball and represented the team until they moved to Washington, DC, after the 2004 season. Youppi! was designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for Jim Henson, and the creator of Miss Piggy, Statler & Waldorf and other Muppets. The orange, hairy giant was one of the most popular figures among children at Olympic Stadium, where he was often seen running around with his arms waving wildly during baseball games.

I always knew he looked like a Muppet.

22. crict Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:32 PM (#3456897)

23. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:46 PM (#3456908)

Lost in the surprising win of the Saints in the SB is that they overcame the curse of the fleur-de-lis. The Nordiques had 3 on their uniform and never won anything. The Expos had a small one on their road jersey from 1992 on, and well, you know the story.

Not to mention the 1945-1953 St. Louis Browns, which adopted the fleur-de-lis the year after capturing the 1944 pennant, and had just one winning season over that time, losing 100 games three times, and finally ditching the fluer-de-lis because they had moved to Baltimore.

24. jingoist Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:46 PM (#3456909)

I'm curious why GOD - post #11 - would ever locate a subject that he didn't understand?

25. Accent Shallow Posted: February 09, 2010 at 06:49 PM (#3456919)

I was under the impression that the Expos hat contained a "c", "d", and "b", forming an "M", standing for, in total, "club du baseball Montreal." Not being up on my non-profane French, I couldn't tell you if that's grammatically correct or even plausible.

26. crict Posted: February 09, 2010 at 07:34 PM (#3456966)

I was under the impression that the Expos hat contained a "c", "d", and "b", forming an "M", standing for, in total, "club du baseball Montreal." Not being up on my non-profane French, I couldn't tell you if that's grammatically correct or even plausible.

From the history book written by Jacques Doucet (in French):

First, there as an "e" like in "Expos", that could be read as a "c" for "club". Then, a "b" for "baseball", with both letters forming a "M" for "Montreal". Letters were in italic to create an impression of movement.

c.b. are also the initials of then-owner Charles Bronfman.

27. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: February 09, 2010 at 07:56 PM (#3456985)

I always heard that "HC" meant "Habitants de Canada". Apparently not.

Nobody has cleared this up yet, but I thought the 'H' was for the Habitants thing too. Obviously, Habitants has some meaning or the team would not be known as the Habs. I suppose then that the C and the H on the sweater are actually for Club and Hockey, but that some of us just assumed the wrong thing all this time because it sorta made sense if you didn't think about it very much.

Like A.D. standing for After Death.

28. DL from MN Posted: February 09, 2010 at 07:56 PM (#3456988)

Learn something new every day. I thought the CH was Canadien Hockey

29. Ankleball Moss Posted: February 09, 2010 at 08:25 PM (#3457038)

The H on the sweater stands for Hockey, not Habitants.

The team became the Habs, when Tex Rickard, the MSG/Rangers chief was either told erroneously, or made up a fable, that the H stood for Habitants, farmers in Quebec.

He started putting up Rangers vs. Habs on the MSG Marquee and the name and fable stuck.

But the H really does stand for hockey.

30. billyjack Posted: February 09, 2010 at 09:01 PM (#3457077)

I always heard the logo was for "canadiens" and "habitants (habs)"...

The first French settlers in Canada were known as "canadiens" and interchangibly as "habitants".
Habitants Definition

31. billyjack Posted: February 09, 2010 at 09:25 PM (#3457130)

By the way, the Quebec Winter Carnival ends this weekend. Try to get up there!
2010 Quebec Winter Carnival

Also, give Badaboum some love too...
Badaboum with the Old Nordiques

32. winnipegwhip Posted: February 09, 2010 at 09:58 PM (#3457178)

Whatever you call them there should be two teams in Quebec. I was never a fan of either team but boy do I miss those old Adams Division rivalries.

33. MNB Posted: February 09, 2010 at 10:27 PM (#3457225)

I keep looking for Mr. Miyagi in the picture. That's some sweet crane technique for a big orange fur ball.

34. MNB Posted: February 09, 2010 at 10:28 PM (#3457229)

Whatever you call them there should be two teams in Quebec. I was never a fan of either team but boy do I miss those old Adams Division rivalries.

And the divisions and conferences should go back to their historic names. One of my least favorite things that hockey has done was jettison the unique names (Adamns, Patrick, Wales, etc) for the generic geographic descriptive names.

35. jingoist Posted: February 09, 2010 at 10:43 PM (#3457248)

Hockey ditched those unique names because Americans neither knew of nor took the time to understand the legacy of the NHL.

36. Jamal Touch em All Posted: February 10, 2010 at 01:41 PM (#3457632)

This is the second Photo of the Day that I have a similar one myself. I had the Ernie Harwell statue and I have one quite similar to this, however I am the one in the Bruins jersey and Youppi! was strangling me. He has strong hands.

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Baseball Picture of the Day: YOUPPI post-Expos

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