And the basket-case Montreal Expos ended the most dismal of their 32 seasons on the brink of folding, raising the possibility that there may soon be only one Canadian team for the new crop of home-grown players to aspire to.

 Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced Nov. 6 he wanted to eliminate two teams -- one of them surely the Expos, the other likely the Minnesota Twins -- for next season.

 And even if Selig's so-called "contraction" doesn't go through, the Expos' best hope appears to be holding one last lame-duck season at Olympic Stadium.

 "It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I have not given up on contraction for 2002," Selig said. "Nor have the clubs."

 The Expos are likely to become ownerless next month.

 Expos owner Jeffrey Loria has reached a conditional deal to purchase the Florida Marlins from John Henry, who last week won a bidding contest for the Boston Red Sox.

 The Toronto Blue Jays are not in danger yet, but according to baseball's figures, they lost a whopping $52.9 million US in 2001. The Jays have already begun shedding some of their expensive players -- a road the Expos started on a few years ago en route to their current situation.

 Ironically, the trickle-down effect the Expos and Blue Jays have had over the years on the development of Canadian players was never more evident than this year -- both in numbers and quality of major leaguers.

 Larry Walker of Maple Ridge, B.C., became the first Canadian since James (Tip) O'Neill in 1887 to win a big-league batting title after hitting .350 with the Colorado Rockies. He also hit 38 home runs and drove in 123.

 Corey Koskie of Anola, Man., became the first American League third baseman to hit 25 home runs, steal 25 bases and drive in 100 runs in a season. The Minnesota Twin also scored 100 runs.

 Jeff Zimmerman of Kelowna, B.C., had another fine season as closer for the Texas Rangers, Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C., was a stalwart in the Florida Marlins starting rotation and Paul Quantrill of London, Ont., went 11-2 with a 3.04 earned-run average out of the Blue Jays bullpen -- only to be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season.

 There was also left-hander Rheal Cormier of Shediac, N.B., who had a decent comeback from injuries and a 5-6 record in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, and Chris Reitsma of Calgary, who made 29 starts for the Cincinnati Reds, going a disappointing 7-15.

 Eric Gagne of Montreal showed promise as a lefty in the Dodgers' rotation, going 6-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 24 starts.

 Chicago Cubs outfielder Matt Stairs of Fredericton (.250 with 17 HR) and Texas pitcher Aaron Myette of New Westminster, B.C., (4-5 in 15 starts) were other Canadians to play big-league ball last season.

 None of the new generation of Canadians plays for a Canadian franchise and it may be just as well, considering the direction they're going.

 The Expos never recovered from the 1994 players' strike, which wiped out the end of a season in which they had the best record in the majors (74-40).

 A series of fire-sale trades and departures of key players like Walker, Moises Alou and Pedro Martinez eroded fan interest to the point that they drew only 619,451 spectators for last season -- their lowest attendance ever.

 The Expos had a fourth consecutive year with fewer than 70 wins (68-94) and saw popular manager Felipe Alou axed in favour of Loria's friend, Jeff Torborg, in mid-season.

 Winding down a miserable season, the few remaining fans watched in anticipation as hard-throwing right-hander Javier Vazquez attempted to become only the second Expo ever to get 20 wins, only to see his season ended four short of the goal when he was knocked out by a pitch from a Canadian -- Dempster.

 The Blue Jays went 80-82, but had some key players like Carlos Delgado and Raul Mondesi struggle at the plate.

 When the season ended, general manager Gord Ash was sacked, later to be replaced by former Oakland Athletics executive J.P. Ricciardi.

 Then the salary-shedding trades started, beginning with closer Billy Koch going to Oakland for minor-leaguers Eric Hinske and Justin Miller.

 Shortstop Alex Gonzalez was dealt to the Chicago Cubs for lefty Feliz Heredia and Quantrill went to L.A. along with infielder Cesar Izturis for a pair of minor leaguers.

 The Blue Jays, who drew an average of 23,694 to the SkyDome, are well ahead of the Expos in attendance, local TV revenue and sponsors, but a weak dollar and rising player salaries do not bode well for any Canadian team.

 What killed fan interest in Montreal was not only losing, but a sense of hopelessness -- that even if they filled the stadium, the team would still lose its top players to richer U.S.-based clubs.

 Financial statements released by baseball in support of contraction, which were contested by the players' association, showed the Blue Jays as the sports' biggest money-losers.

 "The foreign exchange makes up three-quarters of the loss," said Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey. He insisted, however, that "the future viability of this team is very strong."

 Thanks to revenue-sharing, the Expos lost only $10 million US.