Winnipeg Whips

The Winnipeg Whips were a professional Triple-A minor league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that played in the International League from 1970 to 1971. The team was affiliated with the Montreal Expos of Major League Baseball and played its home games at Winnipeg Stadium.

The franchise was founded as the Buffalo Bisons, a founding member of the International League in 1886. The Expos purchased the Bisons shortly after joining the National League in 1969 and were eager to relocate the struggling team, to the extent that the team was moved midseason from Buffalo to Winnipeg in June 1970. The Expos selected Winnipeg even though it was located 1,100 miles from the nearest league rival. As part of the move, the Expos agreed to pick up the additional travel costs of opposing teams, believing it would be a temporary measure until the Whips could switch to the American Association, a Triple-A league operating in the Midwestern United States, which was much closer to Winnipeg.[1]

The Whips did not fare well on the field, finishing in last place in both 1970 and 1971. Skyrocketing costs, coupled with the failed bid to join the American Association, forced the Expos to give up on Winnipeg and move the team to Hampton, Virginia after the 1971 season. The team became the Peninsula Whips and played two seasons out of Hampton War Memorial Stadium before the Expos folded the team.[1]