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It was a week when everything seemed to conspire to remind me of the days when I was first writing sports columns back in the mid-1990s — and to remind us all that the times are a-changing.

The nostalgic mood was struck first by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. appearing at the Olympic Stadium wearing number 27. His father (a no-show for his son’s debut at the Big O) was a splinter at this age, but apart from that there are many similarities, including the fact the younger Guerrero never saw a pitch he didn’t like. When he hit a walk-off home run for the game’s only run in the ninth inning Tuesday night, it was as though he were all younger, livelier, more hopeful.

But even then, the changes hit home: the home run was hit for the Blue Jays, not the Expos. The younger Guerrero will begin his career in Toronto, not Montreal. And while Stephen Bronfman hit a hopeful note in his remarks to the press, the Expos (at least for now) do not exist.