colors and uniforms on November 15, 2005. The Expos colors of red, white, and blue were replaced with the Lake Monster colors of navy blue, Columbia blue, and lime green. The name references Champ, the legendary Lake Champlain monster which had been the team's mascot since 1994. The club's last game as the Vermont Expos was on September 8, 2005. They opened the 2006 season as the Vermont Lake Monsters. Expos legacy The franchise was the last professional ball club to carry the Expos name. The team's home ballpark, Centennial Field, is from the Montreal Expos' last home ballpark Olympic Stadium—closer than the Boston Red Sox' Fenway Park. While baseball fans in Burlington tend to root for the Red Sox, New York Mets, or New York Yankees, Montreal was the closest Major League Baseball team until moving to Washington, D.C., 2005. Fans along the border towns rooted for the Expos until the move. On July 22, 2005, the Vermont Expos held their first "Tribute to the Expos" promotion and honored Andre Dawson at Centennial Field. While the club changed its name to the "Lake Monsters" in 2006, the organization held its second "tribute to the Expos". The club honored pitcher Dennis Martínez and wore powder-blue Expos uniforms with the Expos name on the front and a Lake Monsters patch on the left sleeve. On August 5, 2007, the Lake Monsters honored the Expos again and brought Tim Wallach to Burlington. Oakland Athletics (2011–2020) Following the 2010 season, the Lake Monsters ended their affiliation with the Nationals and entered into a new player development contract (a working relationship between Major and Minor League teams) with the Oakland Athletics. This marked the first new MLB affiliation in the Lake Monsters' 17-year history. Vermont began its first year as an affiliate of the Oakland A's in June 2011. Ahead of the 2021 season, the Oakland Athletics ended their affiliation with the Lake Monsters, ending the 10-season affiliation with the team. Collegiate (2021–) Following the 2020 season, the whole of Minor League baseball was re-organized and many teams were eliminated. The entire single-A short season New York–Penn League was eliminated. Three league teams moved to the new High A level. The Lake Monsters joined the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a wooden bat college league. In their inaugural season, the Lake Monsters won the 2021 Futures Collegiate Baseball League championship, defeating the Pittsfield Suns in