Posted on 09/29/2004 2:33:12 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
(AP) Montreal Expos fans show their feelings during their game against the Florida Marlins in Montreal... Full Image
WASHINGTON (AP) - The last time Washington's major league baseball team played a home game, fans stormed the field with two outs in the ninth inning in a show of anger and frustration over owner Bob Short's decision to move the team to Texas. But even then there was the expectation that in a relatively short time, major league baseball would find a way to put a team back in Washington. Instead it took 33 years.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball was expected to announce that the Montreal Expos will be relocating to Washington for the 2005 season.
"I've lived here all my life - I was a Washington Senators fan in the old days," retired Washington resident Bob Ryan said. "It's good to have it back."
Baseball takes pride in the fact that its franchises rarely move - the Senators were the last team to relocate - so it took an extremely unusual set of circumstances and a willingness to pay a steep price tag to give Washington its long awaited reward.
The money-losing Expos were bought by the other 29 major league owners in 2002, and the search began for a new home for the team. Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va.; Monterrey, Mexico; and Portland, Ore., all made bids, but none of those locations could match the Washington area's combination of a wealthy population base and a ready-made stadium that can be used while a state-of-the-art ballpark is being built.
"The stark, staring fact is 'Where else?'" said baseball author and political columnist George Will. "You can't do something with nothing. Someday Norfolk-Hampton Roads, maybe. Someday Las Vegas, maybe. Not now. Who can say with a straight face those are better for Major League Baseball than the Washington, D.C., area?"
Even so, deadline after deadline was missed as baseball sought the perfect financial deal. Washington came through with a $440 million package that includes a new ballpark on the Anacostia River, giving the city a clear advantage over a rival bid from Northern Virginia.
Much of the upfront money would come from a tax on the city's biggest businesses, which the City Council would have to approve. For some, the deal is too generous for a city that struggles to fund schools and city services.
"I think everybody is excited about baseball coming to the District," City Councilman Adrian Fenty said even as he sounded a caution: "Very few District residents are excited about a full subsidy to pay for this stadium. ... At the end of the day, you're not going to have (enough) council members support it."
Another hurdle has been Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who feels his team would be damaged financially by a competitor just 40 miles down the road. Baseball officials spent the last few days negotiating a compensation deal for Angelos.
While getting baseball back to Washington has been a struggle, the reality of having baseball in the capital wasn't always a source of joy. The original Senators, as the saying goes, were "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League." Owner Calvin Griffith, unhappy with attendance at the old Griffith Stadium, moved the team to Minnesota after the 1960 season as part of a deal that gave Washington an expansion team.
The new Senators weren't much better. Attendance sagged at RFK Stadium, which opened for baseball in 1962.
"Keep in mind there were only about a million people in the area at the time," Brotman said. "Transportation was not good. It was inconvenient. And we had, I have to say, a bad product."
Short moved the team to Texas where it became the Rangers, and the District has been teased regularly ever since. The San Diego Padres were so close to moving here in 1973 that baseball cards were printed with "Washington" in the team name.
Expansion franchises were awarded in 1976, 1991 and 1995, but the Washington-Northern Virginia area was spurned each time. In 1976, Northern Virginia businessman William Collins had an agreement to buy and move the Houston Astros, but Houston voters narrowly approved a referendum for a new stadium to keep their team.
This week, the frustrating wait finally paid dividends.
"For the first time, I feel major league baseball needs Washington," Brotman said. "Washington wants baseball - they don't need it. They're in business, and right now they're losing their butts on the Expos."
The Beltway Bandits seems appropriate.
Frankly the Os have done little for me to stay a fan. My beloved is an Os fan, from the Ripkin days and before. He has always had good memories of the team.
However, the last 5 years has really gotten the best of him. They were over paid thought they could get away with anything. They worried about the buck more then the game.
To go for just 2, would cost us over 100.00. Maybe a little competition will do some good.
In the end you will have 2 football teams and 2 baseball teams in spitting range. Should be interesting.
Here is a thought, perhaps the new team can get Cal to come on board. Now that would be worth watching for sure.
I cannot stop laughing. That was good, the immigrants. But wait don't they speak French?
Who wants to go into DC to see a bunch of overpaid starlets, when you can see the real game for a fraction of the price, and in your own county?
Like the Redskins, this is going to be another prestige team that all of the hip people follow. It will be unbearable.
That should be Les Immigrés de Washington
Holy smokes, I wouldn't drive a $440 Subaru along the banks of the Ann-Accost-Ya for fear of carjacking...
Thanks, FMC. I've heard it's very likely they'll go back to their original name, the Senators.
Hmm, well I guess that would work, I mean we expect so little from our congress critters that it might be an easy name to live up to. :)
Anything to hurt that Castro-loving Angelos is good for me.
I think Bureaucrats would be a good name, and it would certainly fit. Just imagine if they got hold of some of those fat, washed up players, then it would be a Bloated Bureaucracy....
It's hard to see how this will be a moneymaker for MLB. You're going to split attendance and tv viewership between two urban areas, and DC's is far more affluent and populous than Baltimore.
It would have been more interesting to bring the Expos to San Juan, Havana or Santa Domingo. Those areas would bring back real competition to the sport. (anti-castro feelings on FR not withstanding)
Two teams in a population of 7 million only works if theyre both winning. Its Catch 22, you lose and your revenues drop, and then its hard to get out of the rut if the money's not there, etc. No more Tejadas and Javy Lopez's, Im afraid.
Exactly! And when Washington says that the City is going to pay for the Stadium, they really mean you and me, since the Feds subsidize the City financially in a big way.. So, Baltimoreans are paying taxes so their own economy and prestige can be sapped by the rich kids down the street! Aint that fair!
I was listening to Radio Canada last night. One commentator reminded people that Montreal was on track to the World
Series, then league players went on strike. Montreal's management started selling off the good players.
The implication being that a successful year at that time could have spurred interest.
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