District Baseball

2003-12-16T14:57:00.000-05:00

It all makes sense now, doesn't it

Check out what Jack uncovered.

2003-10-07T01:45:00.000-04:00

Some fans are giving up

In his most recent "Sports People" column, Dick Heller of The Washington Times tells the story of Pat Malone, the co-founder of the Washington Senators Fan Club who's been one of the local drum beaters to get a team back in The District since 1977.

Heller writes:

"Major League Baseball has done us a great disservice by stringing us along all these years," Malone said last week. "Well, I'm not gonna let MLB screw with me anymore."
In a recent letter to the editor, Malone wrote, "Message to D.C. baseball fans: give up. Major league baseball is not coming back next year or possibly ever. ... For 28 years, I have represented baseball fans in this region. ... I have gone from being president of the fan club to being president of the Bucknell Little League in Alexandria. My focus now is on teaching children the joy of baseball."

Read the veteran sports columnist's entire take here.

2003-10-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

Bye-bye Bobby

It may not register on a lot of average fans' radar screens, but Bobby Goldwater's departure in Washington D.C. could have quite an impact on The District's hunt for a baseball team.

As reported in today's Washington Times, Goldwater, the director of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, will leave his job of three years in a month when his contract runs out. Bobby was pulling in a nice $275,000 annual check, by the way.

The Commission lost a lot of cash while he was in charge, but the city brought him here to get basically to get the Olympics and get a baseball team, and so far he's 0-for-2. But I think he was in so deep with the baseball movement, it'll be tough for someone else to come in and have the same kind of impact right off the bat, which is what The District needs.

Which I suppose means I agree with D.C. Council member Harold Brazil (*shudder*):

"I think he is a first-class professional, but he got maligned a bit and I hate to see him go because we don't have anybody to replace him. This is still a tight period for us with baseball. We have a good plan ... and we will find a way to get [a team] if it's humanly possible, but we'll have to get it done without Bobby."

And keep this in mind: If The District never again has a baseball team, blame Jack Evans. He's the one trying to play hardball with MLB on the stadium issue. And he wanted Goldwater out; last week, he tried to slash Goldwater's salary by more than half.

2003-09-24T13:02:00.000-04:00

Who knows what might happen in a year

By the time the Expos land in The District -- if it ever happens -- a whole new line of leadership may have formed. And, based on the returns this struggling franchise has had over the last two years, that would be unfortunate.

Frank Robinson, the hall of fame player and former Orioles skipper, is going to manage the Team USA Olympic qualifying group next summer. What happens next for him? Does he retire? Does he manage the team in the summer of 2005, which could and SHOULD be the first summer in Washington, D.C.?

Story here.

Meanwhile, the man who helped Robinson assemble this scrappy bunch of Expos is the hottest general manager candidate in Major League Baseball.

Omar Minaya, appointed by baseball to run the Expos sinking ship, has done a masterful job of keeping it afloat -- though the farm system has been stripped of most of its best prospects.

This has caught the eye of the Cincinnati Reds, who fired Jim Bowden midway through another disappointing season. They've all but named Minaya the top candidate to step into that role next season.

It would be a shame if the team lost these two key figures, sale or no sale, wherever the Expos land.

2003-09-08T01:58:00.000-04:00

Chasing our tail

It's been a long time with no update, and we apologize for that.

A few reasons:

1) For a while, there was so much news, it was hard to keep up with it all and still lead a somewhat normal life

2) Mass hysteria and confusion that even District Baseball couldn't noodle through. Damn, Oregon. One day they were done, gone, poof. . . . only to ressurect with a stadium bill in hand 24 hours later.

And that's where we stand.

Now, one of the idea we though dead and ridiculous (see our last post) has again found life thanks to Fearless Leader Bud and his minions. That's right: The Expos could play the ever-so-silly split schedule again next year.

Eric Fisher had more over the weekend in The Washington Times:

The Washington area's hopes for major league baseball in the near future suffered yet another setback yesterday when the MLB Players Association said it would be open to considering another split home schedule for the Montreal Expos.
That reversal of position, six weeks after the union bitterly said it would not approve such a slate, was followed by Expos president Tony Tavares saying, "you're either looking at Monterrey [Mexico], Puerto Rico and Montreal" as the team's home or homes in 2004.

Hmmm. I sense arm-twisting. Why else would you want to continue having all of your owners support a flailing franchise that plays in a dump with no fans most of the time and some poor island or city (pick one) the rest of the time?

Another interesting note from The Oregonian:

"You're either looking at Monterrey (Mexico), Puerto Rico and Montreal," Expos president Tony Tavares told reporters before Friday's opener of the team's final San Juan homestand.

Portland officials said Thursday they are still trying to decide whether to submit a provisional bid for the Expos in 2004. Portland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., are vying for the team's permanent relocation.
...

Commissioner Bud Selig could announce the Expos' 2004 fate Tuesday at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

And around and round and round we go . . . .

2003-08-18T00:18:00.000-04:00

Real news and solid speculation

Baseball columnist Tracy Ringolsby dropped an interesting bomb in his latest column from the Rocky Mountain News.

Apparently, he's gotten a sneak peek at the preliminary schedule for the 2004 Major League Baseball schedule, and made this note:

What makes it appear that baseball will keep the Expos in Montreal for another year or move to Washington is that the preliminary schedules are out, and trips involving games against the Expos include cities in the Northeast such as New York.

In other words, there's no Puerto Rico or Mexico in MLB's thinking right now. They're grouping the Expos with East Coast teams on other teams' road trips. If there were plans to play in Mexico or Puerto Rico, the Expos series would be grouped with Florida teams or Texas teams.

Interesting, no?

It doesn't mean Baseball in D.C. is a sure thing, but it means the ridiculous notions of playing in Puerto Rico or Mexico full time have been shelved.

That, needless to say, bodes well for the District bid.

Read Ringolsby's whole note here.

2003-08-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

September 1

Mark that date on your calendars, District Baseball fans.

Major Leage Baseball President Bob DuPuy (that would be Bud's right hand man / henchman) said on Wednesday that the Expos situation for next season should be noodled through and announced by Sept. 1.

Now granted, MLB has given us dates before. But the pressure, from people inside and out of baseball and even from the MLB folks running the Montreal Expos, has picked up quite a bit. Maybe baseball means it this time.

DuPuy told reporters: "There are schedule issues, stadium issues, people issues that all have to be dealt with. Our No. 1 priority with this is still to get a permanent deal done."

And then he fell down the steps and had to be taken away by ambulence. No joke.

Read about all of the latest in Eric Fisher's story form The Washington Times.

Meanwhile, DC Baseball's Winston Lord doesn't think it can happen by next season. Even though, according to Bobby Goldwater in Fisher's story, The District still has enough time to get the facilities ready to host games next year.

Glad everyone's on the same page.

2003-08-05T12:22:00.000-04:00

Attracting the 'semi-fans'

This opinion piece from The Washington Post's Style section actually makes a lot of sense. Sometimes it's nice to get ideas from someone other than old fat white sports columnists and old fat white city councilmen -- or in the case of Washington, D.C., old councilmen.

Anyway, in her story, baseball mom Deborah Missal makes the following points on how to get the non-seamhead interested in getting (and keeping -- hey, D.C. has already struck out twice) a Major League Baseball team:

1) You need a good setting and a good stadium

2) That stadium should have some good grub

3) Rock some sweet tunes and make the atmosphere fun (though not overboard -- you hear me Orlando?)

4) Have good, interesting players. She uses Big Daddy Melvin Mora as a "for instance"

Oh yeah, and finally? Win, and don't let it go downhill. I hope you're reading, Mr. Angelos.

2003-08-04T17:48:00.000-04:00

Around the Web: The Diamond Angle

Our thanks to the folks over at The Diamond Angle for adding us to their links.

Check out the site at www.thediamondangle.com. They also have a baseball blog, which is how I stumbled upon them.

Give them a visit, and check out the quality content from their fleet of contributors!

2003-08-04T13:57:00.000-04:00

What the cluck?

We mentioned last week that the Virginia Baseball folks debuted their new Mascot, Nimby the Chicken.

You can check out some photos of him here. Pretty funny.

2003-08-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

And you thought Puerto Rico was a bad idea?

Wait until you get a load of the latest potential suitor for our Montreal Expos.

No, gracias.

2003-08-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

Meanwhile, over in Portland . . .

It looks like the city out west vying for the Expos actually has a plan, but the government is ignoring it. You know, they have better things to do, like balance the budget.

I love the first quote:

Oregon backers say they remain confident. But senators mired in budget wrangling have little comment on the measure, which passed the House on a 33-25 vote in early May.

“We are so entrenched in dealing with budget issues that baseball might as well be on Mars,” Senate Democratic Leader Kate Brown of Portland said this past week.

Brown is a co-chair of the Senate Rules Committee, where the baseball bill has had no attention except for one hearing in June.

Kevin Campbell, leader of a team of lobbyists working on the baseball plan, said the fact the bill hasn’t passed doesn’t automatically mean bad news.

“We always knew we would be behind work on the budgets,” he said.

Opposition in Washington, D.C focuses on the city’s $339 million stadium financing plan, which relies on ballpark-related taxes and business taxes.

Don't mention Mars to Fearless Leader Bud Selig. . . . he may just try and get a couple series played there.

2003-08-01T11:29:00.000-04:00

DC: Damn Chilly

The good news is we could learn within two weeks where the Expos will play next season.

The bad news? District politics may screw the city's bid because (a) no one can agree on a stadium finance plan and (b) everyone wants to take sole credit for bringing baseball back to The District -- which makes cooperation a tad difficult.

Mayor Tony Williams sounded off on the subject on WTOP yesterday: "I think everybody is [frustrated. Absolutely. I think you're already seeing some frustration, and people saying we don't want to make any more commitments until we get a declaration of support from baseball and a sign that this is the site from baseball. I think you're already seeing some sense of anxiety and frustration."

Eric Fisher has a nice District Baseball roundup on the front page of today's sports section in The Washington Times.

2003-08-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

Battleground: Arlington

Quick update on the Arlington situation.

The Virginia baseball folks came out loud and proud at Tuesday's board meeting, with new mascot in tow:

From The Washington Times:

Local stadium advocates, furious with Arlington County's surprise request to remove the jurisdiction from ballpark site consideration, staged a noisy rally before last night's county board meeting complete with their new mascot, NIMBY the County Board Chicken.
The fowl mascot represented the silliest — but by no means first or last — sign of each side in the stadium debate digging in its heels and preparing for further battles.

Of course, it didn't really change the board's mind, but it got their message out loud and clear, for what that's worth.

Meanwhile, the guvnah got in on the action on his weekly show on WTOP, a local news radio station.

Mark Warner:

"I'm frustrated with Major League Baseball. They keep moving the finish line as to when the process is going to be complete. ... If they keep stringing out the process, there may be no suitor at the end of the day. And baseball will have basically shot itself in the foot or other parts of its body by not moving more aggressively and partnering with a community."

2003-07-29T15:22:00.000-04:00

"Dreams die hard"

Just ask columnist Dick Heller, who has continued pining for Major League Baseball's return to D.C. for years while watching the Orioles sink further and further into the toilet.

He's run out of sympathy for the O's and their fans though.

An exerpt from his column in Monday's Washington Times, which he wrote after watching the Hall of Fame ceremonies:

On a suitably murky afternoon, we got a peek at baseball's best and worst — the latter personified by the presence of commissioner Bud Selig and Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Until further notice, it's reasonable to assume that these twin towers of horsehide demonry are the guys who are keeping major league baseball out of Washington — Angelos because a team here might lower the value of the Baltimore franchise he is trying to sell and Selig because he apparently wants to keep Angelos happy.

Why does Bud want to keep Pete happy? Don't ask me; I haven't got a clue. But since Washington is the only logical home for the Montreal/San Juan Expos, we must conclude that the Orioles/Angelos factor is the biggest reason our baseball birthright hasn't been restored for next season after a lapse of 32 years.

. . . . Perhaps Selig and his owners still plan to contract the Expos after the 2006 season, when the expiration of their current agreement with the players association would permit them to do so. Meanwhile, the expense of maintaining the franchise is costing each of the 29 other club owners a few million a year. And these club owners — men who have been vastly successful at other enterprises — are willing to follow the lead of a former used car salesman like Bud Selig?

I tell ya, something smells funny here.

You're telling me.

2003-07-28T15:45:00.000-04:00

* Shew *

I saw the headline for this story from The Washington Times and immediately thought, "Oh crap, they're going to try to put the Expos in The Orient."

Then I read it and realized Baseball's fearless leader is just trying to make more cash for MLB out in Tokyo.

From Eric Fisher's story:

Baseball's recent effort also highlights a fast-growing seriousness about its Asian business interests. With MLB assured of labor peace through 2006 and commissioner Bud Selig now embracing a much looser style of management in which no new idea is too crazy for consideration, baseball is at last willing and able to take full economic opportunity of one of the sport's true hotbeds.

Here's a "crazy" idea: How about putting a baseball team in The District? The Expos, anyone? Hmmmmmmm?

2003-07-28T15:25:00.000-04:00

Get your protest on

Virginians for Baseball are going back to Arlington with a renewed vigor.

Tuesday night, there's a protest scheduled for outside the Arlington County Courthouse during the Arlington County board meeting at 6:45pm.

I suddenly feel like DC Metro Action, though I don't think he'd be touting this demonstration.

So, well, good luck Virginia. Methinks you're going to need it.

2003-07-25T01:02:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry, your opinion doesn't matter

That's what the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority told Arlington on Thursday night, saying that even though the county wants to take its ball and go home, well, it can't.

From The Washington Times: "We're still not ruling anything out," said Michael Frey, stadium authority chairman. "We need to do our job. Arlington County has asked to be removed before we've finished our job, but we need to keep doing our job."

This just shows you that the people in the Stadium Authority aren't quite as slow as they sometimes seem.

They know the only place for a stadium in Virginia is Arlington, preferably on or near the water.

Build it in Dulles, Sterling or anywhere else in Loudoun County, and you'll have another Tampa Bay on your hands. People won't go. And even if they do go, they won't get there until the fourth inning because of the traffic anyway. Pretty much the same goes for the toilet known as Prince William County.

With a little Arlington arm twisting, Virginia still has a shot at getting the Expos, albeit long in my opinion.

Without Arlington, forget about it.

2003-07-21T18:09:00.000-04:00

A strange story

Don't know if it's from sloppiness or being rushed or from plain ignorance, but this column on the Expos relocation process doesn't even mention Washington D.C.

Northern Virginia? Check. Portland? Check. Puerto Freakin' Rico? Ci.

But no District Baseball mentioned in Edward de la Fuente's baseball notes column.

Then you have these remarks from Expos All-Star second baseman Jose Vidro:

"It's time for somebody to make a decision, because this thing's taking way too long. We're big-leaguers, and we should be treated that way. It's time for them to give us a home. I don't care if it's northern Virginia or Portland or Puerto Rico or even Montreal. It's time they told us that we're playing 81 games in one place."

Do these people, writers and even players know something we don't? Are we missing something?

2003-07-21T17:03:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest

I liked Ralph Nader a lot more when he was running for president.

Because now, he's trying to screw up the District Baseball bid. Like the city needed his help to do that.

Eric Fisher's story from The Washington Times is here.

Ralph's upstart group: www.leagueoffans.org

2003-07-15T20:55:00.000-04:00

The Baseball Gods must be crazy

This just came over the AP Wire.

Expos could play 81 games in Puerto Rico next year
CHICAGO (AP) – The Montreal Expos could play their entire home schedule in Puerto Rico next season under a plan being considered by major league baseball.
To raise revenue, the commissioner's office moved 22 of the team's 81 home games this season to Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan. Baseball still hasn't come up with a permanent solution for the Expos, who were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season.
While baseball's goal is to have a decision by September, the sport's top officials say they don't feel bound by any deadline.
"Puerto Rico has made a proposal to play all 81 home games in Puerto Rico, and it has not been rejected," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said before the All-Star game Tuesday night.
Northern Virginia; Portland, Ore.; and Washington, D.C., are all trying to land the Expos on a permanent basis, but baseball owners want to have a complete financing plan for a new ballpark in place before making a decision.
DuPuy said no particular plan was a front-runner at this point, either for a long-term solution or for 2004.
"They could play 81 games in any one of a number of locations," he said.
Montreal players have complained of their constant travel this season. They were 32-18 on May 25, then went 8-14 on a trip that ended June 19. They entered the All-Star break 49-45, four games behind Florida, the NL wild-card leader.
"It's been very hard," said second baseman Jose Vidro, the NL starter in the All-Star game. "Me being Puerto Rican, I would love it to be in Puerto Rico, but to tell you the truth, I don't care where we play next season as long as we play 81 games in the same place"
Approval of the players was necessary for baseball to move the 22 home games, and it may be more difficult for management to gain consent for two different home sites next year. Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players' association, declined comment.
The Expos are averaging 12,206 for home games, the lowest in the major leagues. They are averaging 11,133 in Montreal and 14,216 in Puerto Rico, where they have played 16 games.

2003-07-15T14:48:00.000-04:00

I couldn't agree more with this angry fellow

At least as far as Portland is concerned.

Good to hear they have their own nay-sayers out West, too.

The letter

2003-07-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

Ugh

I don't know if you give Major League Baseball president Bob DuPay credit for creativity for this one or just slap him.

From Eric Fisher's story in The Washington Times:

CHICAGO — Major League Baseball executives said yesterday they will hold on to the Montreal Expos as long as necessary rather than make a hasty decision in the hope of moving the franchise before the 2004 season.

"When the moon, the stars, the sun and the dollars are all aligned, we'll do this [relocation]," MLB president Bob DuPuy said.

It's all coming down to money, it seems, and Bud Selig & Co. appear willing to sit on the Expos until they can get back more than the $120 million they paid for it. And that means, potentially, waiting for the economy to rebound and to get a fully-funded stadium deal from the lucky city MLB chooses.

Fisher's story from Chicago is here.

2003-07-15T03:48:00.000-04:00

Bud speaks, we listen (but only 'cause we have to)

Baseball's fearless leader, Bud Selig, talked to the fans and media on Tuesday and had nothing new to say about the Expos, according to the story at MLB.com. Shocker. But the good news is they're going to keep talking about it for the rest of the summer.

The important blurb:

Regarding the Expos' future and D.C.'s chances of getting the team, Selig said, "We have a relocation committee studying all the aspects of the Montreal club. It's the last residue of contraction. The Puerto Rican experiment [with the Expos playing 22 games in San Juan this season] has been a wonderful experiment. [Expos manager] Frank Robinson has told me that the players enjoyed it and that he's enjoyed it. We feel very good about that experiment.

"But we need to seriously consider what we do with the Montreal club. The relocation committee has been involved in a lot of work. It will continue to be. We haven't set a timetable. I'm sure we'll be discussing the matter a lot during the rest of this summer."

Selig did say he expected the Expos to remain in the NL no matter where the team moves.

So at least, if we get baseball, it will be real baseball.

You have a few options for getting info about Bud's chat:

1. The complete, hard to read transcript

2. The MLB.com "news" story about the event

3. Listen to it yourself and form your own opinions. But you need a RealOne Player.

4. Read USA Today's recap

2003-07-15T03:36:00.000-04:00

There are two people to blame

Peter Angelos and Mayor For Life Marion Barry , if you buy Thom Loverro's line of thought from Monday's column.

He makes a point; Angelos is the easy and eternal scapegoat -- in fact, the old man would rather a team land in New Jersey than in D.C. But the Barry theory makes sense too. I'm sure many outside the area do still think he's the mayor. And I'm sure some in baseball fear he could be re-elected any day now. You know plenty of D.C. types would vote for him again.

Scary thought, baseball or no baseball.

Loverro also offers this gem on councilmember Jack Evans:

Evans' bravado may have made everyone in D.C. feel good, but one owner kindly referred to it as "counterproductive." And before anyone pins a medal on Evans for his moral outrage against baseball's hardball tactics with the District, let's remember this is the city councilman who once declared it "Don King Day" in Washington.

Only in D.C.

2003-07-15T03:28:00.000-04:00

Let's get back to work

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last couple days. Class reunion, fun in the sun and work all went back-to-back-to-back. Kind of like those Pujols homers during the home run contest.

Did we get our team yet? Hmmm. . . . . lets check.

Nope, nothing yet.

2003-07-12T11:40:00.000-04:00

Interact with our fearless leader

MLB commish Bud Selig will have a live "Town Hall" chat with fans on Monday. You can e-mail questions, taunts or whatever to His Excellency or just sit back and watch him lie.

Info and link to join in here.

2003-07-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

More bad (though not neccesarily new) news

This from that bastion of journalism excellence, MLB.com:

Major League Baseball has made no decision about the future of the Montreal Expos nor does it expect to have any significant announcement about it during the All-Star break, said Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.

All three communities vying for the team -- Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Portland, Ore. -- haven't finished financial packages and site selection for a new ballpark to permanently house the Expos. MLB, though, has a proposal in hand for the Expos to play perhaps as much as the entire 2004 home schedule in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where 22 games are being played this year at 18,000-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

What a smack in the face. Is it any wonder the D.C. Council is all fired up by all of this?

Full story here.

2003-07-12T11:31:00.000-04:00

The BBC weighs in

Good to know they're keeping up with our baseball plight across the pond.

BBC correspondent Steve Schifferes writes a tidy little feature on Washington's attempts to land the Expos and provides a brief history of the region's baseball endeavors. It's worth checking out simply for the shot of Nixon at a Senators game back in the 1970s.

He writes:

Many people believe that this year may be "the one last chance" for baseball to return to the district, and hope that MLB executives make a decision soon, rather than defer the decision again.

"I think it would be very dangerous if they choose to wait," said Fred Malek, who is bidding to buy the Expos and bring them to DC. Any delay would greatly reduce the changes of Washington ever getting a team."

It looks like it IS going to be delayed. . . . so I hope Mr. Malek is wrong. We'll soon see.

2003-07-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

Meanwhile, across the country. . . .

It's easy to forget that Oregon, in a way, is going through the same thing we are here in The District.

It's just that (a) they haven't had baseball stolen from them twice and (b) haven't been waiting for it to return since 1971.

So check out "Expos decision will wait" from The Oregonian.

2003-07-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

More Commonwealth coverage

The Washington Post's Fairfax Extra had a "cover story" called "Making a pitch on financing", which included graphs on the payment options and a picture of the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority's proposed stadium, as well as a Fairfax sidebar (support lacking) and a Montreal lack-of-fans sidebar. All you get online is the "Making a pitch" story.

What's strange is that Arlington and Fairfax have gone on the record, loudly, saying they don't want baseball there. But the Stadium Authority soldiers on.

2003-07-11T11:45:00.000-04:00

Virginia Nimbys

Both local papers detailed Arlington objection to a stadium in that city -- the best place in Virginia to put it, if the Commonwealth ever actually got a team.

In an opinion poll released yesterday by the Cafritz Foundation, 64 percent of Arlington residents said they didn't want a new stadium in the county. And, the people that own the best land for a site don't want to sell.

Let me help everyone involved: Virginians don't want a team, and DC doesn't want Virginia to have a team UNLESS it's in Arlington overlooking the Potomac River. That's it. No suburbs, no Centreville, no Ashburn or Dulles. It's DC or Arlington, nothing else.

The Washington Times story, by Eric Fisher

The Washington Post story, by Chris Jenkins

2003-07-11T11:32:00.000-04:00

One day later. . .

The Washington Post got slammed by The Washington Times yesterday, and attempts to make up for it today with a barrage of stories on The District's baseball plight.

- 27 Miles To Home Plate: A "day at the Yard" feature in the Post detailing why District and Virginia baseball fans don't -- and shouldn't -- give a flip about the Baltimore Orioles. My favorite line so far:

Baltimore is not Washington. Washington is not Baltimore. It doesn't matter that the Orioles took "Baltimore" off the uniforms. People from the District and its suburbs can embrace the Orioles if they wish , and many do. But it's not exactly a cultural imperative. It's optional. A Washingtonian can root for the Orioles without deeply identifying with them.

- Thomas Boswell column: The Boz questions how much money the D.C. buyers actually have for stadiums, teams and such, while also condemning The District's latest strong-arming tactics with Major League Baseball. The loud assertions likely cost us a chance of finding out what happens this weekend:

Don't hold your breath. Nothing's going to happen next week in Chicago. Not a word. Not a peep. A news conference, an announcement? Dream on. Cancel the parade. We're getting the silent treatment.

Baseball's official version through a spokesman, is that, well, there was "never a deadline" for a recommendation. In other words, it's the usual: Baseball's position on Washington is "unchanged" except that if the game does change its mind it will just say, "That was our position all along."

- No word on Expos likely: Yeah, no shit Mark Asher, we read this in The Washington Times yesterday. The only reason to read this story is to see the rarest of rare lines in a Post story:

The Washington Times reported yesterday the first public comments by an MLB official on the matter.

Ouch!

2003-07-10T15:05:00.000-04:00

At least they're resilient

They're 11 games out of first place, but the Montreal Expos are hanging in there.

They have two series coming up against National League East leader Atlanta and second-place Philadelphia. The Expos could make up tremendous ground with a few wins, or call it curtains with a rash of losses.

And the Expos have done all of this without the services of one of baseball's greatest young players, Vladimir Guerrero, who has so far missed 41 games this season.

Sportsticker breaks it down.

As a District Baseball fan, you should hope for his: Guerrero gets healthy, the Expos make a run at the division title and management thus deals away none of the top talent -- like Guerrero. DC needs a star when the team lands in the Nation's Capital, and Guerrero is one of the brightest.

2003-07-10T09:28:00.000-04:00

The Long Road

Eric Fisher from The Washington Times put together the definitive piece on Washington's latest quest for a baseball team last week. It's long, but it really gets to the root of the fans' longing for baseball -- as well as everything the city and its people have put into bringing baseball back.

2003-07-10T09:07:00.000-04:00

Not good news

Everyone will still be in Chicago on their knees before Bud the Great, but it doesn't look like the District will hear anything new from Major League Baseball during the all-star break.

Read Eric Fisher's article from The Washington Times.

Meanwhile, ESPN.com's Jim Caple seems to think the Expos should stay in Montreal. Yeah, right. I'm sure MLB will go for that.

2003-07-09T14:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome

We're getting close to crunch time (again) here in the D.C. area in regards to getting another Major League baseball team.

At this site, we'll attempt to follow the process as closely as possible, collecting news from around the world about the District's quest to land a team.

So let's cross our fingers and hope for the best!