Baseball in DC !!

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:15 am

A press conference is scheduled for around 5 p.m. today to announce the Expos are coming to DC according to News 4. The time may change but this is the news they have so far. A call is supposed to be made by Selig around 3 p.m., then the press conference.

www.nbc4.com

Redskins Rule · Post by **Redskins Rule** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:20 am

If the report is true then this is just AWESOME!!!!

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:30 am

It's supposed to be true....just crossing some t's and dotting some i's.

redskindave · Post by **redskindave** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:45 am

I thought that would happen, Im glad the Expos are going to Washington, Baseball belongs in D.C. HTTR

BringThePain! · Post by **BringThePain!** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:00 am

Baseball in DC ... :cry:

.... Thought it would never happen....

:rock:

doroshjt · Post by **doroshjt** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:03 am

Yeah, I can't wait. Its going to be a great time here next spring, finally something to fill the void after football.

BTP how many more posts?

BringThePain! · Post by **BringThePain!** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:27 am

1735 brings me freedom....

I know it's still early to think about, but I'm hoping we get a couple super-stars to come and join us here in DC... The Expos now look awful....

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:05 am

Yes! This is a really good birthday present! I know my Skins lost and it's the CRAPPY, CRAPPY Expos that are mvoing here but it's the principle. BASEBALL IS BACK! Woo-hoo!

I do have to repeat myself... I will still root for the O's and they will have a place in my heart but they aren't my number 1 team anymore.

Wysocki · Post by **Wysocki** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:38 am

The O's are now dead to me...Cal and Brooks will be in my fond memory file but that's about it...and I hope Cal is the next Senator's GM...(or manager if Frank steps down)...that would really stick it to Angelos...

joebagadonuts · Post by **joebagadonuts** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:43 am

BringThePain! wrote:1735 brings me freedom....

make sure you wash your sig space THOROUGHLY now that it's been infected. might want to try a little neosporin too.

doroshjt · Post by **doroshjt** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:04 pm

We're a national league town now folks. Sports Talk 980 now gives national league scores first, I just got goose bumps over it.

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:14 pm

Man, I'm not even thinking about football.

Watching this press conference, I'm thinking about being a part of history and being so ecstatic about a team finally returning to D.C. I can't believe my eyes.

This is so awesome!

Thank you Pee Wee Herman... I mean Mayor Williams! :rock:

welch · Post by **welch** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:00 pm

Note the date: on this day in 1924 the Nats clinched their first pennant.

Here's to Clark Griffith, Bucky Harris, Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Cecil Travis, Mickey Vernon, Roy Sievers, Camilo Pascual, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Howard, Dick Bosman, and all the rest.

Here's to Arch McDonald and Bob Woolf. McDonald, who used to broadcast away games by reading from a telegraph ticker, dinging a bell when someone got a base hit. Who died of a heart-attack after calling a Redskin/Giants game about 1959. Woolf, who is still active, working for a TV station on Long Island.

Here's to Shirley Povich and Bob Addie, who covered the Senators when I was a kid. They made me want to read. (Sorry, Mrs. Cole, of Bunker Hill Elementary School. It was the Post, not "Alice and Jerry")

Baseball Coming Back to D.C. After 33 Years

By Thomas Heath and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 29, 2004; 5:19 PM

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig today informed District officials that the Montreal Expos will be playing for Washington on Opening Day in April, ending the city's 33-year wait for baseball to return.

"Congratulations. It's a long time coming," Selig told District Mayor Anthony A. Williams and a roomful of council members and city sports and entertainment officials during a 4:05 p.m. conference call.

Afterward Williams spoke to reporters as he left City Hall to head to a formal announcement and celebration at the downtown City Museum.

"I'm elated," Williams said. "We put a lot of time into this, and it's finally paid off."

The announcement ended a two-year saga in which baseball has sought to find a new home for the ailing Expos, who have lost millions of dollars over the years and have one of the lowest attendance records in baseball.

"Washington, D.C., as our nation's capital, is one of the world's most important cities and Major League Baseball is gratified at the skill and perseverance show by Mayor Williams throughout this long process," Selig said in a statement. "There has been tremendous growth in the Washington DC area over the last 33 years and we in Major League Baseball believe that baseball will be welcomed there and will be a great success."

District officials said that they knew at 8 p.m. last night that they would get the call at 4 p.m. today, but Williams said he still was nervous today.

"I was always looking for wood paneling, wood tables -- something to knock on," he said.

Immediately after the call from Selig, officials including Williams signed a 30-page memo of understanding promising to build a stadium on South Capitol Street and to pay for it with city funds. The document had already been signed by Expos officials.

Expos President Tony Tavares also told reporters in Montreal that the team would be moving.

"It's a day when the sun is setting in Montreal, but it's rising in Washington," Tavares told a news conference at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. "To those of you in Washington, I say I look forward to seeing you down there."

The announcement followed several days of negotiations between Major League Baseball and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos on a compensation package that would give Angelos certain financial guarantees to offset the impact of a team in Washington.

The city has promised to build a $400 million stadium on the Anacostia River waterfront, where the Expos, who will likely be renamed by its new owner, will play starting in the 2008 season. Renovations to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, where the team will play until its new home is completed, will take at least three months, according to Mark H. Tuohey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission and the city's point man on the Expos deal.

Baseball is hoping the Expos will fetch more than $300 million in an auction. The league is likely to put the team up for sale this fall and possibly close the deal by year's end, which would give a new ownership group an opportunity to put its stamp on the organization. The Washington Baseball Club, a group of powerful local businessmen who have been spearheading efforts to get a franchise in the city, is expected to be among the contenders.

Washington, D. C., was chosen over five other locations vying for the Expos, including Northern Virginia, Norfolk, Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., and Monterrey, Mexico. Baseball all but settled on the District at a meeting of its executive council in Milwaukee last week, where the District's bid overwhelmed the competition.

An announcement on the Expos' fate was needed by the end of the week in order to give the D.C. Council enough time to approve the legislation for the new stadium and the $13 million it will cost to renovate RFK.

Williams, who met with several council members or their staffs Tuesday, said he is optimistic that he has enough support on the council to get the stadium built. He said that Council chairman Linda W. Cropp, a Democrat, emphasized at the meeting that he and other city officials have to sell the virtues of the stadium through a public education campaign.

Williams said the campaign will focus on three things: how the stadium is being paid for; how it benefits community by adding jobs and businesses; how it will generate development and improve recreation facilities for children. He said they have to take the message to every neighborhood in the city and detail the benefits for residents.

Baseball's 29 owners bought the Expos for $120 million in February 2002 from Jeffrey Loria, who now owns the Florida Marlins. The Expos, who were to play their final game in Montreal tonight, have lost tens of millions over the years.

Baseball President Robert A. DuPuy and Angelos met Tuesday for six hours in Angelos's Baltimore law offices. Angelos called the negotiations "a work in progress. We are trying to make a deal, but we have not reached a point of agreement."

Said DuPuy: "We had a very constructive dialogue and explored a number of areas of concern on his part, consistent with his desire to protect the franchise and protect the Baltimore community. No agreement was reached, but a number of ideas were offered for consideration. I'm going back to review those with the commissioner and members of our staff."

Angelos has said a team in Washington will hurt the Orioles. But after months of saying he would refuse to allow the Expos' relocation to the District, Angelos said Tuesday he would agree to a team if baseball met certain conditions.

"Those conditions are the preservation of the franchise, the protection of the asset and the safety of the revenue stream," Angelos said. "If those ingredients are present, an agreement can be struck."

The three-pronged proposal calls for the Orioles' participation in a regional sports network together with the Washington team; for baseball to make up for any revenue shortfall the Orioles might suffer because of the new team; and for baseball to also guarantee the Orioles' value will not decline below a certain level in the event of a sale. Baseball would make up the difference, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Angelos reportedly wants the financial guarantees to be effective indefinitely, while baseball wants the guarantees to last only as long as Angelos owns the team.

NC43Hog · Post by **NC43Hog** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:44 pm

Awesome, just awesome. The Senators II????

RedskinsFreak · Post by **RedskinsFreak** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:15 pm

No! Senators III! LOL

All is right with the world again. For the first time, Washington DC is a four=sport player.

(Now they just need the hockey guys to actually PLAY!)

It'll be fun going back to good ol' RFK for games that matter again!

tcwest10 · Post by **tcwest10** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:26 pm

All I'm able to say is, I hope you guys beat the Mets every time you play 'em.
Congrats.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:33 am

Congrats! I don't follow baseball too closely, but I've been to several D-backs games. An added attraction to DC - and a good team to boot - congrats to the community!

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:24 pm

Scooter wrote:and a good team to boot

The Expos?... :hmm:

Redskins1974 · Post by **Redskins1974** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:52 pm

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeettt!! I lost hope so many times that I can't believe it. Amazing! Plus, we can kick back in RFK again for a few more years!! Not the best place to see baseball but I could watch a cricket cross the grass in RFK and be happy with all the great memories there.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:39 pm

Well, before they traded everyone away - they have a good corp unit. They'll be just fine - you watch and see my Birthday buddy! :0)

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:01 pm

This is the worst thing that could have happend to DC. Hell you cant even drive to Walmart without Traffic. People will not attend any afternoon games to avoid the flux. It will change many lives.

BringThePain! · Post by **BringThePain!** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:01 pm

redskincity wrote:It will change many lives.

Your right, it will!

The new ballpark will benefit every single resident of the District even if they never go to a game. How? By creating hundreds of new jobs. By leading to the revitalization of the entire Anacostia Waterfront area. By becoming a leading philanthropic source. By stimulating a ripple effect of economic growth throughout the city. And by generating millions of dollars in new tax revenue that will go to schools, hospitals, police stations and social services throughout DC.

Let's throw in that it brings a National Pastime back to the Capital of our country... It gives kids in the DC and Metro area something else for them to inspire to be, which could keep some of them off the streets.... Not to mention, it will bring Fathers and Sons, or entire Families back to the ball park to spend time together.... And with the traffic, oh well... maybe it will get more people out of their cars and they can go for a walk, or ride a bike...

Besides... You can buy everything at Walmart online anyways.... why would you want to drive there?

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:40 pm

i agree with the traffic comment. DC traffic sucks ass. i wouldn't live there if it were the last place on the planet selling new homes. more power to those of you that do. i don't look foward to the drive up for that reason. actually i hate it. i couldn't live like that.

BringThePain! · Post by **BringThePain!** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:54 pm

hailskins666 wrote:i agree with the traffic comment. DC traffic sucks ass. i wouldn't live there if it were the last place on the planet selling new homes. more power to those of you that do. i don't look foward to the drive up for that reason. actually i hate it. i couldn't live like that.

You get use to it after awhile...

Hey! What are you doing in this thread anyways? Don't you have some paint to watch dry or something?

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:00 pm

BringThePain! wrote:
hailskins666 wrote:i agree with the traffic comment. DC traffic sucks ass. i wouldn't live there if it were the last place on the planet selling new homes. more power to those of you that do. i don't look foward to the drive up for that reason. actually i hate it. i couldn't live like that.

You get use to it after awhile...

Hey! What are you doing in this thread anyways? Don't you have some paint to watch dry or something?

unfortunatnly i have to read em all as a mod

i would truly rather watch that paint dry than to click on a b-ass ball thread but, i've gotta.

and notice that i responded to the traffic part, not the crap sport.