Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 12, 2004
Angelos Accepts Washington Team

The AP buried the lede on this story. It's not about mediocrity; it's about Angelos saying he won't put up a fight to relocate the Expos in Washington. That's good news. My guess is that it will help the Orioles more than it will hurt them, because more baseball = more baseball fans. And like they do in most cities, you schedule the two teams home stands separately. If I were in the Washington area, I'd be excited that I'd have the chance to see 162 home games in a season!


Posted by David Pinto at 12:30 PM | Team Movements | TrackBack (1)
Comments

121 ½

Posted by: Ricky Ferry at June 12, 2004 01:47 PM

Well, I don't know. The A's and Giants have been saying for years that two teams in the Bay Area hurt each other's attendance.

Posted by: Linkmeister at June 14, 2004 02:53 AM

The Baltimore Sun has a special report this week about baseball in DC. link

Posted by: Russell at June 14, 2004 12:44 PM

FROM ART KYRIAZIS:

Pete Angelos is a very rich man who made his money from asbestos litigation. Like all trial lawyers, he is contentious and often in disagreement with others who are seeking consensus.

This seems to signal two thing; (1) There is a consensus among the owners that Montreal should move its franchise to the DC/Northern VA area and (2) Angelos will be paid an indemnity either by major league baseball or by the Expose franchise for the move.

What is funny is this is history repeating itself. When Bill Veeck wanted to move the Browns to Baltimore, the Senators blocked the move citing precisely the arguments of Angelos, that two teams could not co-exist. In fact, they wanted Veeck out (See"Veeck as in Wreck" for the full story). When Veeck agreed to move aside, the Orioles were re-born for the first time since the 1890s.

Then, the greedy Senators owner moved to Minnesotai in 1961!!!

They created an expansion team that was awful, and never caught on, and sent it to Texas in the early 1970s.

It is part of baseball's current stupidity that it does not have a team in the nation's capital when it had one there during much of the 19th century and from 1901-1972.

The first opening game should be in DC; the President should be on hand to throw out the opening pitch, or the VP; and it should be a big deal. Also, seats to DC games should be bartered and sold to Congressmen and Senators by lobbyists as if they're precious commodities, as are Redskin tickets.

After all, baseball and politics are perfect for one another. Little happens during innings, all the better to lobby Senator Smith for more appropriations or Congressman Connors for a different vote.

And the President can have a favorite ballplayer, just as Eisenhower's was Mickey Vernon, who happens to be my neighbor here nearby in Swarthmore. The favorite son of Marcus Hook, he served the Washington Senators faithfully for 20 years and got 2 batting titles. What a player.

Finally, it will help the NL East look like a division. Right now it's MTL, PHL, NY, ATL, FL. With a DC team, you'd have an eastern core of NY, PHL, DC and then ATL & FL. With some intelligence, you could re-align ATL & FL to the central in exchange for the Cubs and the Pirates or the Pirates and have a real Eastern Division of Chi, NY, PHL, Pitts, DC, and a Central of Cin, Houston, StL, Milw, Atl & FL. Houston, Florida and Atlanta, along with St. Louis and Cincinnati belong together as Southern teams; Milwaukee will just have to go along or join the Western division.

Since the Orioles are in the AL, and the Senators (I assume they will be the Senators, not the Expos when the move) will be in the NL, where is the competition???? Washington has grown by leaps and bounds, and Baltimore already sells out.

It's a win-win for baseball.

Art "Baseball good for DC" Kyriazis

Posted by: Art Kyriazis at June 17, 2004 01:06 AM

PS by art kyriazis

Have Mickey Vernon throw out the opening ball and have every living Washington Senator player from both franchises attend the opening ceremonies and retire their numbers right then and there and put them on display, the heck with the Twins and Rangers. Walter Johnson was a Senator, not a Twin, and so was Eddie Yost & Mickey Vernon.

Posted by: Art Kyriazis at June 17, 2004 01:09 AM