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