Tough process has good ending
Excitement swells in Washington as search completed
Washington, D.C., mayor Anthony Williams rejoices as the process of finding a home for the Expos ends Wednesday. (Susan Walsh/AP)
Once again, there will be baseball in our nation's capital.
There should be general rejoicing over this development. At last, there will be Washington, D.C. datelines with accompanying stories that have nothing to do with politics. Or at least we can hope.
Almost exactly 33 years after Major League Baseball last left Washington, D.C., Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig announced Wednesday that baseball was returning. The District of Columbia has been chosen as the new home for the Montreal Expos. Next up, a new owner and a new ballpark. But for the moment, let's not get greedy.
"This has been a long, tough process," Selig said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. He wasn't kidding with either adjective.
The process was long and it was tough. It took Major League Baseball almost two years to find the right locality for Expos relocation. Why? Part of the deliberate, painstaking pace came at the insistence of the Commissioner himself.
ED NOTE: - David Gallop is doing a similar thing
Franchise movement does not come easily for the Commissioner, in part because he is still upset about the Braves leaving Milwaukee for Atlanta. He understands on a personal level what kind of impact this sort of thing has.
Selig, the furthest thing from impulsive on issues of far less consequence, took particular care with this decision. Wednesday he related the story of being a relatively new franchise owner when the Senators last left Washington. When it became clear that no local owner would emerge and that the franchise would have to be moved, Selig described himself as "physically sick."
"There is redemption today," he said, with no little enthusiasm.
Making this particular circle once again unbroken is obviously not the only reason that Washington, D.C., will be the Expos new home. There is a place to play for the short term -- RFK Stadium -- the promise of a new stadium, and a suitable base of population. The major stumbling block to D.C., the opposition of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, has apparently been removed with a series of concessions from Major League Baseball.
The Commissioner declined to detail baseball's deal with the Baltimore franchise. What the Commissioner was willing to say on this topic was: "We don't want to hurt the existing franchise. On the other hand, we want to go to the best place we can go to. I want equity on all sides. ... I believe that there is equity on all sides and Peter has been treated fairly."
The Commissioner thanked all of the other relocation candidates, speaking highly of their efforts to land the Expos. And he thanked the Expos players, not to mention numerous members of the Expos staff, for their efforts under a truly difficult set of circumstances.
Major League Baseball's collective ownership of the Expos was at best a dicey proposition. There is no doubt that the various Expos personnel put forth a noble effort. But there is also no doubt that the talent base has eroded on this team during MLB's stewardship. In an era when many franchises are practicing a newfound fiscal conservatism regarding player salaries, there was little chance that the 29 owners would spend freely to boost the fortunes of their orphan club, the Expos. Baseball will be better off without the 29 other franchises co-owning the 30th franchise.
Amidst the enthusiasm for a new start in an old baseball locale, somebody ought to say a word on behalf of Montreal. At the moment the players' union went on strike in 1994, the Expos had the best record in baseball for that season. The rest of the game had considerable difficulty recovering from the strike. The Montreal franchise, with limited revenues, and an understandably alienated fan base, never recovered.
With all the talk about the internationalization of the game, the loss of Montreal is a loss in that direction, too. There is no other stop in baseball like Montreal, a city that had its own baseball history, as well as a culture apart from the rest of baseball. The issue of what to do with the Expos had become an increasingly painful thorn in baseball's side, but the loss of Montreal as a big league city is still just that, a loss.
But there can be genuine excitement about the renewal of the national pastime in the national capital. It won't be the Washington Expos. Maybe it will be the Senators again, or maybe everyone involved would do better with a fresh start on the name issue, too.
In any case, a decision has been made on the inevitable relocation of the Montreal Expos. "We finally have taken the first step," said the Commissioner. May all of the new Washington franchise's ensuing steps be easier to take than this one.
Excitement swells in Washington as search completed
Washington, D.C., mayor Anthony Williams rejoices as the process of finding a home for the Expos ends Wednesday. (Susan Walsh/AP)
Once again, there will be baseball in our nation's capital.
There should be general rejoicing over this development. At last, there will be Washington, D.C. datelines with accompanying stories that have nothing to do with politics. Or at least we can hope.
Almost exactly 33 years after Major League Baseball last left Washington, D.C., Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig announced Wednesday that baseball was returning. The District of Columbia has been chosen as the new home for the Montreal Expos. Next up, a new owner and a new ballpark. But for the moment, let's not get greedy.
"This has been a long, tough process," Selig said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. He wasn't kidding with either adjective.
The process was long and it was tough. It took Major League Baseball almost two years to find the right locality for Expos relocation. Why? Part of the deliberate, painstaking pace came at the insistence of the Commissioner himself.
ED NOTE: - David Gallop is doing a similar thing
Franchise movement does not come easily for the Commissioner, in part because he is still upset about the Braves leaving Milwaukee for Atlanta. He understands on a personal level what kind of impact this sort of thing has.
Selig, the furthest thing from impulsive on issues of far less consequence, took particular care with this decision. Wednesday he related the story of being a relatively new franchise owner when the Senators last left Washington. When it became clear that no local owner would emerge and that the franchise would have to be moved, Selig described himself as "physically sick."
"There is redemption today," he said, with no little enthusiasm.
Making this particular circle once again unbroken is obviously not the only reason that Washington, D.C., will be the Expos new home. There is a place to play for the short term -- RFK Stadium -- the promise of a new stadium, and a suitable base of population. The major stumbling block to D.C., the opposition of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, has apparently been removed with a series of concessions from Major League Baseball.
The Commissioner declined to detail baseball's deal with the Baltimore franchise. What the Commissioner was willing to say on this topic was: "We don't want to hurt the existing franchise. On the other hand, we want to go to the best place we can go to. I want equity on all sides. ... I believe that there is equity on all sides and Peter has been treated fairly."
The Commissioner thanked all of the other relocation candidates, speaking highly of their efforts to land the Expos. And he thanked the Expos players, not to mention numerous members of the Expos staff, for their efforts under a truly difficult set of circumstances.
Major League Baseball's collective ownership of the Expos was at best a dicey proposition. There is no doubt that the various Expos personnel put forth a noble effort. But there is also no doubt that the talent base has eroded on this team during MLB's stewardship. In an era when many franchises are practicing a newfound fiscal conservatism regarding player salaries, there was little chance that the 29 owners would spend freely to boost the fortunes of their orphan club, the Expos. Baseball will be better off without the 29 other franchises co-owning the 30th franchise.
Amidst the enthusiasm for a new start in an old baseball locale, somebody ought to say a word on behalf of Montreal. At the moment the players' union went on strike in 1994, the Expos had the best record in baseball for that season. The rest of the game had considerable difficulty recovering from the strike. The Montreal franchise, with limited revenues, and an understandably alienated fan base, never recovered.
With all the talk about the internationalization of the game, the loss of Montreal is a loss in that direction, too. There is no other stop in baseball like Montreal, a city that had its own baseball history, as well as a culture apart from the rest of baseball. The issue of what to do with the Expos had become an increasingly painful thorn in baseball's side, but the loss of Montreal as a big league city is still just that, a loss.
But there can be genuine excitement about the renewal of the national pastime in the national capital. It won't be the Washington Expos. Maybe it will be the Senators again, or maybe everyone involved would do better with a fresh start on the name issue, too.
In any case, a decision has been made on the inevitable relocation of the Montreal Expos. "We finally have taken the first step," said the Commissioner. May all of the new Washington franchise's ensuing steps be easier to take than this one.
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