Baseball to be back in Washington DC
WASHINGTON -- Major League Baseball will announce Wednesday that Washington will be the new home of the Montreal Expos, The Associated Press has learned.
A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington has been notified by Major League Baseball of the impending announcement that will return the national pastime to the nation's capital for the first time in 33 years.
The city is planning its own news conference at a downtown location Wednesday afternoon, the official said.
The announcement will come one day before the 33rd anniversary of the Washington Senators' final game. The Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season.
The deal to move the Expos to Washington would be subject to government approval of funding for both a $13 million refurbishment of RFK Stadium and a new ballpark costing slightly over $400 million, which would be built along the Anacostia River in the southeast section of the city.
A move also must be approved by three-quarters of major league owners and survive legal challenges by the Expos' former limited partners and possibly by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who objects to having a team just 40 miles from his. Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, went to Baltimore on Friday to negotiate a compensation arrangement with Angelos.
The Orioles owner told The (Baltimore) Sun that he could be persuaded to drop his opposition if he could be assured that his team and the state of Maryland's investment in Oriole Park at Camden Yards could be protected.
After the announcement, the process of selling the Expos will start. A group that includes former Rangers partner Fred Malek has been seeking a Washington franchise for five years. In addition, several baseball officials have said in the past week that Stan Kasten, former president of the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, might be trying to assemble a group.
Kasten is close to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, which likely would be an advantage during the bidding process.
"I am studying all the situations in all of the sports right now," Kasten said Monday. "I haven't committed to any group, any city or any sport."