The District made its pitch to Major League Baseball's Relocation Committee yesterday, with a $430 million stadium that was two-thirds publicly financed at the center of the deal. As it was put over in the Washington Times:
"It was a positive reception," said Eric Price, deputy mayor for planning and economic development.Price said the District group made it clear to baseball officials that legislation to finance about two-thirds of a proposed $400
The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority meets with Major League Baseball's Relocation Committee tomorrow in Arizona, with Gabe Paul, head of the Authority, and Bill Collins, a potential owner, dropping some hints to the Washington Post on how they're going to sell the committee on Virginia over the District:
"We haven't grandstanded this issue," Collins said. "This decision is going to be made by three owners who are part of the relocation committee, and six members of the commissioner's office, and then the 26 other owners in baseball. That's it. You can hold all these discussions, hold press conferences and have press releases go out daily -- and maybe it will have some effect on those people who will be making the decision. But I don't think so."Collins, who heads the Virginia Baseball Club which funds the stadium authority, told fans that the two Pentagon City locations are more urban than the District site with the broadest support: New York Avenue at North Capitol Street:
"People keep talking about the District of Columbia being a downtown site. I don't know how many of you have walked on New York and Florida Avenue, but that is not an urban site. . . . That site is the gateway to Baltimore. There's four lights, I think, before you are on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway."
Paul said the Virginia group will make public its site list soon. Impact studies are being done on each location, he said.
"I'm very confident going into the meeting," he said in a phone interview. "I think we have excellent sites, a good financing plan -- with the majority of it already approved by the legislature -- and we have good political support."
In the high stakes game to bring baseball back to Washington, D.C., one of the biggest players has just pushed himself away from the table:
Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson is effectively out as a serious ownership candidate for a Washington-area baseball club after he said yesterday his interest in pursuing a team has cooled. Top StoriesHe also said he favors economic terms for acquiring a team that are far different than anything being discussed within the District government or Major League Baseball.
DC is where baseball belongs – not in Virginia. There’s little, if any chance, of a stadium being built near the monuments and views of DC. They tried – and failed – to put the Redskins stadium in similar areas and it ended up in Maryland. Overcrowding, poor planning and traffic are what Northern Virginia is known for, and very little else. Meanwhile, the Virginia baseball promoters bad-mouth DC playing on offensive and out-dated stereotypes of the city to discourage a team there. Bottom-line: The District of Columbia is the nation’s Capital – not Virginia. And that’s where America’s past-time belongs. Period.
BASEBALL SHOULD BE IN WASHINGTON BECAUSE THEY WOULD MAKE ALOT OF MONEY AND THEY WOULD LURE PEOPLE INTO THE STADIUM. THE REVENUE WOULD RISE IN WASHINGTON. THE SENATORS SHOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO DC.
El BEISBOL DEBE ESTAR EN WASHINGTON PORQUE ELLOS HARIAN ALOT DE DINERO Y ELLOS ATRAERIAN a PERSONAS EN EL ESTADIO. LA RENTA SUBIRIA EN WASHINGTON. LOS SENADORES DEBEN SER DEVUELTOS A DC.
SKEEN IS A F-U-C-K-I-N-G A-S-S-H-O-L-E.