Is MLB showing a little give in its dispute with the D.C. City Council?
Major League Baseball does not oppose involvement of private financing for Washington, D.C.'s proposed new $440 million stadium for the Nationals but is standing firm on the Dec. 31 deadline to have the ballpark package in place."I told them we'd try to help them find private financing," Bob DuPuy, MLB president and chief operating officer, told USA TODAY on Sunday. "As long as the money's there with the same assurances as public financing, we don't care. We've never had a problem with private financing."
Then again, he's not offering a change in the deadline.
Meanwhile, a Washington Post poll found a slight majority of District residents supported private financing for a new stadium, even if it meant losing the team:
"Let them take their team and get out of town," said Carla Gaskins, 36, a homemaker and mother of four who lives in Southwest Washington. "Let's get a new tax to raise money to build a new hospital. We can use new schools. We have so many other needs," she said. Baseball owners, she added, were "gaming D.C. to see how high we can jump."
This is the sort of opinion Cropp is counting on. And if the math was any other way, she'd be voting the other way too.
Are the folks jumping ugly with Cropp just because she's a woman? Courtland Milloy says yes. Captain Offwing says no, and suggests that late Council Chairmen John Wilson and Dave Clark would have been just has savaged if they followed the same course.
Here's Tony Kornheiser:
But let me give Cropp this: She has made herself The Key Player in this game. All baseball roads go through Linda Cropp now, and not the mayor. When you see the mayor squirming, it's because she's got his, um, onions, in her hand, and she is squeezing the Charmin right now. It's hard to believe a smart big-city mayor like Tony Williams could have been punked like this. Marion Barry wouldn't have been.
Ouch! More later from the Washington Baseball bloggers.
UPDATE: Distinguished Senators, now DBA Disgusted Senators, points to the D.C. Baseball Pac, who will apparently be hosting a town hall meeting with Mayor Williams to rally supprt for the stadium. Sounds like an idea that should have been put into play a couple of months ago.
Chris Needham has his own beef with the mayor:
It
“This is the sort of opinion Cropp is counting on. And if the math was any other way, she’d be voting the other way too.”
Shocking newsflash: politician represents views of constituents! That should never happen in a democracy.
Eric — The Sunday Post cover story is a must-read. It shows that the situation is nowhere near as simplistic as the pundits have been making it.
In fact, it’s a great example of how the pundit-driven media can make a mess of a story because the reactions are all recorded before all the facts are known.
The basic point here: The conventional wisdom that Cropp agreed to the deal then changed course to become the center of attention is not — repeat, NOT — accurate. Schwartz was one of several council members to pounce upon a “late fee” in the contract.
I’m not going to defend Cropp here, but I find it astounding that Selig and company are emerging as the good guys in this discussion. That’s ludicrous.
Again, a must-read.
It was interesting to see that the “Shop” link is missing from the Nationals’ website, and that you can go here for season ticket refunds – it looks like they’re accepting requests for refunds even though the team isn’t totally out the door.
I’ve also been informed that a few positions within the organization that were in the middle of the hiring process have been left unfilled at this time, with no update in sight. Not just baseball-specific positions, either – front office roles.
Thanks, Eric — you’re doing a nice job with this.