Expos moving to Wa$hington
So Washington has had TWO teams move outta of there, and they deserve a 3rd? What an absolute disgrase this is, and what a joke Bud Selig and the rest of MLB was during this whole process. The Captials never draw, the Wizards, when Jordan was there was about the only time it mattered...why couldnt Buffalo ever get their shot to have a MLB team? TV Market, I hope this team sucks and they fail again in Washington
Expos announcement might come Thursday
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
September 28, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) -- Washington's wait is almost over.
Exactly 33 years after the Washington Senators played their final game, the nation's capital could learn Thursday that major league baseball plans to return next season.
Several baseball officials said Monday that's the most likely day for an announcement that Washington, D.C., has been selected as the new home for the Montreal Expos, although there was a slight chance the timetable could be moved up.
After a meeting of the sport's executive council last Thursday, a high-ranking baseball official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said major league baseball would attempt to finalize negotiations with Washington within a week. It would be the first franchise relocation in the major leagues since the expansion Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers 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 owner Peter Angelos, who objects to having a team just 40 miles from the Orioles. 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.