Not so Fast...Washington may not last

[SoxFan562004]

Link to an ESPN story....

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1946536

 

Man, MLB has its head up its ass sometimes... I wonder if this voids any contracts that were signed?

[Chisoxfn]

I guess the D.C. city council ammended some of the guidelines for the new stadium and it calls for 50% of the costs to be privately paid. If that stays the case they will play one season in Washington's RFK stadium and then try to find another home, not in D.C.

[AssHatSoxFan]

I guess the D.C. city council ammended some of the guidelines for the new stadium and it calls for 50% of the costs to be privately paid.  If that stays the case they will play one season in Washington's RFK stadium and then try to find another home, not in D.C.

geez jason making me merge topics just because you cannot look down the page

[Rex Kickass]

If the Expos/Nationals DID move to Vegas, what would their new New name be?

[Goldmember]

Aces?

Gamblers?

Legal Prostitutes?

[Chisoxfn]

geez jason making me merge topics just because you cannot look down the page

 

My new job is to create work for other mods. I think I'll run over to PHT and make a post about the Sox signing Jermaine Dye and Dustin Hermanson.

[Rex Kickass]

I'm thinking about maybe the Las Vegas White Tigers? With Sigfried and Roy as the logo?

 

Or maybe the Vegas Dions? The Vegas Dankeschoens featuring Wayne Newton?

[redandwhite]

I've said it from day one, I'll say it again. The Expos will be back in Montreal next season.

[A.J.]

NEW YORK -- Washington's new baseball team shut down business and promotional operations indefinitely Wednesday as its move to the nation's capital teetered on the brink of collapse.

 

 

The decision by Major League Baseball followed the District of Columbia Council's decision Tuesday night to require private financing for at least half the cost of building a new stadium. The September agreement to move the Montreal Expos to Washington called for a ballpark fully financed by government money.

 

"Yes, I think baseball is now in jeopardy," Mayor Anthony A. Williams said.

 

 

A previously scheduled news conference to unveil new uniforms was called off and fans who bought tickets to watch the renamed Nationals next season at RFK Stadium can get refunds, said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

 

 

Baseball will not resume talks with other cities until after Dec. 31, the deadline in the agreement for Washington to put a ballpark financing law in place.

 

 

"In the meantime, the club's baseball operations will proceed, but its business and promotional activities will cease until further notice," DuPuy said.

 

 

He did not address where the team would play its 2005 home schedule if the deal with Washington falls through. It remains unclear whether baseball would move the franchise to RFK Stadium on a temporary basis, remain at Montreal's Olympic Stadium or go to another city.

 

 

Williams had signed the deal nearly three months ago, and publicly celebrated the return of major league baseball to Washington, which hasn't had a team since 1971.

 

 

"We had a deal. I believe the deal was broken, and the dream of 33 years is now once again close to dying. I would say close," Williams said at a news conference Wednesday.

 

 

Council Chair Linda W. Cropp proposed the amendment, which was approved 10-3 after she threatened to withhold support from the overall package, which then passed In a 7-6 vote.

 

 

"I am not trying to kill the deal," Cropp said. "I'm putting some teeth in it because I'm really disappointed with what I got from Major League Baseball."

 

 

The September agreement estimated the cost of building the ballpark and refurbishing RFK Stadium at $435 million, but critics claimed it would cost far more. The proposal, as initially approved by the council on Nov. 30, called for Washington to issue up to $531 million in bonds to cover the cost.

 

 

"I am very confident that we are going to be able to work through this and that we will have baseball here," said Councilman Jack Evans, who supported Williams on the original financing plan.

 

 

Some of the communities that had lost out in the bidding for the team prepared to resume their efforts to lure the franchise.

 

 

"I don't think we've ever stopped," Norfolk group head Will Somerindyke Jr. said. "We always wanted to keep this area an option. If the opportunity arises for the Expos again, we are going to be standing there along with everyone else.

 

 

"Whether we could get something done by next year, I think that's a stretch," he added. "It would be very, very tough."

 

 

Somerindyke's organization has returned the deposits it collected on nearly 10,000 season tickets and almost 100 luxury boxes during its drive to get the Expos. He didn't think it would be difficult to get those deposits back.

 

 

Officials in Portland, Ore., were uncertain how to interpret the developments.

 

 

"We need to wait to see how Major League Baseball assesses this so we can respond," said Drew Mahalic of the Oregon Sports Authority.

 

 

Northern Virginia's group had hoped to build a ballpark near Dulles International Airport.

 

 

"We hope that the District of Columbia will be able to fulfill the terms of its agreement and succeed in bringing Major League Baseball back to this region," Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority spokesman Brian Hannigan said.

 

 

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman went to baseball's winter meetings last weekend trying to attract attention to his efforts to lure a team. But he could not offer a firm stadium plan.

 

 

"It's just a glint in my eye, at this point," he said.

 

 

Washington has lost teams twice before: The original Senators became the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season and the expansion Senators transformed into the Texas Rangers following the 1971 season.

 

 

"Here we are back where we were five years ago -- the nation's capital, the center of the world, a city of possibility, aspiration and ambition and opportunity, and a city that cannot do what it says it's going to do," Williams said. "I'm saddened that we can go so far in five years and step back so far in five minutes."

 

 

The Expos became the first major league team outside the United States when they started play in 1969, but attendance at Olympic Stadium slumped over the past decade and the franchise was bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season. In 2003 and 2004, some of the team's home games were moved to Puerto Rico to raise revenue.

 

[A.J.]

Nationals fire sale maybe? hmmm Where do the players go?

[Xero]

This is in Sports Bar :rolly

[Chisoxfn]

I think this is a more up to date article.

[A.J.]

This is in Sports Bar :rolly

OOPS Someone needs to tear down this thread. I just seen it on espn.

[JoshPR]

See Ya in San Juan Nationals

[Flash Tizzle]

OOPS  Someone needs to tear down this thread. I just seen it on espn.

Is that porn star Mariah Carey in your avatar, signature?

[Goldmember]

Is that porn star Mariah Caray in your avatar, signature?   

that's who i thought it was too...

[A.J.]

Is that porn star Mariah Caray in your avatar, signature?   

mary carey, you know it. ran for governor

[A.J.]

FIRE SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

36 Tony Armas R/R 6-3 225 04/29/78

56 Luis Ayala R/R 6-2 185 01/12/78

55 Francis Beltran R/R 6-6 230 11/29/79

57 Chad Bentz R/L 6-2 215 05/05/80

47 Roy Corcoran R/R 5-10 170 05/11/80

32 Chad Cordero R/R 6-0 200 03/18/82

54 Zach Day R/R 6-4 215 06/15/78

37 Scott Downs L/L 6-2 190 03/17/76

58 Joey Eischen L/L 6-0 215 05/25/70

61 Livan Hernandez R/R 6-2 245 02/20/75

49 Shawn Hill R/R 6-2 185 04/28/81

-- Michael Hinckley R/L 6-3 170 10/05/82

59 Joe Horgan L/L 6-1 200 06/07/77

-- Josh Karp R/R 6-5 210 09/21/79

31 Sunny Kim R/R 6-1 185 09/04/77

50 Gary Majewski R/R 6-1 215 02/26/80

34 Tomo Ohka R/R 6-1 200 03/18/76

21 John Patterson R/R 6-5 210 01/30/78

-- Darrell Rasner R/R 6-3 210 01/13/81

51 Jon Rauch R/R 6-11 260 09/27/78

-- Danny Rueckel R/R 6-0 175 09/25/79

52 T.J. Tucker R/R 6-3 265 08/20/78

33 Claudio Vargas R/R 6-3 230 06/19/78

Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB

23 Brian Schneider L/R 6-1 195 11/26/76

Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB

44 Larry Broadway L/L 6-4 230 12/17/80

5 Jamey Carroll R/R 5-9 170 02/18/74

-- Vinny Castilla R/R 6-1 205 07/04/67

-- Cristian Guzman S/R 6-0 205 03/21/78

12 Brendan Harris R/R 6-1 200 08/26/80

2 Maicer Izturis S/R 5-8 155 09/12/80

24 Nick Johnson L/L 6-3 225 09/19/78

1 Josh Labandeira R/R 5-7 180 02/25/79

-- Alejandro Machado S/R 6-0 160 04/06/82

4 Henry Mateo S/R 6-0 175 10/14/76

3 Jose Vidro S/R 5-11 195 08/27/74

6 Brad Wilkerson L/L 6-0 205 06/01/77

Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB

22 Ron Calloway L/L 6-1 200 09/04/76

19 Endy Chavez L/L 5-10 155 02/07/78

38 Ryan Church L/L 6-1 190 10/14/78

35 Val Pascucci R/R 6-6 235 11/17/78

53 Juan Rivera R/R 6-2 205 07/03/78

48 Terrmel Sledge L/L 6-0 185 03/18/77

-- Brandon Watson L/R 6-1 170 09/30/81

[Kogs35]

Las Vegas Kings here we come!!!!

[The Critic]

If the Expos/Nationals DID move to Vegas, what would their new New name be?

Again, I vote for SEXPOS or EX-HOES.

 

EDITED TO ADD that MLB needs to sell that franchise to an actual f***ing OWNER. A real owner would have gotten the stadium details in order BEFORE moving the gaddamn team.

[southsider2k5]

And people call the White Sox organization a joke? Please.

[DBAHO]

I call dibs on Wilkerson or Zach Day 1st.