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July 01, 2004
D.C. Baseball Update
The fight over getting baseball to Washington, D.C. got a little ugly yesterday, but for once the mud slinging didn't get outside of the Baltimore Beltway. It all started yesterday morning when Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley had this to say about the prospect of Washington baseball: "We're glad whenever people come into our city to watch the Orioles play," O'Malley said. "I think there are a lot of diehard Orioles fans in the Washington area. I would hope that they would still want to come to Baltimore and our great stadium, and I'm not opposed to them having a team." Fine as far as it goes, and downright neighborly too, considering Washington Mayor Anthony Williams has vowed not to attend any games at Camden Yards until Washington gets its own team. And not surprising, considering that O'Malley grew up in the Washington suburbs, and graduated from Washington's Catholic University in 1985. As you might have guessed, O'Malley's comments didn't go down well with Peter Angelos, who is giving every indication he's not going to let Washington get a ball team without a fight: "I think that's typical of someone who never really does know what he's talking about and who is nothing more than a small-time politician aspiring to high political offices, which if he was successful to achieve he simply couldn't execute properly," the owner said last night. Some other things to think about here. Angelos, like O'Malley, is a Democrat. And Angelos helps both the Maryland and National Democratic Party apparatus raise millions of dollars every year. And O'Malley, who's in the midst of his second term as Baltimore's mayor, has his eyes on bigger game -- namely the Governor's mansion in Annapolis. Meanwhile, Angelos says he isn't happy with the way the Orioles are playing. Elsewhere, the Post says things aren't moving too quickly. For another perspective, read Soccer Dad's take. Thanks to David Pinto for the link.
Eric
06:18 AM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsAngelos is in no position to promote his value to the community, especially given his attempt to bilk several billion dollars from the Maryland state treasury following the multistate tobacco litigation. O'Malley may be a small-time politician, but Angelos is a master thief with a Bar card. And a minor point of correction: O'Malley is still technically in his first term as mayor. He was elected in 1999 at the same time the city charter was ameded to switch elections to the presidential year. Consequently, O'Malley's term was extended until the end of this year. He did, however, win a Democratic primary in November 2003 (a scheduling quirk forgot to move the primary), so he's effectively been reelected, though it's not offiicial until November. Posted by: at July 1, 2004 11:40 AM Is there anyone more reprehensible as a human being than Peter Angelos in baseball today? Having said that, I can't really fault him for wanting to protect the value of his investment, no matter how ill gotten it was. Posted by: at July 1, 2004 06:52 PM I don't know that O'Malley is small time. He could be huge. Posted by: at July 1, 2004 09:09 PM Post a commentThanks for signing in, . (If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) |