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December 17, 2004
D.C. Baseball Update
In a press conference yesterday, D.C. City Council Chairman Linda Cropp asked MLB for an extension of the December 31 deadline to pass a stadium financing bill, but it looks like the answer is going to be no. And just minutes ago, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams called on stadium supporters to "speak up now," if they want to save baseball in Washington (though one wonders why Williams wasn't doing any grassroots organizing in favor of the stadium in the first place). To listen to the Williams interview from WTOP, click here. WTOP's Mark Plotkin was scheduled to interview Cropp beginning at 10:00 a.m. -- I'll grab that link as soon as it's posted. For a variety of views, be sure to check out William World News, Captiol Punishment, Ball Wonk and Washington Baseball. UPDATE: WTOP is also reporting that much of the funding for the opposition to the stadium plan has come from one property owner who has a major stake in the neighborhood where the planned ballpark would be built: Opponents of a publicly financed baseball stadium spent roughly $50,000, trying to sway public opinion. I wrote about this issue a couple of weeks back, and it looks like it bit the Mayor in the behind after all. And when it came down to it, you have to wonder if Councilman Jom Graham, who first said he was neutral on the stadium, flipped to no in part because of this effort. More later. UPDATE: There are five pages of Nationals memorabilia on eBay. Who knows, maybe one day some of it will be worth as much as those "Washington National League" cards from the Topps 1974 set are now. And here's a link to a short item about Cropp's latest interview with WTOP, though I'm still waiting for the actual audio link. UPDATE: Here's the link to Cropp's interview with WTOP via Washingtonpost.com. They've got three distinct clips from her interview with WTOP's Mark Plotkin. And here's a link to Plotkin's complete interview with Cropp on WTOP (realPlayer, 40 minutes). UPDATE AND ANALYSIS: Some folks have said that Cropp was naive when she attached her killer amendment to the stadium financing bill. But after listening to these audio clips, I just don't buy it. As I've said before, Cropp knows exactly what she's doing, and this action has put her centerstage along with the Mayor and all the biggies in MLB. During the course of the interview, Cropp admitted as much, including dropping the fact that she's been in contact with officials at MLB, even as she still has yet to speak with the Mayor in the wake of this week's vote. One other thing ought to be clear: Cropp is running for Mayor, and she's going to run for Mayor either as the person who stood up to MLB and got them to give some significant concessions on the stadium deal, or she's going to run as the politician who told MLB to stuff it. Either way, she comes out a winner, and either way, Williams will emerge from this with some significant political wounds.
Eric
10:29 AM
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsHere's a copy of my letter sent to the DC Council, posted also over on the DCBB blog: Just wanted to let you know that, as a Virginia resident (Pent. City) I would be coming into DC at least 40-45 times to watch baseball a new ballpark is built. (I would obviously also attend a whole bunch of games in a refurbished RFK stadium in the interim.) That money would be spent closer to home – in Arlington – if the team does not move into DC. Trust me, I’m no knee-jerk supporter of public financing for ballparks and I have long despised MLB owners who could care less about the well-being of their sport (see: 1994 strike) in favor of money. That said, the demagoguery about schools and hospitals losing funding is truly absurd and shameful.(Councilmembers Catania and Fenty, while I respect your principled and CONSISTENT stand, your pandering is truly shameful and I have told DC-area friends to withhold their votes for either of you for mayor.)
Unlike cities that *Already* have teams, DC is in a much weaker bargaining position. St. Louis and San Fran may be able to get public financing because they have proven they are MLB-viable cities. Washington is still looked upon negatively, based that two other teams left the city and it really is time to realize while the proposed MLB deal isn’t perfect, the positives outweigh the negatives and it isn’t worth potentially permanently losing baseball into DC.
Tens-of-thousands of people – DC residents and non-DC residents alike –have placed their hopes on getting MLB back. Clearly, the deal isn’t perfect but it’s also not a bad deal either for the city. I agree with Andrew Zimbalist and generally oppose fully publicly-financed stadiums. BUT: the DC-area is unique because many of the attendees are from outside the area and basically are paying taxes to the city when they come to the games, which changes the equation substantially. And, the proposed site is currently a blighted part of town and the aesthetic improvement that would likely occur if the ballpark was built can’t be measured by numbers alone.
PLEASE amend the previous bill to show that DC can conduct business honestly – and perhaps you can retain the possibility that private financing can be a part of the bill. Just don’t force baseball to leave because you added a last-second amendment that wouldn’t guarantee a new ballpark would be built.
Posted by: at December 17, 2004 04:04 PM
Posted by: at December 17, 2004 04:08 PM Yo Josh, If you want baseball so much, you get some of your friends to pony up $500 million for the stadium. Until then, stuff it. Posted by: at December 18, 2004 12:53 AM 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.) |