DC's major league baseball bid

By Steve Schifferes BBC News Online, Washington

Washington once had a baseball team watched by Presidents

Despite its status as the nation's capital, Washington DC lost its major league baseball team in 1971 - and is still struggling to get it back.

Baseball is America's national game - but it has been more than 30 years since President Richard Nixon threw out the first ball to open the baseball season in Washington.

As regular season play is suspended for the All-Star game, the owners of Major League Baseball are meeting to discuss the future allocation of franchises.

At the top of the agenda will be the relocation of the Montreal Expos, the team with the lowest attendance and smallest budget in baseball.

Any delay would greatly reduce the changes of Washington ever getting a team Fred Malek bidder for the Expos franchise

The Expos were bought last year by Major League baseball itself for $120m after the franchise came near to collapse.

Both Washington, DC, and its neighbour across the Potomac River, Arlington, Virginia, are hoping that the league will decide to relocate the team next year to a new owner in the Capital region.

Also competing for the franchise is Portland, Oregon, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the Expos already play some of their games.

Money troubles

But now, squabbles over money and the site of a new baseball stadium are threatening to undermine Washington's bid.

The Montreal Expos will be relocated to another city

Traditionally, cities compete to build a stadium funded by public money to attract a baseball team.

Critics say this is unfairly subsidising the baseball owners.

Washington had proposed a $338m subsidy to build a ballpark, funded by a tax on commerce at the stadium and an extra tax on businesses.

However, in recent weeks, the head of DC council's finance committee, Jack Evans, has balked at providing such funding in advance, saying it "drives up the price of the franchise" and "puts the city in a terrible negotiating position."

And, facing a budget crisis, Virginia's legislature is also holding back on a $285m deal to fund a stadium in Arlington before an award is made.

Virginia's bid faces another problem in the fierce resistance to the stadium from many residents in Arlington, a pretty buy already-crowed residential and business suburb of Washington.

The owner of the preferred site, the Cafritz foundation, is also reluctant to sell the land and plans to take the authorities to court, and recently commissioned a public opinion poll that showed that 64% of local residents were against the stadium.

Last chance

Many Washington baseball fans - who do not support the rival Baltimore Orioles who play some 30 miles away - are desperate to get a major league team.

The Washington Senators were the founding members of the American League in 1903, and played in Washington until 1960 when they were relocated to Minnesota and renamed the Twins by owner Calvin Griffith.

In 1961, baseball returned to DC with another expansion team also named the Senators. But 10 years later they were moved to Arlington, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth), and renamed the Texas Rangers.

Later President George W Bush bought the team.

Attempts to gain another expansion team failed four times in the 1970s and 1980s, despite the rapid expansion of Washington's affluent population.

It was only in the last few years that the possibility of moving an existing club, rather than expanding the league, became a possibility, following baseball commissioner Bud Selig's change of heart.

Many people believe that this year may be "the one last chance" for baseball to return to the district, and hope that MLB executives make a decision soon, rather than defer the decision again.

"I think it would be very dangerous if they choose to wait," said Fred Malek, who is bidding to buy the Expos and bring them to DC.

"Any delay would greatly reduce the changes of Washington ever getting a team."