Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508280012
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
The long effort to bring baseball back to the area has changed focus from winning an expansion team to buying a team from somewhere else.
A 45,000-seat stadium will be built in Northern Virginia if a team can be brought to RFK, home of the old Senators.
``We are not in an expansion mode at this time. We are not going to wait for the next round of expansion,'' said Mike Scanlon, executive vice president of Virginia Baseball Inc., one of two investor groups trying to lure a team.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that is officially for sale, and the Montreal Expos are the best candidates to move to the Washington area, sources said.
William Collins III, president of Virginia Baseball, has confirmed he is talking to those teams, as well as the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins.
To play at RFK next year, a relocated team would need to move quickly. The stadium needs significant renovation.
``We stand ready to field a team in April if we can find one by November,'' Scanlon said.
Bart Fisher, president of rival Capital Baseball Inc., said he is talking to one team. Reached at the Pittsburgh office of an investor group known as Allegheny Baseball Club, Fisher was coy about which team he is seeking.
Asked why he was there, Fisher said, laughing, ``I just love Pittsburgh.''
Both investor groups and politicians trying to help them say conditions have never been better since the Senators departed for Texas 24 years ago.
Several major-league teams have had financial problems and could be sold, and Major League Baseball has already indicated Virginia is on deck for a new franchise.
Also, many baseball owners, who must vote on a relocation or expansion, may not make an issue of the new team's proximity to the Baltimore Orioles.
Orioles owner Peter Angelos angered other owners when he refused to back the owners' position in the recent labor dispute. He would presumably oppose a new team 50 miles away from Camden Yards, which draws a large percentage of fans from the Washington area.
But Bud Selig, the acting baseball commissioner, has said he doesn't expect any teams to move before the end of the year.
``It's all very speculative,'' said Major League Baseball spokesman Richard Levin. ``It's very difficult for a major-league team to pick up and move. It hasn't been done for 24 years.''
by CNB