THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240704
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Sen. John Warner on Thursday issued a statement to correct remarks made by an aide Wednesday that said the Virginia Republican had agreed to withdraw his support of a plan to limit major league baseball's antitrust status after the chairman of the sport's expansion committee assured him that Northern Virginia would get a team.
``We were kind of bought off, if you will,'' Grayson Winterling, Warner's staff director, said Wednesday.
``My staff person unintentionally misspoke,'' Warner's statement said Thursday.
The senator, discussing his decision not to co-sponsor an antitrust bill in January, said, ``I came to this position that Congress should not try to resolve this strike before I met with the owners and players.
``When I met with the owners and the players, no promises were given; nor were any requested. Consequently, there was no deal; I was not `bought;' I never have been and never will be.''
Baseball owners have visited several sites in Fairfax and Loudoun counties that local officials have identified for a 45,000-seat stadium. And this week, the General Assembly passed legislation to make it easier for the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority to finance and build a $300 million park. by CNB