Where is Paul Tagliabue when you need him?
Every argument that the NFL used against Baltimore in expansion can be invoked by Major League Baseball to block the Montreal Expos from moving to the Washington area -- and without fear of an antitrust lawsuit.
The Expos could become the first major-league team to relocate since the Senators left Washington in 1971. No doubt, Tagliabue the Sun King would steer them to his favorite virgin territory -- Charlotte, N.C.
Orioles owner Peter Angelos suggested Richmond, Va., an unrealistic, almost comical wish. But Angelos is right to insist that Washington remain under his domain. And the baseball owners might be more willing to protect him than they were after the strike of 1994 and '95.
Angelos was a vocal opponent of management during the work stoppage, but after skillfully negotiating the Orioles' trip to Cuba, it seems that the maverick has gone mainstream.
Sandy Alderson -- an outspoken critic of Angelos as Oakland's general manager -- accompanied the owner to Cuba in his new role as MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations.
Commissioner Bud Selig -- a frequent target of Angelos during the strike -- approved the Orioles as the first team to visit Cuba, and said yesterday that he would attend the March 28 exhibition in Havana.
"I'm very excited about that," Selig said from his Milwaukee office. "I would not miss it."
Selig warned that "the Montreal situation is a long way from over," but added that he was "very disappointed" with the team's failure to complete a new ownership group and obtain stadium financing by the deadline of three days ago, imposed by MLB.
The Expos will play this season in Montreal. They would spend the next two seasons at Washington's RFK Stadium if they relocated to D.C. or northern Virginia, then move into a new ballpark as Camden Yards celebrated its 10th birthday.
It remains to be seen whether Selig's support of a goodwill trip to Cuba will translate into the owners' support on an issue more critical to Angelos' self-interest. But perhaps the owners will recognize that their own self-interest is at stake, too.
And if certain Washington elements don't like it?
Let them eat (crab) cake.
Hypocritical as it might sound for Baltimore to oppose a team in Washington, the cities are far more capable of supporting two franchises in football than they are in baseball.
Producing 16 NFL sellouts between the two each season is little problem. Producing 162 baseball sellouts would be a far greater -- and perhaps impossible -- challenge.
The Orioles estimate that 25 percent of their customers come from the D.C. area. They're one of the game's most successful franchises. Why would MLB want to jeopardize their standing?
This isn't New York or Los Angeles. After an initial honeymoon, teams in Baltimore and Washington would struggle to attract fans the way the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics do in the Bay area.
Only twice in 31 years have both the Giants and A's exceeded 2 million in attendance -- and one of those years was 1989, when both reached the World Series.
The Orioles' average attendance the past three seasons is 3,681,092. The combined average for the Giants and A's over that period is 2,891,696.
The opening of Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco next season? It will help the Giants but could hurt the A's. And the same type of pendulum would swing between Baltimore and Washington.
Baseball has enough problems.
It doesn't need to create another.
The Orioles were a low-revenue team at Memorial Stadium. They became a high-revenue team at Camden Yards, but only after working years to develop a fan base in Washington.
Indeed, the ballpark's easy access from I-95 and commuter rail lines might be as important a reason for its success as its retro design and downtown location.
Just as Tagliabue sought to protect the late Jack Kent Cooke, Selig should seek to protect Angelos. The Expos could not move without approval from three-fourths of the National League owners, and a majority of American League owners.
"He has some concerns, as you well know. Anybody in his position would have those concerns," Selig said. "As the year unfolds, I'll talk to him a lot. But at the moment, all that is very premature."
Not in Angelos' mind -- his attempt to buy the Washington Redskins might have been linked to his desire to gain more clout in the D.C. area, and prevent a baseball team from relocating there.
Angelos might even have engaged in a pre-emptive strike on MLB by arguing that the Orioles and Redskins were in the same market (the NFL had broken its cross-ownership rules to allow Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga to own baseball and hockey teams in Miami).
He dropped out of the bidding for the Redskins, but it probably didn't hurt him at a time when he appears to be gaining esteem in baseball circles. The Orioles' payroll is one of the game's largest, but Angelos has avoided criticism within the industry by refusing to set market standards.
"I've had a great working relationship and personal relationship with him for the last four-plus years," Selig said. "We had some rocky moments a few years ago. But that's all in the past now."
Selig should remember that if the Expos try to relocate to D.C. or northern Virginia. The Orioles are a healthy franchise because they put 45,000 in the ballpark every night. And they put 45,000 people in the ballpark because they draw from Washington.
Pub Date: 3/09/99