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Critical mass for

With baseball's All-Star break set to begin, the tea leaves continue to point to the Montreal Expos calling the Washington area home in April

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 7/11/2004

By MICHAEL ZITZ

baseball?

Major League Baseball dropped in on Washington and Northern Virginia late this week, just as the Montreal Expos relocation process is reaching critical mass.

D.C. and Northern Virginia are believed to be in a dead heat in the competition for the franchise.

And top baseball officials have been saying all year they hoped to decide by the All-Star break, which begins Monday.

A formal announcement by that deadline appears unlikely now. However, meetings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Houston, the site of the All-Star Game, could well be pivotal to any decision announced in late July or August.

Ultimately, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will make the decision.

And now, for the first time publicly, Selig has repudiated Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos' claim that the Washington area is part of his territory. Angelos insists that a team in the Washington area would lower the value of his franchise

But Selig told national reporter Barry Bloom of MLB.com that the Orioles have no rights to the area.

The long-defunct Washington Senators' territorial rights are still in effect--extending, in fact, to a point in Maryland just 10 miles south of Baltimore.

"I'm very sensitive to territorial issues," Selig told MLB.com. "But I must do what's best for all of Major League Baseball."

That simple statement might be the best indicator of all that the D.C. area tops the list of relocation sites, because Angelos has been the stumbling block for Washington and Northern Virginia.

As a decision nears, there is an increasing reluctance by Major League Baseball and officials in both Washington and Northern Virginia to talk about the process.

But, at the moment, there is apparently an even split between those members of baseball's relocation committee who want Northern Virginia and those who prefer D.C.

It appears that Las Vegas, Norfolk and Monterrey, Mexico, follow, in that order.

Portland, Ore., seems to have dropped off the radar screen due to delays in completing plans for a stadium. And San Juan, Puerto Rico, is not believed to be in the running.

But baseball officials deny reports that any possible sites have been eliminated.

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Date published: 7/11/2004