Will Northern Virginia get last baseball laugh?

The D.C. baseball debate gets ugly

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 12/18/2004

By MICHAEL ZITZ

As Major League Baseball's deadline for funding a Washington stadium nears, the debate has gotten down and dirty.

For months, Northern Virginia officials had been good sports about losing the Montreal Expos to the District of Columbia in September.

But D.C. Councilman Jim Graham ruffled feathers in Virginia when he snickered at warnings that baseball could put the team in Loudoun County if the city reneged on a ballpark deal.

During Tuesday's marathon meeting on stadium funding, Graham urged Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp to play hardball with baseball.

Graham said when it came down to crunch time, baseball wouldn't, and couldn't, walk away from D.C if the city chose to build a ballpark near RFK Stadium rather than at a more expensive Anacostia Riverfront site. He said baseball would stay even if the city decided to keep the team at 40-year-old RFK permanently.

"Tell baseball it's either RFK or Loudoun County," Graham said. "I'm not an expert on Loudoun County, but I think there are lot of cow pastures in Loudoun County."

The packed D.C. Council chambers filled with laughter at that remark.

"Jim Graham is right about one thing," Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York told The Free Lance-Star yesterday. "He doesn't know anything about Loudoun County."

York said the county remains an option for baseball if the city doesn't keep Mayor Anthony Williams' agreement with the game.

The D.C. Council decided this week to require 50 percent private investment in the construction of the ballpark, which could be difficult to nail down by baseball's Dec. 31 deadline. Williams had agreed to full public financing and baseball says it will look elsewhere if the city doesn't meet the deadline for a full-financing package. The council meets again Tuesday.

Loudoun does have some farms on the undeveloped western part of the county, but has high-tech business on the heavily developed eastern side close to D.C., including the headquarters for America Online.

"We do have a cow or two," York said dryly. "But we also have orbital scientists."

The proposed Loudoun ballpark site is adjacent to Dulles International Airport, near the Fairfax County line.

"Loudoun's a better place for a ballpark than the District is," York said flatly.

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Date published: 12/18/2004