Baseball back in DC!

For those of you who are Baseball fans and from the DC area, it's official . Baseball is back in DC!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58220-2004Sep28.html

holy shit...

can we rename them to the senators though? that's what i really want :)

This was a long, long time coming.

So is this good news? Baseball in DC? I know there are many who don’t care, either because they don’t care about baseball or because they figure the Orioles is enough. While I’ve never known what it’s like to have any team in this area but Baltimore I’ve embraced the Orioles as the home team. Still, as a fan of the game I don’t think having another team in the area will hurt. Especially considering that it’s a National League team. And a stadium in the Southwest Waterfront is just what that part of town needs. I might be a bit biased because I love harbors and waterfronts but I think cities should always maximize that feature. Nothing better than being by the waterr. They could really do some great things down there. They already have some nightlife there, and they’re building condos down there as well. With a new stadium in place they should be able to add some shops and restaurants as well. It could do for that area what MCI Center did for Chinatown.

So the big question is will this affect the Orioles? First of all nothing has affected the Orioles more than Angelos himself these past few years. He probably saw the writing on the wall before last season, which is why he went heavy on the free agent signings. Initially I thought this would hurt the Orioles to an extent but I didn't care, I just wanted another team here. But now I think that the negative impact will be little to none. A team in the District is going to attract a whole new core of fans that simply chose not to drive all the way out to Baltimore. Also, the DC area attracts nearly 25 million tourists a year, and it's one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the nation. All those factors will allow this area to support two teams.

It's not at all uncommon for there to be two teams in a major market-Yankees/Mets, Giants/As, Angels/Dodgers, White Sox/Cubs. All these teams have been to the postseason the past few years and this year at least four of them will make it again. And if you look at the financial reports of the teams in California-you only do this if you're a baseball freak and did a marketing presentation in B-School about baseball- then you'd see that the attendance of the four Cali teams is above the major league average. Of course it helps to have winning teams and Barry Bonds. But that's the point. If the Orioles remain committed to building a winning team and keep some superstars-Tejada, for example-another team in the area wouldn't be a problem. And the Baltimore/Washington area is larger than the Bay Area.

The big issue really isn't game day attendance it's control of the tv and radio market, even though technically DC and Baltimore are two separate media markets. But with the deal the MLB has apparently worked out Angelos will get a regional network for the Orioles, plus he's getting a guaranteed minimum revenue for the team each year. Angelos really has nothing to complain about.

If anything, a baseball team would have a negative impact on teams in the immediate DC area. The Capitals are even further screwed than they were already. And the Redskins and Wizards could lose some major corporate sponsors and luxury box owners, who might choose to invest their money in the hot new franchis instead. The Redskins have a lot of sponsorship deals and luxury box deals due to expire at the end of the season, beyond the obvious I'm sure Snyder considered the business ramifications of hiring Gibbs just before these deals were to expire and baseball came to town.

Technically the Texas Rangers own the rights to the name Washington Senators, but I'm sure something could be worked out. Although, some people on the inside have indicated they might like a completely new name to signal a new era of baseball in the nation's capital.

I apologize in advance for a highly regionalized, non-Redskins post

It'll be interesting to have baseball right in my backyard. I have been an Orioles fan for pretty much my whole life, but I might have two teams to cheer for in the near future. I can still remember my parents telling me about the senators games. I think it'll kind of be like switching colleges for me. While you're at one school you cheer for one team, and while you're at another school you cheer for that team, but you don't forget about your old team either.

Congrats guys! The Stl Cardinals have always been my team, but I'm defintley gonna be following this team as well.

i never liked the orioles, my grand dad used to LOVE baseball, back before it slowed down so much (we're talking 1940s-1980s or so), and he loved the senators...

personally after seeing how angelos acts, i can't believe it... i mean... MD supports TWO major NFL teams at the same time and both are doing great.

the orioles i believe, are only in batlimore because the senators ownership said that they had no problems with that... come on :P

anyways, i really rather they be called the senators again.

The 3 leading names for the team are the Senators, the Grays (I like this one), and the Monuments (corny). For those of you who are interested in voting for a name, just go to the website http://www.baseballindc.com.

I personally like the Grays because it has a great history behind it. Many believe it was the best baseball team ever assembled except that it was a Negro league team. The african-american population in DC is huge, and with that name it would attract a lot of fans. Obviously, DC already has a history with baseball with the Senators, but I think it's time for a change.

As far Angelos goes, Smootsmack hit it right on the nail. Angelos knew the time was coming, and he tried to assemble a winning team. All of a sudden Angelos was spending money on high priced free agents, something he had never done before. The only thing he forgot was to get some pitching, which is what the Orioles lack.

I myself am a NY Yankees fan. Even though I grew up in the DC area, I lived in NYC for a couple of years and after going to a couple of games at Yankee Stadium, I immediately became fan. I was never really a baseball fan until then. I do watch the Orioles, and follow them somewhat but I've never really rooted for them. I personally do not like Angelos either.

I'm looking forward to opening day next April. I'll be there in RFK stadium rooting for my Washington DC Grays, Senators, or the name I dislike the most....the Monuments (I only live 15 minutes away from RFK!). I'm really excited about baseball being back in my backyard.

I read on FOX sports that they cant be the Senators because the Rangers have the right for them when they moved in 1970. But I would not think it would be too hard to switch them back. I am sure it will all be about money about a million or so.

The Monuments is just plain stupid.

I'd like to hear what Crazy Canuck has to say about all this, being from Montreal