After 33 years, baseball is finally back in D.C. The Montreal Expos will relocate to the District this spring, giving local baseball fans time to rejoice.
D.C. rightly beat out Northern Virginia, Las Vegas, Monterrey, Mexico and other cities to get the team. A big factor in Major League Baseball's decision was the $400 million proposed by the city to go toward a new stadium along the Anacostia River. And what better new home for the nation's pastime than the nation's capital.
Bringing the team to D.C will quench the city's thirst for professional baseball. District residents will have a much easier time reaching RFK Stadium (where the team will play until 2007) and the new stadium in Anacostia than they currently do getting to Baltimore's Camden Yards.
Also, putting the stadium in Anacostia will bring jobs and economic activity to what's currently a rather desolate area. Already the city has begun preparing for the economic boom, purchasing and reserving land in the village surrounding the stadium. With luck, the Anacostia area will benefit from the stadium as much as Baltimore's Inner Harbor has benefited from the construction of Camden Yards.
The biggest critic of the Expos' move to D.C. has been Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Angelos worries that the D.C. team will take fans and money away from his own franchise. While that may be partially true, the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area can certainly support two big-league teams and D.C. offers a more convenient location for fans to the south.
There are also some, including City Council candidate and former D.C. mayor Marion Barry, who oppose the use of city funds to build the stadium. However, $400 million is a small price to pay for all the money that will flow into the Anacostia area once the stadium is built.
We look forward to the development of Anacostia and the opportunity for AU students to see big league baseball within our own city.
