WASHINGTON - Major League Baseball will announce Wednesday that Washington will be the new home of the Montreal Expos, The Associated Press has learned. A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington has been notified by Major League Baseball of the impending announcement that will return the national pastime to the nation's capital for the first time in 33 years.
The city is planning its own news conference at a downtown location Wednesday afternoon, the official said.
The announcement will come one day before the 33rd anniversary of the Washington Senators' final game. The Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season, which was also the last time a major league team changed cities.
Baseball has been looking for a new home for the Expos since the financially troubled team was bought by the other 29 major league owners in 2002.
Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va.; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Ore.; and Northern Virginia also made bids, but Washington clearly took the lead during negotiations over recent weeks.
Those negotiations have produced a 30-page document that would conditionally award the Expos to Washington, pending approval by the City Council. The document had not yet been signed as of Tuesday night, the city source told the AP.
Final talks have been ongoing since a meeting of the sport's executive council last Thursday. Plans call for a $13 million refurbishment of RFK Stadium and a new ballpark costing slightly over $400 million, which would be built along the Anacostia River in the southeast section of the city.
The move must be approved by three-quarters of major league owners and survive legal challenges by the Expos' former limited partners and possibly by Baltimore owner Peter Angelos, who objects to having a team just 40 miles from the Orioles. Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, has been attempting to negotiate a compensation arrangement with Angelos.
The original Washington Senators played 4,610 home games before becoming the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The expansion Senators played 883 home games before moving to Texas.
In the Senators' last game, on Sept. 30, 1971, they led the New York Yankees 7-5 with two outs in the ninth inning when fans seeking souvenirs went on the RFK Stadium field, which could not be cleared. The Yankees wound up winning the game in a forfeit.
The Rangers retain ownership of the name "Washington Senators," baseball spokesman Carmine Tiso said after consulting with Ethan Orlinsky, a lawyer for Major League Baseball Properties, the sport's licensing division.
Montreal's last home game is scheduled for Wednesday night against Florida. Monday's series opener drew a crowd of 3,923 to Olympic Stadium.
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