May 02, 2004

Les folies des Expos

You know, the Expos Relocation Odds chart seemed like a good idea at the time, but at this rate it'll soon be down to "Montreal," "D.C." and "Other," as cities keep effectively taking themselves out of the race. The latest to go all Carol Moseley Braun looks to be Norfolk, which has revealed its latest scheme, a plan to house the Expos in a minor-league stadium with 6,000 temporary bleacher seats until a new stadium is ready. (As Montreal found out, that can take a while.) The local wunderkinder have also debuted a website that proclaims the Hampton Roads region to be "the largest metro area in the United States without a major league baseball team" - as Doug Pappas points out, it's actually seventh.

Meanwhile, the Expos' other erstwhile suitors have been stuck in neutral, at best. We covered Las Vegas last week; Portland's stadium boosters claim they're getting nearer to a financing plan, but admit that "we have so much work to do in the next six to eight weeks that it's not even funny"; and no one's heard from Northern Virginia, Monterrey, Connecticut, or San Antonio in ages, though the same Las Vegas Sun article that claimed a short list of finalists was imminent also quoted a "Bud Selig confidant" as saying that if the Expos move to Vegas, they'd split time between San Antonio and Monterrey until a stadium had bloomed in the desert - a notion that even San Antonio sports reporters have a hard time taking seriously.

And about that rumored cut-down of MLB's candidate list, here's David Kahn of the Oregon Stadium Campaign dropping some science: "I asked that question, and they don't know. I don't think I'm alone in saying I don't know." Not alone at all!