Stop the presses! MLB has tentatively agreed to a concession on its stadium deal with Washington, D.C.! Is it the issue of who will pay for the inevitable cost overruns? Of whether D.C. will be socked with late fees if the stadium isn’t ready by Opening Day 2008? Of combat pay for ticketholders who have to watch Cristian Guzman imitate a major-league shortstop for the next four years?
No, no, none of those. It’s … no, I’m too excited. Let’s let the Baltimore Sun do the honors:
Major League Baseball is rewriting its D.C. stadium agreement to address a key concern of local council members: the number of days the city can use the new stadium when the team isn’t playing there, according to officials close to the stadium deal.
Under a Sept. 29 agreement signed by baseball and Mayor Anthony Williams, the city may use the stadium – targeted for completion in 2008 – for up to 12 days a year for amateur sports or other events when the team, the Washington Nationals, isn’t playing at home. …
Baseball has recently indicated it considers the 12-day restriction “addressable” and is prepared to compromise with the city on the issue. Neither city officials nor executives at the baseball commissioner’s New York offices would say by how many days the District’s allowance is being extended.
Well, that’s a relief. A spokesperson for D.C. council chair Linda Cropp called news of the concession “like going from second base to third,” saying this issue “was one of the biggies for the chairman.” If this turns out to be Cropp’s price for voting for the stadium bill, it’s going to be a bit of a disappointment – me, I would have at least held out for the matryoshkas.
So MLB decides to throw a few free tickets to D.C.’s youth and gives the city the right to use the stadium for more than the 12 days a year. Wow, how generous! This is just a PR carrot and doesn’t come close to counting as a legitimate concession.