MLB Acting-Commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday that Astros
Owner Drayton McLane "has not asked permission to move the team,"
according to the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Alan Truex reports, however,
that NL President Leonard Coleman "acknowledged" that McLane has
"asked permission to talk to outside people to buy the club."
While Selig "publicly espouses a desire to keep the Astros in
Houston," sources close to him say he has indicated an "interest
in seeing the team moved" to Northern VA "in order to cut into
the fan base" of the Orioles (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/27). ESPN's
Peter Gammons spoke with Selig who said the Astros moving to DC
was "unlikely to happen" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 10/26).
COLLINS TAKES A STEP CLOSER: In Washington, Lorraine
Woellert reports that the VA Stadium Baseball Stadium Authority
has said "it will enter into a lease agreement" with the VA
Baseball Club, led by investor William Collins. The Authority
said the Collins group "had better financial standing and was
more responsive than his competitor," Capital Baseball Inc., led
by Bart Fisher. The move gives Collins "exclusive rights" to
negotiate the lease on the proposed ballpark in Northern VA
(WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/27). MCLANE-ADAMS MEET: McLane said
yesterday he met with Oilers Owner Bud Adams to discuss who will
pay for financial losses from a canceled preseason football game.
The two have agreed to nonbinding arbitration to settle the
dispute. If no agreement can be reached, the case will go to
court (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/27).
