JEMAL-AN: A NEW EXPLORER FOR BASEBALL IN THE DISTRICT

          DC-area developer Douglas Jemal said yesterday he is
     organizing an ownership group that will bid to bring an
     existing MLB team to the city, according to Thom Loverro of
     the WASHINGTON TIMES.  Jemal said his full ownership group
     "hasn't been formed yet," but he met with the DC Sports
     Commission yesterday to discuss his plans, and said that he
     has been in contact "with officials of an existing major
     league franchise, but he would not say which one."  Loverro
     writes, "That franchise would most likely" be the Expos. 
     Jemal's plans "would seem to put the District at odds" with
     VA Baseball, a group led by telecom exec William Collins
     that would like to play at DC's RFK Stadium for two years
     while a ballpark is built in VA.  But Loverro writes that a
     DC-based group "would most likely" get the nod to use RFK
     while a DC ballpark is constructed (WASH. TIMES, 7/22).