Groups from Orlando and Northern VA were both told that
additional expansion could come soon. Acting MLB Commissioner
Bud Selig: "I expect the clubs will continue to consider
expanding and it will take place sooner rather than later" (MLB).
In Orlando, Norton Herrick still has the exclusive rights to seek
a team for the city. A penny tourist tax to build a $150M park
is also still in place. Herrick: "It's just a temporary
setback. We'll be there for the next expansion, we'll continue
to push" (Lawrence Lebowitz, ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/10). In and
around DC, the two groups attempting to bring baseball to
Northern VA said yesterday they would "turn their attention to
purchasing an existing franchise and moving it to Virginia"
(Lipton & Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 3/10). Columnist Tom Boswell
writers that this will be the last expansion for a "long time,"
especially if owners get the labor deal they want. Boswell
believes the DC area's best bet is an existing team and urges
Virginia Baseball Chair Bill Collins's to look "to buy the first
team that's driven into bankruptcy by the strike" (WASHINGTON
POST, 3/10).
