“Kalb Report” Goes Around the Horn on Baseball in DC

Feb. 15, 2005

By Thomas Kohout

On April 14, President George W. Bush will carry out a rite no US president has performed since Richard Nixon was in office; throwing out the first pitch at the home opener of a Washington, DC, Major League Baseball team.

The emergence of the Washington Nationals was the subject of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the 43rd forum of “The Kalb Report,” GW’s award-winning public affairs series hosted by distinguished scholar and journalist Marvin Kalb. Stepping away from the usual subjects of politics and the media, Kalb took a swing at the return of baseball to Washington, DC, from the main ballroom of the National Press Club Feb. 7. Featured guests Tony Tavares, president of the newly minted Nationals; John Feinstein, author and Washington Post columnist; and Scott Simon, author and National Public Radio host, explored topics such as whether the city can sustain a major league franchise — having lost two teams already, the team’s ability to compete under tight salary restrictions, the development of a new stadium along DC’s southwest waterfront, and the potential impact of the steroid scandal.

Feinstein led the defense of Washington’s ability to support the new franchise despite losing one team to Minnesota in 1961 and another to Texas 10 years later.

“Let’s remember the sordid history of the Washington Senators,” said Feinstein. “The old story was: Washington, first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League. In 1971, the last year of Senators II, the team drew 922,000, which was just below what was then considered the high-water mark of attendance — one million fans. Team owner Bob Short was charging the highest ticket prices in the league for the worst team. Put even a decent production on the field and I think baseball will do very well in Washington.”

“I think there is a robust marketplace,” agreed Tavares, adding he expects the team to draw better than 2.3–2.5 million in attendance in the first season. “The only way we’re going to do that is to win consistently, play competitive baseball. If we stay competitive in these early years… my belief would be that we would go into a new stadium by 2008 and we’re in the hunt for a World Series.”

According to Tavares, the team hopes to construct an open-air stadium that encompasses many of the features common to stadiums built in recent years, such as luxury suites for corporate executives, a maximum of seating behind home plate and along the first and third base lines, and baseball-related entertainment attractions.

“I really believe in facilities that are home-plate oriented. As soon as you walk through the gates there is a sight and a smell, it’s a festive atmosphere,” Tavares said, describing the ultimate goal of any new facility. “For me, a great ballpark starts in the bowl. I’d like to see a maximum of two levels separated by some luxury seats, maybe 70 or so, with a big lower bowl and a smaller upper deck.”

The challenge, according to Tavares, is performing all of the legal acrobatics necessary to get a stadium designed, approved, and constructed — cleaning up some of the industrial sites and upgrading the utility and transportation infrastructure to support the new ballpark.

“The Kalb Report” is funded through a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. The series is produced by GW Vice President for Communications Michael Freedman, and is a public affairs partnership between GW, The National Press Club, and The Joan Shorenstein Center on The Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

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