Pursuit of more city money is disturbing

Posted by Ian Koski on May. 21, 2008 at 10:51 PM
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As I made my way home after sitting through the Nationals' humiliating 12-2 loss tonight (it wasn't as close as it seems), I'd have been hard pressed to think I could have seen something even MORE disturbing before heading off to bed.

Then I saw this piece from the Post's Marc Fisher, posted online ahead of its publication in Thursday's paper.

A snippy legal battle between the Washington Nationals and the District government has been raging behind the scenes since February. Even now, a quarter of the way into the first season at Nats Park, the team's owners are demanding that the city cough up $100,000 a day in damages because, according to the Nationals, the stadium was not completed in time for Opening Night in March.

As Fisher points out, the park did in fact open on time. He was there. I was there, too. Paid $60 for it. Ryan Zimmerman hit the game-winning home run. It was awesome.

What we didn't see, apparently, was that the some of the team offices was not completed in time. Other items are alluded to but not described.

The contract MLB negotiated with the District gave the team's owners the right to pursue $100,000 a day for every day past Opening Day that the ballpark is not complete. Nationals Park was built faster than any other Major League Baseball park in history. The District was put on that accelerated schedule because MLB insisted on it. Baseball set the District up to fail.

The audacity of the Lerners' position is extensive. Shortly before Opening Day, Nationals attorney Irwin Raij apparently told the ballpark's architects that "the team is concerned that in the frenzy to complete the stadium, industry standards may be disregarded and errors will be made exposing the team and its patrons to unnecessary risk." Such a statement contradicts every public statement made by the ownership and front office with regard to the safety and efficiency of the accelerated construction process. It also forces us to consider that the team was trying to lay the groundwork for extracting more money from the District by getting its leaders on the defensive.

The Lerners' insistence that the District pony up what would now be $5 million is ludicrous. This is one of those things the team needs to write off as a demonstration of how grateful it is for the free $611 million stadium. And for the free rent at RFK Stadium. And for actually getting the ballpark open on time.

We're in this together, folks. The team needs the District and the District needs the team. The financial cannibalism that has dominated the Lerners' management philosophy thus far needs to come to end, or baseball in D.C. will fail once again.