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Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who was intimately involved with selecting Washington as a baseball city, had some second-guessing to do Tuesday on where the team will be located.
| AP |
Speaking at George Washington University, Reinsdorf recalled how Commissioner Bud Selig asked him and a group of other owners to select a city to relocate the Montreal Expos.
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“Whatever you do, don’t give me Washington,” he said Selig told him.
That’s exactly what they did, although Reinsdorf said the decision had “nothing to do with my love for D.C.” (he got his bachelor’s degree from G.W. in the ’50s) but was “strictly business.
Nevertheless, he said he preferred Northern Virginia over downtown due to its “better fan base.” Then he told the crowd, which included Nats principal owner Mark Lerner, that he “would have requested a different location” in the city.
“We were sold on the idea that there would be enough parking,” he said. “I’m afraid that’s not the case. I would have insisted on [the RFK site].”
Reinsdorf, who also owns the Chicago Bulls, was inducted into G.W.’s Sports Executive Hall of Fame, along with legendary NBA player agent David Falk, who has a law degree from G.W. and still lives in Rockville.
The two told Yeas & Nays they’ve known each other for 20 years, most of it negotiating contracts for Michael Jordan. “He convinced me that it was good for me to pay Michael Jordan $63 million over two years,” Reinsdorf said. “I think I must have been on drugs.”
Reinsdorf also had some unkind words for baseball union chief Donald Fehr, calling him the “single biggest impediment” to baseball’s further prosperity. When a large panel crashed down behind them in the middle of their chat, he said, “Must have been Don Fehr.”
As for Falk, who represents only a few players now, including former Georgetown Hoya Jeff Green, he said he’d like to see the players develop a real partnership with the NBA and its owners.
“I stay in the business because I like to share what I’ve learned,” Falk said. “It’s about being a teacher more than a deal maker.”
