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Selig recognizes bids by other cities

By John Hunt
The Oregonian
Thursday, September 30, 2004

In awarding the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, commissioner Bud Selig gave Portland a thank you.

"I want to thank the other communities," Selig said on a conference call. "I can't tell you how aggressive the other areas were and how much they wanted a major league team. And in the end, this decision was made because as with all decisions, you try to do in the end what you believe is in the best interest of the sport."

Selig would not comment on the details of the negotiations with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos. He did say that moving the Expos into the Orioles' market would not establish a precedent for the Oakland A's, who want to build a stadium in Santa Clara County, part of the San Francisco Giants' territory.

Selig pointed out that a team's market and its territorial rights are different things.

"It doesn't have any bearing at all because the Washington area was not officially part of baseball's territory. San Jose is part of the San Francisco Giants' territory," Selig said. "It is not a proper analogy, frankly."

Selig wouldn't rule out other relocation possibilities.

"There's nobody now that I know of, but, you know, I've learned long ago not to say never about anything," he said.