[January 6th] -- Although I was equal parts angry, devastated and depressed when Bob Short moved the Senators to Texas in the fall of 1971, I never for a moment considered that RFK Stadium would remain dark for thirty-four more summers. Since 1954, when the Browns moved from St. Louis to Baltimore, there had been several franchise shifts within the league and there was no reason to believe that would change (which it did as as the Expos move to Washington was the first franchise shift since the Senators in 1971) . The Giants and Dodgers moved to California, and both the Senators I and II were allowed to seek greener pastures as well. Heck, the Seattle Pilots lasted just one season in the Pacific Northwest before moving to Milwaukee in 1970. I thought it might take four or five years, but I was sure that baseball would return to Washington.

And I was justified in my hopes.

Back then, teams weren't changing zip codes for luxury boxes and state-of-the-art facilities. Many teams were facing extreme financial difficulties. In 1973, all of Major League baseball drew just over 30 million fans, an average of only 13,600 per game. The San Diego Padres fared even worse, drawing an embarassing 611,000 fans to San Diego Stadium - about 7,500 per game.

Like I said, I didn't know who would be moving to Washington - or when - but it would be someone, sometime. I was confident.

I was turning 17 in 1973. My father took me to K-Mart on May 27th - the day before my birthday - and let me buy what I wanted. If I remember correctly, I bought clothes - had to impress the chicks after all. I was in my room trying on some of those clothes when the flash came over WTOP radio.

The Padres were - apparently anyway- moving to Washington.

Padres' general manager Peter "Buzzie" Bavasi had gathered his staff earlier that day and broke the news to them. They were moving to D.C. Things were so tight, in fact, that he told the group that the team would move to Washington in 1974 "at the latest." Owner C. Arnold Smith was "broke."

Though Bavasi admonished his staff to keep their meeting quiet, the story broke in the papers the very next day. Joe Danzansky, president of Giant Foods, was going to purchase the Padres. The team would remain in San Diego for the rest of the year unless "financial concerns" forced them to move later that summer.

For the rest of the summer, baseball fans in Washington were on cloud nine. It wasn't a matter of "if things work out" or "assuming all parties agree;" It was a done deal and everyone - everyone - were talking of the move as a certainty (though no-one had signed anything at this point)

I'll never forget Warner Wolf's sportscast after the move seemed all but certain. After filling in his viewers on the particulars of the move, he finished by saying, "Washington is getting a third chance at baseball. There are a lot of things to be decided but there's one thing we can't let happen. Folks, we can't call 'em the Senators. That name is jinxed! Let's call 'em the Metros, or the Ambassadors or even the Blue Jays; Anything -- anything but the Senators." And then he smiled into the camera and finished by saying "Baseball is back in Washington! I'm Warner Wolf."

I wasn't the only one certain the team was moving east. San Diego fans were so sure the team was leaving that they stopped going to games. They drew just 1400 fans to a game in September. Topps was so sure the Padres were moving that they created those famous "Washington" "National League" cards - the first series had to be printed before any official announcement could be made. GM Buzzie Bavasi was so sure the team was moving that he even contacted the person he wanted to manage the team -- none other than Frank Robinson.

Finally, it was officially announced in December that Danzanski and a group of partners were going to purchase the Padres. He was given three weeks to complete the deal. No one thought the deal would fall through. After all, Washington was owed a baseball team.

Then, it happened.

Sometime during those three weeks came a report out of San Diego that the city attorney obtained court approval to force the team - even if it moved - to pay off the remainder of the stadium lease to the city.

The lease was to run for fifteen more years.

When the judge approved the city's request, the banks that were going to finance Danzansky's deal all pulled out. The team couldn't stay afloat, they said, while paying for two stadiums.

That was that. Game over.

Smith said he couldn't continue to own the team regardless of where it played and Major League Baseball said it was ready to assume ownership of the Padres before Ray Kroc came forward and saved the team.

Though I was devastated yet again, I still believed that baseball would return to Washington. It was common knowlede that both leagues would expand several more times, and I refused to believe that D.C. would be bypassed for the other cities mentioned. Of course, expansion did bypass Washington. Several of the cities that ultimately got a franchise have struggled to put people in the stands.

Looking back on it, I can laugh about the "Washington Padres." But I've got to be honest and tell you that tears were shed when Warner Wolf reported that the Padres would remain in San Diego. "Maybe baseball in Washington is jinxed" said Wolf.

Maybe it was, but no more. Thankfully. No more.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 3:06 PM