Tuesday, June 28, 2005 |
The Invisible Men
There have been times in this inaugural season of the Washington Nationals when Mel Proctor and Ron Darling, the TV voices of the team, have sat in the booth talking into their microphones and thinking this crazy thought: No one out there was watching.Orioles owner Peter Angelos, as part of the deal to allow a Nationals team in Washington, got MLB to cede broadcast rights for that team to him. The resulting deal immediately put him in conflict with Comcast, which claims a contractual right to match any bid for any Washington team. Such disputes are not uncommon in baseball; in 2002, the Yankees' YES Network wasn't carried on Cablevision. The matter finally required the intervention of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer."Well, it was so strange early in the year when we were doing games that nobody was seeing," Proctor said. "That was one of the weirdest things I've ever done. Like this one night I gave out my cell phone number on the air and I said, 'If anybody's watching anywhere, call this number.' And the only one who called was the tape operator from the truck."
By now, they're used to the complaints. "We always ride the Metro back when we're at home," Darling said, "so invariably the question we get all the time is, 'Where are you guys on TV? What channel are you on? Where are you going to be tomorrow?' And literally, we don't have many answers."
It's not clear that it will matter, though; interest in the team has been brisk, and has even recently attracted a bid from billionaire George Soros. (Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (R) took off the gloves with that, threatening Selig with the comment, "I don't think it's the Nats that get hurt. I think it's Major League Baseball that gets hurt. They enjoy all sorts of exemptions" from anti-trust laws." Soros is a large donor to Democratic causes.) Offers now are thought to be "between $300 million and $400 million for a team that MLB bought in 2002 for $120 million." Good business if you can get it.
(Hat tip: BTF, and long-time reader Bruce.)
: 6/29/2005 04:21:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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