First in war. First in peace.
And now? Last in the American League East?
That's Washington, D.C., in the wake of the U.S. capital obtaining the Montreal Expos.
Florida Marlins manager Jack McKeon was a vocal supporter of the move south after the U.S. anthem was booed. Some of the 31,395 jeered and then were drowned out by cheers.
"I almost took my team off the field," McKeon said. "I'm glad we're not coming back here."
You can't defend someone booing an anthem, but Expos fans arrived home from work or were on the way to the game when they discovered it was official: The Expos were gone.
On Tuesday, the U.S. anthem wasn't booed.
How can Washington support a team when it failed twice before? Well, nearby Montgomery, Md., and Fairfax, Va., are two of the highest per capita income counties in the U.S.
"There are more corporate head offices in D.C. than in the 1970s," Expos president Tony Tavares said. America Online, medical firms and high tech companies are housed in D.C.
Tavares confirmed the shift at 4:07 p.m., despite the fact an ownership group isn't in place. Now, the auction begins.
He said the club will play at RFK Stadium and hopes to move into a new home by 2008.
"The sun sets in Montreal and rises in Washington," Tavares said. "We are moving into a market which hasn't had baseball since 1971. We have a long to-do list."
Major League Baseball, which owns the Expos, could operate the club for the first quarter or first half of the season.
"There is a possibility something could go wrong, but I don't want to give people false hope," Tavares said. "If Montreal became a thriving metropolis again in 15 years, I could see baseball coming back. Minneapolis lost the Lakers and now has the Timberwolves."
Tavares said revenue in Montreal this season was 6.5 million US. In Washington it would be "10 times that amount."
"If you ask from a business stand point, I'd say it's a good day ... baseball is in Washington," the president said.
"It's a sad day for this city," manager Frank Robinson said. "When you move a franchise it means you have failed.
"It answers an on-going problem. No split schedules between here and Puerto Rico. I understand the impact this will have on Canadian people."
Tavares spoke to the team and asked for questions.
Not one was asked.
"I told Tony, there is a room full of questions," Robinson said. "No one wants to ask right now."
Tavares raised his own question when asked why the franchise had failed, saying there was a litany of problems.
"In 1994, they had a team that was going to maybe win the World Series and players went on strike. You had the numerous stops and starts to a downtown stadium," he said. "And the separatist movement changed things from a business perspective."
That might not have been the best road to walk down.
The Expos have a front-office staff of 40. Only a few with "special expertise" will be able to obtain visas.
