March 30, 2005 [LINK]
The total price tag for the new baseball stadium in Washington "could rise another $46 million to a total of approximately $580 million, according to a study ... by Natwar M. Gandhi, the city's chief financial officer." This updated figure falls within the parameters stipulated when the funding bill was passed in December, and D.C. council member Jack Evans said, "This is a go." Mr. Gandhi says that estimate is conservative, meaning it could be lower than that. See washingtonpost.com. Maybe they could save a few bucks by outsourcing some of the ... Nah. Frankly, any government-funded project in the bureaucrats' paradise known as the District of Columbia is almost guaranteed to run at least 10-20 percent over budget.
The Nationals have sent underachieving outfielder Endy Chavez, who had been slated to be the leadoff hitter, back to the minors -- to the New Orleans AAA club, to be precise. Now their whole lineup is messed up, and manager Frank Robinson is not pleased.
MLB owners approved the sale of the Oakland A's to Lewis Wolff, for $180 million. His top priority will be to get public funding for a new stadium in Oakland, or perhaps further south in the Bay Area -- How about the San Jose Athletics? See mlb.com.
Many thanks to Rudy Riet for his warm praise of my Proposed new D.C. stadium design on his Random Duck blog.