Three politicians in Maryland
Nathan MacKinnon Jersey , Virginia and the District of Columbia are teaming up across partisan lines, seeking to prevent their governments from waging a bidding war with public money to build a new stadium for the Washington Redskins.
The liberal Democrat in Maryland, conservative Republican in Virginia and left-leaning independent District of Columbia Council member have introduced legislation to set up an interstate compact barring any public spending on incentives for a new stadium.
The idea is to prevent the jurisdictions from competing against each other with lucrative offers of public assistance for the new facility. The team’s current lease at FedEx Field in suburban Maryland ends in 2027 and it is exploring new potential locations.
”By taking money off the table, it would be better for all three of us,” said Michael Webert, a conservative Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He said Virginia, Maryland and the District could still compete with each other through other means, such as streamlined business regulations.
”By the way, I’m a diehard fan, I just don’t think we need to pay for their stadium,” he said.
Maryland Del. David Moon, a progressive Democrat and a former season ticket holder, said a similar interstate compact might not work with other businesses because they could just choose a different region altogether. But a franchise with the word ”Washington” in its name and a strong local fan base has limited options, he said.
”It’s a lot more plausible to try this with a sports team,” Moon said.
He said the joint effort by lawmakers with different backgrounds and political views points to widespread opposition to spending public funds for a football stadium.
”That’s one of the fascinating aspects to this whole debate, this is not a partisan issue,” Moon said.
Joining them is District Council member David Grosso, a political independent who said last year that ”a football team worth over $1 billion should not need to rely on special government assistance to fund their facilities.”
Team spokesman Tony Wyllie declined to comment.
Whether all three jurisdictions will approve a compact remains to be seen. Landing a new stadium deal could be an attractive political legacy item for a governor or mayor.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s spokesman Brian Coy said the governor wants to ”structure a creative deal” to bring the team to Virginia, but opposes public subsidies. Coy was noncommittal on whether Northam supported the idea of an interstate compact.
Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe aggressively pursued a stadium deal. A Virginia stadium would most likely be built in Loudoun County, where the Redskins have their practice facility and a majority of players live.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan previously told The Washington Business Journal that he would do ”whatever it takes” to keep the team. His office did not respond to requests for comment.
District Mayor Muriel Bowser has also said she doesn’t support using public money to bring the team back to the city
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Corey Kluber doesn’t often appear hittable, beatable or unremarkable.
It’s a baseball rarity, like a triple play.
On Friday night, it happened.
Kluber had a rare rocky performance, lasting just five innings and losing for the first time in seven starts as Kyle Gibson outpitched the Cy Young winner and Brian Dozier hit a two-run homer off him to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Indians.
”I guess he proved he’s human,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. ”He doesn’t look like it very often.”
Kluber (10-3) allowed a homer on his fourth pitch of the game to Eddie Rosario and was pulled after throwing just 65 pitches by Francona, who wants to preserve his ace for bigger games ahead.
”If we want to get where we want to go, he’s going to have a major part in that,” Francona said.
It was the shortest outing this season for the All-Star, who came in 5-0 with a 0.76 ERA against AL Central teams and was riding several other impressive streaks.
Kluber didn’t offer any excuses and understood Francona’s rationale for lifting him.
”Just out of whack a little bit mechanically,” Kluber said. ”Obviously didn’t make good pitches to a few guys. Made some mistakes and they took advantage of it.”
Gibson (2-4) limited the Indians to one run and three hits in seven innings and got his first win since his season debut on March 31.
Yan Gomes homered in the ninth and the Indians closed to 6-3 before closer Fernando Rodney struck out Francisco Lindor with one on for his 15th save.
The Twins came into the series struggling at the plate and figured to be in for a tough time against Kluber, who has been as dominant this season as any stretch of his career and was seeking to become baseball’s first 11-game winner.
Kluber, though, wasn’t Kluber.
With Joe Mauer returning from the disabled list after missing 25 games with a strained neck and concussion-like symptoms, Minnesota manager Paul Molitor dropped Dozier from the leadoff spot to No. 5 and the second baseman responded with his two-run homer in the fourth and three RBIs.
Minnesota’s plan was to be aggressive against Kluber and it worked.
”He’s not really a guy where anybody’s too comfortable getting behind or hitting with two strikes,” Molitor said. ”A lot of our damage was aggressive at-bats, Rosie first pitch and Doz I think maybe second pitch of his at-bat, so we were trying to get after him a little bit.”
Dozier put the Twins ahead 4-0 in the fourth, when Kluber allowed his first walk in seven starts.
After Rosario doubled, Kluber threw four balls to Eduardo Escobar
Patrick Roy Jersey , snapping his string without a walk at 46 1/3 innings – the longest for a Cleveland pitcher in 11 years. Rosario then scored when Lindor’s return throw to first after a force out nearly went into Minnesota’s dugout.
Dozier followed by snapping an 0-for-20 slump with his 10th homer, a shot that put Kluber in an unfamiliar hole. The steady-and-stoic star had not given up more than three runs in a game since Aug. 3, a span of 27 starts and testament to his consistency.
ERROR PRONE
Lindor had two more errors, giving the Indians All-Star shortstop 10 this season, tying his total from 2017.
Francona isn’t concerned about it becoming a lasting trend.
”Shoot, he’s so good,” Francona said. ”We forget how young he is sometimes, because he’s so good. If that’s the worst thing we can come up with, he’s pretty good. ”
SIDELINED
The Indians were without starting first baseman Yonder Alonso, who was placed on the family-medical-emergency list and will miss at least this series.
CLEVELAND ROCKS
A trip to Progressive Field may have helped Dozier snap out of his funk. His homer was the 14th of his career at the ballpark, his most in any visiting stadium. Dozier has reached base in each of his last 19 games in Cleveland, batting .316 (24 for 76) with eight homers and 19 RBIs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: OF Byron Buxton (toe fracture) is working out with the team and could begin a minor league rehab assignment in a few days. He was injured May 29 and placed on the disabled list the following day.
Indians: There’s still no definitive plan with All-Star LHP Andrew Miller, who has been out since May 24 with right knee inflammation. Francona said the team is taking a ”long-term” approach with the elite reliever, who has been on the DL twice this season. ”When we get him back, we want to keep him back,” Francona said.
UP NEXT
Indians RHP Carlos Carrasco shut out Chicago with 11 strikeouts in seven innings in his last outing. He’ll make his third start this season against the Twins, who will counter with Fernando Romero.
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