2 Groups Make Pitch for Baseball Franchises

Two decades after the Senators left Washington, two groups argued today before baseball owners that the nation’s capital should be given a third try.

Washington, Charlotte, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla., appeared before the National League’s expansion committee, vying for the two franchises that will start play in 1993. Two groups came from Washington, one seeking a downtown team and another looking to put one in a northern Virginia suburb.

While some prospective owners were well-informed, others knew little about baseball.

Richard M. DeVos, head of the Orlando group and president of Amway Corp., and John E. Akridge, a real estate developer who leads the downtown Washington group, said they were not familiar with revenue participation, the key long-term plan of management’s Player Relations Committee.

When told of the plan, DeVos criticized it, saying “everyone wants to get into the act” and terming it “socialism.” He apparently did not realize the proposal was made by owners, not by the players association.

Akridge also said he was unaware of the plan, which is bitterly opposed by the union.

Both Akridge and Mark W. Tracz, head of the suburban Washington group, said they would attempt to build their teams through farm systems.

“We don’t want to get into the free-agent spending situation,” said Tracz, who owns a Class A minor-league team.

Tracz’s group said a team in the suburbs could be more successful than a downtown franchise because it would be farther from the American League’s Baltimore Orioles. The other group wants to play in RFK Stadium, home of the Washington Redskins and former home of the Senators.

The league will announce a “short list” of finalists by Dec. 31 and will select the new teams by Sept. 30, 1991.