Miami, Denver Chosen by NL : Expansion: Approval by owners in both major leagues is expected soon. The teams would begin play in 1993.

The National League’s expansion committee made it official Monday, announcing it has recommended Denver and Miami for 1993 membership.

The rest is considered a formality:

--The major league’s eight-man ownership committee, which received the recommendation last Tuesday, is expected to approve it Wednesday, the opening day of a two-day meeting of major league owners in Santa Monica.

--Both leagues must then approve it, with nine of 12 votes required in the National and eight of 14 in the American.

That vote could come before the end of the Santa Monica meeting, but the owners probably will be given additional time to review the selections.

Commissioner Fay Vincent, attending Monday night’s game between the Angels and Milwaukee Brewers at Anaheim Stadium, said he expected the leagues to vote by mail or phone sometime within the next two weeks.

“It could happen during these meetings, but I don’t think so,” he said, adding that he expected the Denver-Miami recommendation to be approved.

“The committee obviously felt they were the two most attractive choices, the two cities that best serve baseball at this time,” Vincent said.

“Could something go wrong? Yes, but I wouldn’t expect it.”

He declined to discuss the merits of the two cities, saying of the others, “I think they tied for third.”

He alluded to Tampa-St. Petersburg, Orlando, Washington and Buffalo.

“They all could have supported major league baseball, but we feel that we’ve chosen the two best,” said Douglas Danforth of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the expansion committee chairman.

The National League had said last week that an announcement and vote on the recommendations, originally scheduled for this week’s meeting, was being delayed to give the ownership committee additional time to decide.

Monday’s announcement represented a reversal that stemmed, in large measure, from a feeling that baseball had been embarrassed by criticism of the delay, which created speculation that there was a hidden agenda.

Vincent, who is thought to have used the weekend to push for a recommendation, acknowledged Monday that he discussed that criticism with Fred Kuhlmann of the St. Louis Cardinals, chairman of the ownership committee, and that Kuhlmann told him he believed that the committee could get its work done by Wednesday’s meeting.

Vincent denied speculation that the delay was revoked only when the American League, which could have withheld it’s approval of Miami and Denver, was assured that baseball would not block transfer of either the Seattle Mariners or Cleveland Indians to St. Petersburg-Tampa.

“There are some fertile minds in baseball, but there’s nothing to that,” he said.

“I don’t think you’ll see a significant effort to move teams. The history of baseball shows that it’s not a very distinguished policy. You can never say never, but it’s strictly a last resort.”

If approved, Miami will become the major league’s first Florida city, Denver the first in the Mountain time zone.

The admission fee is $95 million, with the respective owners expected to need another $35 million to $50 million for start-up costs.

The Miami franchise goes to H. Wayne Huizenga, part owner of the Miami Dolphins and Joe Robbie Stadium, where his team would play, and chairman of Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., which had 1990 revenue of $1.1 billion.

Why Miami over St. Petersburg-Tampa and its domed stadium, a potential life saver amid the heat and humidity of a Florida summer?

Sources cited three reasons:

--The single owner aspect of the Miami bid compared to concern among some existing owners about the debt ratio of the St. Petersburg-Tampa group.

--The booming population growth in the Miami area, ranked 11th nationally compared to 21st for St. Petersburg-Tampa.

--Huizenga’s inside connection with the expansion committee. Carl Barger, a co-owner of the Pirates along with committee chairman Danforth, is also a member of Blockbuster’s board of directors.

The Denver franchise goes to a group called Colorado Baseball Partnership, which is headed by John Antonucci, CEO of Superior Beverage Group.

It is believed that there had been concern about the Denver financing until the Adolph Coors Co. recently committed more than $30 million.

A 43,000-seat stadium, expected to be ready for the 1995 season, will be named Coors Field. The Denver team would share Mile High Stadium with the Broncos in the meantime.

The Denver population is only 1.8 million, but the franchise is regarded as a regional attraction with unlimited and untapped TV and population potential stretching from Canada to Mexico.

The losing cities face a difficult proposition. They must lure an existing team into moving, which Vincent seems to oppose, or wait for the next expansion, which Vincent and most owners--concerned about diluted player talent and the prospect of sharing a new TV contract that might be reduced financially--oppose even more.

Vincent said Monday that baseball must resolve too many other major issues before considering the next expansion and predicted it wouldn’t happen in the ‘90s.

A Look at Baseball’s Expansion Sites

A look at the two cities the expansion committee has recommended for National League expansion teams in 1993. Buffalo, Washington, Orlando and St. Petersburg-Tampa were not selected. 1. DENVER

Metropolitan Population Ranking: 22.

TV Market Ranking: 19.

Stadium: Team would share Mile High Stadium with Denver Broncos until 1995. Construction of a 40,000-seat, downtown stadium, to be called Coors Field, has been approved by voters in the form of a sales tax.

Owner: Colorado Baseball Partnership, heavily financed by Coors Brewery and headed by John Antonucci of Youngstown, Ohio, president of the Superior Beverage Group, a wholesale enterprise that began as a family-owned grocery in 1920.

Comment: A $30-million commitment by Coors at a time when the partnership seemed to be deteriorating recharged the Denver bid. The National League sees it as a foothold in the untapped Rocky Mountains, with unlimited attendance and TV possibilities stretching from Canada to Mexico, and a geographical bridge to the West Coast.

2. MIAMI

Metropolitan Population Ranking: 11.

TV Market Ranking: 16.

Stadium: Joe Robbie, renovated for baseball and seating about 50,000.

Owner: South Florida Big League Baseball Inc., headed by H. Wayne Huizenga, chairman of Blockbuster Entertainment Corp, the nationwide video chain with 1990 revenue of $1.1 billion. Huizenga also owns 50% of the stadium and 15% of the Miami Dolphins.

Comment: The NL, initially attracted to Miami’s one-man ownership, is now said to be concerned by a recent dip in Blockbuster stock from $15 to $7 a share and is believed to be re-evaluating Huizenga’s financial status. The area’s booming growth is an obvious plus, but an open stadium in the heat and humidity of a Florida summer could be considered a drawback.