Bob DuPuy Baseball Quotations

From the standpoint of family entertainment, baseball remains very affordable compared against comparable entertainment. MLB is a special, but fairly priced, family fare.

We're optimistic it will be voted in Turin, and baseball and softball will be reinstated, ... We were encouraged.

I think it is very important that we have Major League Baseball in Washington, D.C..

Today's vote is a serious setback to all those in the Washington community who sought the return of a team to the nation's capital. I regret very much that D.C. officials have failed to honor the agreement they made when they successfully bid for the Expos to move to Washington. Baseball has no choice but to pursue arbitration so the terms of our original agreement can be honored and to begin to explore whatever options are available to us.

The NFL has a hard cap, but if you ask 20 NFL experts who is going to win the Super Bowl this year, you might get 20 different answers. If you then asked 20 baseball experts who is going to represent the American League in the World Series, at least 90 percent of them would say the Yankees and the rest would say Seattle.

We have worked very hard to accommodate the requests from the Mayor and the Council that changed the terms of the agreement that brought the Montreal Expos to Washington. Because we believe in the future of Baseball in the nation's capital, we have signed a lease that honors the 2004 agreement, while conforming to the emergency legislation that the Council passed last month.

We are growing increasingly concerned about the District's ability to meet the agreed-upon December 31, 2005 deadline, by which date a number of critical tasks in the Baseball Stadium Agreement must be completed,

This will be a tremendous opportunity to showcase one of the great cities in America and one of the great ballparks in Major League Baseball. And what better place to have our first World Baseball Classic finals than in a city and with a team that has such strong international roots and international outreach.

There have been discussions about beginning bargaining that were interrupted for the World Baseball Classic. I would expect the sides to meet to establish an initial timetable shortly.

We are studying the language in an effort to understand its impact on our existing agreements and consulting with experts for advice concerning its ultimate impact on the future of Major League Baseball in Washington. We are interested in reviewing the analysis of this legislation made by both the (District) Office of the Chief Financial Officer and that made by the Office of the Attorney General prior to reaching our conclusions.

We are very hopeful that ... Cuba will be allowed to participate on the terms that have been negotiated. It is critical that Cuba participates. Cuba is an important international program, the defending Olympic champion, and ought to be in the World Baseball Classic.

November does not work at all. Not a single one of the 16 baseball federations involved expressed the view that November was a better time.

This is an acknowledgment of an entire area of the world and a heritage and multiple countries. This is not a racial thing. The Latin American influence in baseball has been pervasive.

I regret very much that D.C. officials have failed to honor the agreement they made when they successfully bid for the Expos to move to Washington. Baseball has no choice but to pursue arbitration so the terms of our original agreement can be honored and to begin to explore whatever options are available to us.