May 26, 2005 [LINK]
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has become a partner in the Washington Baseball Club, the oldest prospective baseball franchise ownership group in the Washington area. Led by Fred Malek, who used to work in the Nixon administration, and Jeffrey Zients, a financial whiz kid, the WBC has expanded to include minority leaders, in hopes of building strong relations with the D.C. community. See Washington Post. Having an ultra-prestigious figure like Colin Powell on board will greatly enhance the Malek-Zients group's already-considerable advantage in the bidding for the Washington Nationals. The selling price could be anywhere from $300 -$400 million, depending on how (and when) the broadcast rights war with the Baltimore Orioles is resolved. Until then, serious work on acquiring land for building a new stadium in Washington cannot begin.
After nearly two months of playing, the Washington Nationals were swept in a three-game series for the first time, getting trounced by the Reds, 12-3. Jose Guillen's two home runs mattered not. Starting pitcher Claudio Vargas didn't even last two innings this time, and he may be headed back to the minors very shortly. The battered and bruised Nats got to rest today, and will take on the first-place Cardinals in St. Louis this weekend, before returning home next week to face the Braves, who have fallen into second place.