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In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

As the Little League season gets into full swing for millions of young baseball and softball players across the country, their health and safety on the playing field will significantly benefit from an addition in the Little League rules this year — a requirement for breakaway bases.

The Honorable Tim Pawlenty
Governor of Minnesota

Dear Governor Pawlenty:

The Minnesota Twins’ stadium bill before you is an affront to taxpayers and voters, and I urge you to veto the legislation.

Our sports culture often pushes children to over-achieve and play through pain while specializing in, and training year-round for, one sport at an early age. These factors are dangerously conducive to overuse injuries.

Have the Colorado Rockies become a faith-based organization? According to a May 31 USA Today article by Bob Nightengale, it appears so:

“… Behind the scenes, [the Rockies] quietly have become an organization guided by Christianity — open to other religious beliefs but embracing a Christian-based code of conduct they believe will bring them focus and success. From ownership on down, it’s an approach the Rockies are proud of — and something they are wary about publicizing. ‘We’re nervous, to be honest with you,’ Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd says. ‘It’s the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs.’”

Dr. Natwar M. Gandhi
Chief Financial Officer
District of Columbia

Dear Dr. Gandhi:

The residents and taxpayers of the District of Columbia have been told by members of the DC Council and in subsequent press reports, that the approved baseball stadium lease — as written — now contains a $610.8 million cap on spending from city resources for the new stadium project. I am requesting that, as the District’s Chief Financial Officer, you release a statement immediately either verifying to the people of the District that the $610.8 million cap on city spending for the new baseball stadium is a true, ironclad cap, with no loopholes, or an explanation as to why it is not.

Baseball stadium legislation passed by the D.C. Council in the dead of night — after illegal closed-door discussions involving political payoffs — does nothing to curb runaway stadium costs and is a sham on the public, a citizens’ coalition charged today.

As reported in the press, the Council’s 9-4 vote in the early morning […]

Jeff Passan, a baseball writer for Yahoo (the Internet giant and “police informant“), takes on Major League Baseball’s territorial-rights policy in his May 26 column:

The revised baseball stadium draft lease agreed to Friday by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams appears to give away even more city assets, still fails to provide for a true cap on stadium costs, still fails to legally specify who will pay for cost overruns, fails to provide for possibly shifting the stadium from South Capitol to a far less-expensive RFK Stadium site, and should be rejected immediately if a vote is taken by the Council, a citizens’ coalition said today.

Honorable Linda W. Cropp
Chair
Council of the District of Columbia

Dear Chairman Cropp:

It is imperative that you and other councilmembers vote “no” on Tuesday, and send Mayor Williams and Mark Tuohey back for further negotiations with Major League Baseball. Do not be bullied by the latest threats from the Mayor and MLB. A “no” vote on Tuesday does not in any way mean an end to baseball in the District of Columbia, but it will potentially stop the inevitable train wreck we are about to experience:

Testimony of Ralph Nader
Before the Committee on Economic Development
District of Columbia City Council
December 13, 2005

Members of the Council, thank you for giving me the opportunity to present testimony. I would ask that my testimony be made part of the official record of this hearing.

In the Sunday, December 11, 2005 Washington Post, an unnamed city official admitted to low-balling stadium costs in an effort to gain approval from the DC Council prior to the vote on stadium financing last year. “The source,” wrote the Post, “who spoke on condition of anonymity because the project is at a sensitive stage, said officials also added relatively small contingency costs because they knew it would be hard to persuade the council to approve a larger budget.”