Also making Northern Virginia's case, in a separate meeting, were Thomas M. Davis III, the Republican congressman who was then chairman of Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors, and George Barton, then Loudoun's board chairman.
The owners knew little about this entity west of the nation's capital that the Virginians kept harping on.
William L. Collins III, leader of the Virginia Baseball Club, speaks at the Babe Ruth World Series banquet at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville.
(Katherine Frey For The Washington Post)
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"They said, 'Northern Virginia. What's that?' " Barton recalled. "They like cities, clearly defined geographic areas."
After Barton and Davis finished touting the Dulles area's soaring growth and household incomes, there was silence, Barton recalls.
"George Steinbrenner decided to fill the void," Barton said. The Yankees owner "looked Tom and me in the eye and said, 'Why don't you just build a stadium and give it to us? That's what everybody else does.' "
Barton, stunned, told the group that as good Republicans they couldn't afford that. The meeting was soon over, as was Northern Virginia's bid. Tampa and Phoenix ended up with the teams.
Collins assigned Scanlon to lobby for legislation giving the authority the muscle needed to finance and build a ballpark on terms acceptable to Major League Baseball. In 1996, Collins began funding the authority's operations -- in exchange for an agreement that his Virginia Baseball Club would have the exclusive right to negotiate a lease to use the stadium.
Barriers remained, and that year Collins lost another bid. Collins thought he had a deal to bring the Houston Astros to Virginia. But baseball officials opposed the plan, and voters in Houston narrowly passed a measure to build a new stadium, killing the Virginia move.
Over the next couple of years, Collins sought to buy the Expos from their owners at the time, but that, too, failed, beginning a prolonged dry spell.
Northern Virginia's latest bid has had difficulties as well, including the stinging rejection in Arlington. League executives also decided that they would first choose where to move the Expos, and then who would own the team. The change nixed Collins's exclusive position with the authority, though the organizations remain closely tied.
The fervent opposition of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos to a team in the Washington region also remains a "huge" impediment, Collins acknowledged.
The parade of setbacks has left some participants, and even competitors, awed at Collins's willingness to keep at it.
"I think it's pure love," said Keith Frederick, who volunteers as stadium authority chairman. "I've heard Bill Collins say many times that if this was done on a pure investment basis, there isn't anyone that would touch it."
Collins quips that instead of talking so much about how committed he is, people should just have him committed. Asked if he's been following any model, Collins responded with characteristic self-deprecation: For "being this stupid? No, not that I'm aware of."
