It’s time to answer nagging questions

Friday, May 28, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

Are they coming?

That's one of the many inquiries that have been constantly flung at yours truly for months.

Is Major League Baseball going to move the Expos from Montreal to Las Vegas? When will that sleek, glass stadium be completed and when will that first pitch be thrown? And who will throw it?

Anyone like the sound of Merrill Lynch Field at The Strip? That neon sign might flash high above a 40,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium, with expressive steel highlighting a mostly glass facade, behind Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.

To attempt to close some loose ends and provide some insight into other curiosities about the Expos' drama, now in its third captivating season, we offer the following:

Question: Are the Expos coming to Vegas?

Answer: Persistent, aren't you? (When answers aren't known, it is best to respond to questions with questions.)

Q: What does Hizzoner say?

A: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman recently told an interested observer that he does not expect the Expos to land in his fair city but that a major league team will be transferred to Vegas before his term ends in 2007.

If that's true, it remains to be seen if that team will be called the Bombay (Sapphire) Bombers.

Q: Where, and when, will Goodman say more on the topic?

A: Middle to late next week, on ESPN's Outside the Lines. For a piece on the professional sports potential of Las Vegas, Goodman was interviewed by one of the cable network's producers in his office Monday afternoon.

Q: If Goodman's wrong, and the Expos land here, will the team keep the Expos nickname?

A: We suggest, no. Expose? That might be a too-coy reference to, uh, an aspect of the city.

How about Las Vegas Aces? "Aces ace Greg Maddux fired the team's first no-hitter, against the Dodgers, Sunday at Merrill Lynch Field ... " Has a ring to it, no? Red caps and uniform trim at home, black on the road.

Ahh, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Heck, let's stay ahead.

Q: Will the Expos bring Youppi, that goofy Phillie Phanatic-wannabe mascot with them to the desert?

A: No. We will do everything in our power, even start a petition drive, to keep that creature out of the Silver State.

Q: How about second baseman Jose Vidro, who just signed a four-year, $30-million contract extension?

A: We think so. However, a loophole, in that his deal can be voided if the team is placed outside the continental United States, exists in his contract.

San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico, have been mentioned as temporary sites for the team if Vegas gets it. Does "outside the continental U.S." mean as a temporary or permanent home, or both? That is uncertain.

Q: How about Cashman Field?

A: Definitely not an option, according to many sources, and one of a few strikes against Las Vegas. In fact, if the Expos do not come, near-future relocation chatter from other MLB franchises could continue to severely hinder the 51s' efforts for a new yard in Henderson.

Q: Would the Aces play in the National League West?

A: Most certainly, according to a report that suggested the shifting of Colorado to the NL Central, then Pittsburgh to the NL East, as obvious moves.

The geographic rivalries against Arizona, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco would make the NL West the most tantalizing division in the game.

Q: Would the Aces draw well?

A: A variety of hush-hush reports reveal consistent crowds in the high 20,000s, with a healthy chunk (approximately half) coming from an impressive tourist industry that, in '04, will feed more than 36 million into Vegas.

It could be unique, if not strange, in that, combining the many nonnative residents with heavy tourist participation, the visitors might receive more daily fan support than the home team.

Q: Comparing dilapidated Cashman to a possible Merrill Lynch Field would be like, say, comparing the Expos to the New York Yankees, no?

A: Yes.

Q: Will locals go to the games?

A: Initially, yes. The novelty factor will be strong. If the team doesn't win, though, there might be problems, unless the proposed ultra-modern facility proves to be a scintillating magnet.

Q: Could a fan play video poker in the mezzanine between innings?

A: No. Caesars Entertainment Inc., which owns Bally's and Paris, would act only as a landlord. That relationship would benefit the company in the offseason, when it could stage concerts and other events in the versatile venue.

There would be no direct connection between the stadium, or the team's ownership group, and Caesars, honoring MLB's rule that prohibits gaming interests from owning teams or parks.

Q: OK, but are they coming?

A: Now you're looking for an answer, one of the great all-time comebacks once offered to us by Los Angeles Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor.

Q: What about that gambling issue?

A: It's major, and sports book directors will not take baseball games off of their betting boards.

Then again, we've seen Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas, an offseason Vegas resident, playing $100 hands of blackjack at Bellagio.

That shouldn't taint Thomas' image because it's legal, right? Then why was he twitching his noggin left, then right, then left again, as if he were trying to ensure nobody noticed him?

Angels closer Troy Percival was quoted in a report this week on baseball's Web site that Kansas City, because of its nearby riverboat casinos, is his favorite road city. Chicago topped that list in a poll of 95 major leaguers.

Think Vegas wouldn't win a similar poll in a few years if it lands a big league team, which would be its first major sports franchise? Bet on it. The high-rollers, though, had better have discipline.

Q: Would the casinos give the Aces a home-field advantage?

A: Yes, according to Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa. When he managed the Triple-A Stars here in 1986, the team went 80-62 and won the Pacific Coast League title.

"We used (the casino scene) to our advantage," he recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Other teams would come in, and they love to stay out. I would go into the casinos and see the visiting team in there every night.

"I'd say, 'This is great!' We would beat their (rears) for three games, and move on. It's a great home-field advantage."

Q: What about the construction of that stadium?

A: Those intimately involved with that project, as exclusively told to the Sun on Wednesday, believe it could be built by the 2007 opening day, or within a subsequent month or two.

That fast pace would be highlighted by year-round working weather and Nevada's friendly right-to-work environment.

"It clearly gives us some flexibility on how you pace the project," said Earl Santee, a principal architect for HOK Sport in Kansas City, Mo. "It's a good state to work in."

Q: What about that retractable roof and the playing field?

A: Expect the roof, which would probably retract in two separate, large panels, to be made of Teflon-coated fabric, much like Reliant Stadium in Houston. That will allow light to filter onto a durable grass field.

Q: How about the traffic nightmare that Koval Lane would become?

A: If the proposal gets a green light, look for widening of streets to ease that congestion and provide quick access to freeways and McCarran International Airport.

Other plans that have been detailed include the purchase, and upgrading, of adjacent land in the Bally's-Paris area, for parking purposes, and other retail and restaurant options.

Q: What will the team cost?

A: Forbes recently valued the Expos franchise at $145 million, but multiple reports pit baseball's asking price at $200 million.

Q: Who currently owns the Expos?

A: For a third consecutive season, MLB's 29 other owners. The Washington Times estimated that the team has been losing $30 million a year since the rest of the owners took control of it.

Q: Why have the Las Vegas groups tried to maintain such a quiet, low-key approach to the vast amount of work it has accomplished behind the scenes?

A: Because Vegas' image has its detractors, and the potential Aces owners have wanted to keep that yapping to a minimum.

In addition, other cities have been so public in their courting of the MLB relocation committee, and publicly revealing details of those meetings and their proposals, that the Vegas factions have tried to earn discretion points on Park Avenue.

Q: What is the extent of Merrill Lynch's involvement?

A: The Sun learned Thursday that the investment securities firm might play a pivotal role in the project, perhaps in stadium naming rights that could be worth more than $100 million.

Merrill Lynch Field at The Strip? We'll have to sleep on that one. Sources at Teamscape and the Las Vegas Sports and Entertainment Co., who are pushing to bring the Expos to Vegas, refused to confirm or deny Merrill Lynch's possible involvement.

Q: Give me some team history. Who hit the first Expos home run?

A: Good one. Fittingly, it's odd.

Montreal relief pitcher Dan McGinn smacked a homer off Mets starter Tom Seaver, in the third inning, of an 11-10 Expos victory at Shea Stadium in New York on April 8, 1969.

Q: Will current manager Frank Robinson be the Aces field general?

A: Don't count on it. Bowa? Don't count him out.

Q: C'mon now, are the Expos coming here?

A: No ... way of knowing for certain, but every candidate city for the Expos has at least a couple of hurdles in its proposal. Those are being refined, and examined, as we speak.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig wants to conclude the drama with an announcement on the winner of the Expos sweepstakes by the mid-July All-Star break. A leader should emerge in about a month.

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