RELOCATION Expos won't split schedule

Wherever the Expos are in 2004, they'll be there for the entire season.
BOSTON (AP) -- Baseball wants the Montreal Expos to have one -- and only one -- home next season. But no one knows where.
Commissioner Bud Selig acknowledged on Thursday that baseball is unlikely to repeat the experiment that had the Expos playing home games in both Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Asked if any plans with multiple Expos homes were still being discussed, Selig said, "Yes, but we're concentrating on the others."
After years of financial struggles, the Expos were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season. They moved 22 of their home games to Puerto Rico this year, a setup that had players complaining about the long road trips and the difficulty of getting settled in either home.
The player's union said last month it would oppose plans to play another split home season. That opposition appears insurmountable.
"We understand the union's concerns," Selig said, adding that the Expos weren't discussed during the meetings. "They've got work to do yet -- and lots of it. The priority here is to get it done right, not to get it done fast."
The candidates
The Expos are being sought by Northern Virginia; Portland, Ore.; and Washington, D.C. Puerto Rico also has offered to host the team for all 81 games in 2004.
"I really believe we'll be 100 percent wherever we are," Expos president Tony Tavares said. "The union's taken a very strong position that they're not going to support" a split home schedule.
The release of the baseball schedule, already delayed because of the Expos, could be delayed until Sept. 1 but not much after that, Tavares said.
The Expos were not discussed at the two days of meetings at the Ritz Carlton hotel, where the owners were briefed on many issues but made news on few. The only announcement was that the first round of the playoffs would be on ESPN and ESPN2 in addition to Fox.
Previously, games had been on lesser-known networks such as FX and Fox Family Channel, making them difficult for some viewers to find.
"I really felt badly, because that's a wonderful week for baseball," Selig said. "Now we're on ESPN and Fox Sports, where people watch us all year long."
Selig angry
Selig also made his first comments on an Internet report that baseball had reached an agreement to lift the ban on Pete Rose, calling it indefensible, disgraceful and fiction.
"This is as irresponsible a bit of journalism as I've seen in my career," Selig said. "When I heard it, I thought it was some kind of joke. It's so wrong. I don't even know how people justify why they do things like that."
Selig otherwise wouldn't discuss Rose's situation.
"I'm the judge in this case, and it's inappropriate for me to comment," he said.