As Ryan wrote earlier this morning, much of the District went to sleep last night thinking the stadium lease had been voted down, fearing that they may wake up to MLB announcing it was defecting to across the river. And surely enough, local newspapers thought much the same — the Examiner’s headline this morning reads “Council Rejects Stadium Lease Deal; Mayor Williams Cries Foul” while the Washington Times similarly proclaimed “Council Rejects Stadium Lease.” We even started putting together our eulogy for baseball in the District, composing a post titled “Where Does Baseball Go From Here?” Only the Post benefited from a late deadline, titling their article “Council Closer to Deal on Stadium,” but not before columnists Marc Fisher and Thomas Boswell had taken their swings at the council.

But the lease was ultimately endorsed on a 9-4 vote, and only after provisions were inserted into the legislation capping the total cost at $611 million and prohibiting the use of money from the sale of development rights to the surrounding lands from being used to cover any cost overruns on the stadium. Now it is up to MLB to agree to the lease, which, given the roller-coaster ride they have just experienced, should be a no-brainer.

This being the morning after, most everyone will have something to say as to why the lease was rejected and then approved. Many will claim that Linda Cropp played a key role, scaring some sense into wavering council-members by ensuring that the lease failed on the first try, making them fear being identified as the “council-member who lost baseball for the District.” Others will give D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, City Administrator Robert Bobb, and other high-level city officials credit for convincing and cajoling Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), Kwame Brown (D-At Large), Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), and Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) into switching their votes. And many will still claim that the deal is a giveaway to a bunch of greedy millionaires, a sweetheart deal that will land MLB over $300 million in profit from the sale of the Nationals and cost the city untold millions in costs that have yet to be revealed.

In the end, though, the lease is now law, like it or not.