Washington ? Major league baseball will announce today that Washington will be the new home of the Montreal Expos, bringing the national pastime back to the nation’s capital for the first time in 33 years, the Associated Press has learned.

A city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had been notified by major league baseball of the impending announcement. The city is planning its own news conference at a downtown location this afternoon, the official said.

“I think we’ll be in a position where we can have a celebration tomorrow,” Mayor Anthony Williams told WUSA-TV.

The announcement will come one day before the 33rd anniversary of the Washington Senators’ final game. The Senators moved to Texas after the 1971 season, which also was the last time a major-league team changed cities.

Baseball has been looking for a new home for the Expos since the financially troubled team was bought by the other 29 major-league owners in 2002. The Washington official said the bidding group had been told that baseball had reached an understanding with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who previously had objected to having a team relocate just 40 miles from his franchise.

Las Vegas; Norfolk, Va.; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Ore.; and Northern Virginia also made bids, but Washington clearly took the lead during negotiations over recent weeks, strengthened by its wealthy population base and a financial package that would build a new stadium primarily with taxpayers’ money.

The negotiations have produced a 30-page document that would conditionally award the Expos to Washington, pending approval by the City Council. The document had not yet been signed as of Tuesday night, the city source told the AP.

Plans call for a $440 million package that would include a new ballpark to be built along the Anacostia River about a dozen blocks south of the Capitol.