OWNERS, INCLUDING STEINBRENNER, STAYING SOLID

     "The owners have shown their resolve. ... The owners, who
have dutifully followed small-market leader Bud Selig, can
celebrate their unprecedented solidarity.  Then they can spend
the off season trying to keep baseball from exploding.  Or
imploding" (Any Niedzielka, MIAMI HERALD, 9/14).
     CURIOUS ABOUT GEORGE:  Many reports in New York note that
George Steinbrenner has been surprisingly quiet in his solidarity
with fellow owners.  Jack Curry writes, "Bud, the acting
commissioner, has apparently tamed the boss" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/14).
In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck notes that Steinbrenner even came to
Selig's defense in comments earlier this week to the MILWAUKEE
JOURNAL (Baltimore SUN, 9/14).  In a report that has Steinbrenner
saying some small market teams should be able to move rather than
big-market teams support them, Joel Sherman makes a point to
note, "Steinbrenner has surprisingly remained a low-key figure
and has not broken ranks" (N.Y. POST, 9/14).
     YESTERDAY'S BUSINESS:  The MLBPA began to distribute more
than $10M in checks for players on strike.  The initial payments
come primarily from licensing money the MLBPA withheld last year
(N.Y. TIMES, 9/14).  In Washington, Sen. Howard Metzenbaum's (D-
OH) bill to temporarily lift baseball's anti-trust exemption was
blocked on the floor of the Senate by NE Sen. James Exon (mult.,
9/14).