MLB OFFICIALS MAKING THE ROUNDS -- TOUR ORLANDO/NORTHERN VA

     Officials from MLB toured Orlando Tuesday night and
Wednesday, reportedly in search of "technical information such as
traffic patterns" surrounding the proposed site of a baseball
stadium.  The group met with Norton Herrick, the FL developer who
is heading Orlando's expansion bid, and his partner Paul Jacobs,
a Denver attorney, in a Florida Citrus Bowl skybox where they
"largely repeated the presentation" they made back in December.
Included was a $25,000 model of the proposed baseball stadium.
Although no definitive answers came from the visit, MLB Dir of
Baseball Ops Bill Murray did say that Orlando is a "viable
candidate" (Tracy & Lebowitz, ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/2).  Prior to
MLB's visit, the ORLANDO SENTINEL ran an editorial citing the top
ten reasons why Orlando should get a team (ORLANDO SENTINEL,
3/1).
     NEXT STOP ... NORTHERN VA:  Upon leaving Orlando, the
officials traveled to Northern VA where they met with William
Collins, head of the Virginia Baseball Club Inc.  The group
visited the four proposed stadium sites, including one site east
of Dulles Int'l Airport considered to be the "favorite" by local
officials and stadium planners  (Eric Lipton, WASHINGTON POST,
3/2).