The State of Baseball was a hot topic this weekend as the
sport heads into its All-Star Break.
REPORTS CARDS: N.Y. NEWSDAY, the N.Y. DAILY NEWS and the
CHICAGO TRIBUNE ran extensive pieces on the sport yesterday.
The DAILY NEWS' front-page header (over a shot of an empty Shea
Stadium): "FANS' REVENGE." A poll, conducted by Blum & Weprin
Assoc. of 607 NYC baseball fans, found that 46% said the strike
decreased their interest in the game, 31% blame high salaries,
and 54% say lower ticket and concession prices would do the most
to win back fans (Dean Chang, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/9). NEWSDAY's
Jon Heyman writes, "A lot of great things are happening around
baseball, though fewer people are noticing." Steve Zipay
examines ratings and merchandise sales. One analyst predicts MLB
properties sales at less than $2B, back to '90 numbers. Logo
Athletic is projecting a loss of $30-40M on baseball merchandise
(NEWSDAY, 7/9). In his midyear wrap-up, Jayson Stark lists the
top three teams in terms of empty seats: Giants (1,426,349),
Twins (1,345,895) and Mariners (1,282,463) (PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER, 7/9). CNBC's Allan Chernoff: "From a business
standpoint, this season is a washout so far, and about all the
owners can do to console themselves is recite the old baseball
maxim, there's always next year" ("Sports View," CNBC, 7/7).
WHAT CAN THE ALL-STAR GAME DO? N.Y. TIMES columnist Claire
Smith offers her reasons why Hideo Nomo should start for the NL
tomorrow night (N.Y. TIMES, 7/10)....Rangers announcer (and
former GM) Tom Grieve: "I don't think it's possible for the All-
Star Game to mend these wounds. To me, it's going to take an
agreement between the owners and the players and a whole change
of style and attitude, not just an All-Star Game" (Bill Sullivan,
HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/10). ...In Tampa, Martin Fennelly calls the
All-Star Game a "as good a place as any to start to end the
apathy" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 7/10)....In Atlanta, Tim Tucker proposes
the union use the Game "as a forum to publicly guarantee the
World Series will be played" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 7/10)....In
Dallas, Gerry Fraley writes, "Never has the sport needed a good
show more than now" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/9).
FROM THE PLAYERS: ESPN asked players what they would do to
change the game. Mark McGwire: "If we want to get this game
back on its feet, why don't we have a commissioner? Why don't we
have an agreement?" Frank Thomas: "Looking back on it now, no,
we shouldn't have gone on strike." Tom Glavine, on finding a
commissioner: "We need somebody in the office, somewhere, to
direct baseball and run the day-to-day business of baseball.
Every other sport has it and it is a vital part of those sports
and we need to have it too." Paul Molitor, on the new
commissioner: "The strength of that individual should be someone
who knows how to market the game, someone who has a vision of
where this game is headed, and how to bring it back to where it
should be in terms of comparisons to other sports" ("Sports
Center," ESPN, 7/7).
TBN KICKS OFF COVERAGE: NBC and The Baseball Network ran a
special this weekend titled "Baseball's Brightest Stars" hosted
by Greg Gumbel, Bob Costas and Hannah Storm. Profiled: Cal
Ripken, Ron Gant, the Indians, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Kevin
Appier, Hideo Nomo, Mike Piazza, Tony Tarasco, and Mo Vaughn
(NBC, 7/8).
SELIG SPEAKS OUT: In an interview with the MILWAUKEE
JOURNAL SENTINEL, acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said a
"herculean effort" on national marketing would start in the
coming months, that the "internal dynamics" among owners have not
changed, that MLB will announce the hiring of a TV consultant in
the next two or three weeks, and that he has "every reason to
believe this season will be played to conclusion" (Tom
Haudricourt, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/8). A management
source close to the owners' negotiating committee said they hope
to resume talks "in some form" in 10 days to two weeks (N.Y.
TIMES, 7/10). Selig will appoint a new attorney to represent the
owners in the talks, joining Rob Manfred and Stan Jaspan (USA
TODAY, 7/10).
