MLB owners voted unanimously to approve a proposal to
experiment with limited interleague play in '97. Under the plan,
each team will play 15-16 games versus teams from the same
division in the opposite league; games will be played around
Memorial Day and Labor Day; the DH will be used in AL parks only
("SportsCenter," ESPN, 1/18).
WHAT MAKES BUD HAPPY? NEWSDAY's Jon Heyman writes,
"Yesterday was a rare day for total good feeling in the baseball
community" (NEWSDAY, 1/19). Murray Chass notes the likely
controversy over the DH under the new system, but writes acting
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig "was too ecstatic, though, to allow
details such as the [DH] to intrude on his elation" (N.Y. TIMES,
1/19). Selig: "I think the DH is a nonissue" (I.J. Rosenberg,
ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/19). Selig, on possible union
opposition: "Don [Fehr] and I personally have talked about
interleague play for a long time and its a subject we've never
had any disagreement on" (Tom Keegan, N.Y. POST, 1/19). Red Sox
CEO John Harrington, on the DH: "It might kill interleague play,
but I don't expect the union to do that" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/19).
TV REAX: ESPN's Charley Steiner: "On a day when Lisa Marie
tells Michael to beat it, when Disney buys the Angels in the
outfield -- and the infield, and the dugout, and the bullpen --
Major League Baseball took a major step towards Fantasy Land."
Peter Gammons: "All that's happened the last couple years has
been about demographics. ... They are trying to address some fans
who really don't care about numbers, but about moving forward"
("SportsCenter," 1/18).
PRINT REAX: In Philadelphia, Bill Conlin: "Interleague play
will work better only because nothing the owners came up with in
Los Angeles could possibly be worse than the Baseball Network"
(PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 1/19). In Chicago, Bob Verdi: "This schedule
modification is so overdue and so logical that even the union's
most militant soldiers will have to dig deep for causes to
resist" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/18). In New York, Mike Lupica --
arguing that MLB needs a CBA, a commissioner, revenue-sharing and
a less confrontational union: "Baseball did not take a giant
step forward yesterday with interleague play. It just danced a
little more" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/19). Ira Berkow, who argues for
realignment: "Baseball was frightened into it" (N.Y. TIMES,
1/19). Steve Jacobson: "In a word, it stinks. It messes up a
century of geometry" (NEWSDAY, 1/19). In Washington, Tom
Boswell: "It's about time baseball tried to please the public,
even if embracing change leads to a few errors in judgment"
(WASHINGTON POST, 1/19). In Atlanta, I.J. Rosenberg:
"Interleague play should put a charge into a sport that continues
to try to regain what it lost in the strike" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 1/19). But Terence Moore adds, the problem with
baseball isn't the lack of interleague play, it's the lack of a
CBA -- and the fact "that most of those who run the game would
rather trick the public with smoke and mirrors" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 1/19). In Orlando, George Diaz writes, "For once,
baseball got it right" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/19). In Tampa,
Martin Fennelly: "Interleague play isn't a grim reaper. He has
come and going, going, gone" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 1/19). In Dallas,
Cathy Harasta: "Making sense and taking a positive step?
Baseball owners?" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/19).
