Pirates' Owner Kevin McClatchy has no plans to move the
franchise, although the personnel moves made by MLB's
youngest owner has also made him "the most suspected",
according to Murray Chass in the N.Y. TIMES. The "skeptics
are certain" the payroll-paring moves the team has made
recently are a "prelude to the team's departure a year or
two hence." McClatchy: "Any time you make drastic changes
... your critics and skeptics will say what they want ... I
can say without hesitation that I have worked harder than
any owner in baseball. If I wanted to move the team, I
could have found a lot easier way to do it." NL President
Leonard Coleman: "Kevin McClatchy's commitment to baseball
is firm, and our commitment is firm" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/24).
MLB NEWS & NOTES: In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman notes
Twins' Exec VP Kirby Puckett's salary is reportedly $500,000
per year (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/23)....The A's will
donate 500 turkeys to Mother Wright, a 74 year-old woman
trying to collect 1500 turkeys to distribute to Oakland's
poor for Thanksgiving (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/23). ...In Tampa,
D-Rays Managing General Partner Vince Naimoli said that
season-ticket sales are at about 18,000. Only about 3,000
of the seats went to Hillsborough County residents and
companies, "so the Rays launched a Tampa ticket initiative
last week" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 11/24)....In St. Louis, season
ticket renewals have gone out to Cardinals fans. President
Mark Lamping: "We're expecting to sell some more season
tickets, but it's a competitive market. I don't think we
can expect the same jump in ticket sales that the club would
historically get" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 11/24).
