The state of MLB was examined in a report by CNN's Sean
Callebs on "Moneyline." Callebs noted MLB "owners are still
leaning" on MLBE CEO Greg Murphy, although Murphy signed a
$50M deal with Pepsi, and "owners are fighting individually
for the same deals Murphy is charged with setting up." Game
attendance is up, "if only 1%, from last season," while TV
ratings "remain flat." Callebs: "Nielsen says compared to
last season, some are up, others are down, prompting more
than a few sports marketers to say that if baseball
blossoms, it's in spite of its leadership" (CNN, 4/21).
IN THE GAP: CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS notes that MLB
Player Relations Committee Exec Randy Levine "could be back"
at NYC's City Hall "as deputy mayor for economic development
by the beginning of May" (CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS, 4/21).
...Attendance over the weekend for the Cardinals-Padres
series in Aloha Stadium in Hawaii was 37,382 for Saturday's
doubleheader and 40,050 for Sunday's single game. Padres
CEO Larry Lucchino: "Our goal was to have 40,000 for each
game" (Honolulu STAR-BULLETIN, 4/21). In San Diego, Nick
Canepa, on Padres CEO Larry Lucchino: "In the dark room that
baseball has become through labor strife and other internal
problems, it can be said Lucchino has become the game's
brightest light, its one true visionary" (SAN DIEGO UNION-
TRIBUNE, 4/21)....In Philadelphia, Jayson Stark: "Retiring
Jackie Robinson's No. 42 -- first proposed by NL President
Leonard Coleman -- is one of the most inspired things
baseball has ever done" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/20). In
Boston, Peter Gammons called the Robinson celebration "an
eloquent night for baseball, with President Clinton and Bud
Selig both rising to the moment." He also noted that "a lot
of umpires want to rid their union of the shameless Richie
Phillips, who showed up at the ESPN booth Tuesday night and
wanted to go on air with a statement about Jackie Robinson"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 4/20).