EVEN WITH A HEALTHY ROCKET, JAYS ATTENDANCE WON'T BLAST OFF

          The Blue Jays will finish '97 "with a club-record
     financial loss for a full season," according to Marty York
     of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL.  York wrote that "barring an
     unimaginable resurgence of interest in the second half of
     the season," the Jays will "drop more than" $11M in
     operating costs (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/28).  Jim Byers of
     the TORONTO STAR writes that "the most telling stat of all"
     is attendance during Roger Clemens' five home starts, for
     which the Jays averaged 30,600, only slightly above their
     average (TORONTO STAR, 5/28).
          CAPTAIN KIRKE? In Toronto, two sources told Marty York
     that Gordon Kirke, who has been the Blue Jays' lawyer for
     the last 21 years, "has been approached" by the Leafs to
     become their President & CEO (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/29).