Blue Jays CEO Paul Beeston "this week will accept a
position as CEO of Major League Baseball and leave the
Jays," according to Bob Elliott of the TORONTO SUN. Bob
Nicholson, the team's VP/Business, will "take over until
prospective owner Murray Frum and his group" are approved to
take over the team from MLB (TORONTO SUN, 7/21).
REALIGNMENT DEBATED: In Boston, Peter Gammons wrote
that MLB owners "are currently surveying fans on the radical
realignment that would effectively end the American and
National Leagues. They claim projected industry-wide losses
of $300 million necessitate some changes" (BOSTON GLOBE,
7/20). In L.A., Ross Newhan wrote under the header,
"Sweeping Realignment Is A Strong Possibility." Anaheim
Sports President Tony Tavares, a member of MLB's Realignment
Committee, said that "the next few weeks of internal
lobbying should determine the plan's fate." Tavares: "I
think it has a chance. I think it has better than a chance.
The clubs are surprisingly open-minded, and [Acting
Commissioner Bud Selig] is pushing real hard for it" (L.A.
TIMES, 7/20). On ESPN's "The Sports Reporters," Bill
Conlin: "Baseball's in bad trouble ... TV ratings are way
down, attendance in a lot of cities is way down. ... They
need to do some changing, and this might be the way out."
Tony Kornheiser called radical realignment "a short-sighted
move. You've got a hundred years of records here with all
these other things. You're just going to throw them out the
window and forget them?" ("The Sports Reporters," ESPN,
7/20). In Toronto, Gare Joyce writes under the header,
"Realignment May Be Cure For What Ails Baseball" (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 7/21). In Philadelphia, Jayson Stark: "Once
it takes this step into the geographical jungle, baseball
makes itself exactly like any other sport. And there's no
turning back" (Baltimore SUN, 7/20).
