MLB AT MIDSEASON: INTERLEAGUE PLAY A BOOST, BUT WORK REMAINS

          While MLB holds its All-Star Game in Cleveland this
     evening, MLB ownership reps will meet today to discuss
     realignment, according to Mark Maske of the WASHINGTON POST.

     The owners have set a deadline of September 30 to make a
     decision on realignment (WASHINGTON POST, 7/8). 
          MLB AT MIDSEASON: On Sunday, MLB completed its second
     round of interleague play.  For the year, MLB has averaged
     34,083 per game during its first two phases of interleague
     action, a 29.5% increase over the intraleague average of
     26,323.  Overall at midseason, MLB's average attendance is
     up 4.6% over '96 (MLB).  From Long Island, NEWSDAY's Jon
     Heyman wrote "Interleague baseball was the unquestioned hit
     of the first half" (NEWSDAY, 7/7).  In St. Petersburg, Marc
     Topkin noted the "excitement and freshness of interleague
     play" (ST. PETE TIMES, 7/6).  But in Boston, Peter Gammons
     looked back at the first half and wrote that interleague
     play "accomplished what it was intended to do, another
     remarkable generation of young talents ... burst onto the
     stage, and the Pirates, $9 million, reaffirmed the notion of
     democracy."  Gammons: "But with [Marlins Owner Wayne]
     Huizenga weeping, George Steinbrenner working as a parking
     lot attendant, and owners unable to agree on who plays where
     next season, a fascinating first half of the season ... has
     been another reminder that the people who run (OK,
     administer) the game cannot rise above their minute
     squabbles and cede center stage" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/6).  In
     Akron, David Adams examined the state-of-the-game under the
     header, "Major League Blues.  Sport Runs Afoul Of Many Fans.

     Baseball Owners, Sponsors Anxious About Future Of Game. 
     Others Say National Pastime Will Survive" (AKRON BEACON
     JOURNAL, 7/6).  BUSINESS WEEK's Gail DeGeorge writes on the
     proposed sale of the Marlins and Dodgers under the header,
     "Costs Are Out Of The Ballpark."   DeGeorge: "Baseball has
     become too costly and volatile a business for individual
     owners" (BUSINESS WEEK, 7/14 issue).
          THE COMMISH: Acting Commissioner Bud Selig was
     interviewed in Monday's ARIZONA REPUBLIC.  On his role as
     Acting Commissioner: "I enjoy it.  But despite that ... I
     haven't changed.  There are a lot of other things I have
     left to do in life" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/7).  Interviewed
     during Fox's coverage of Red Sox-White Sox on Saturday,
     White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf said, "We will name a new
     commissioner before the end of the year.  Everyone is making
     a big deal about us having a commissioner, but I don't see
     how not having a commissioner affects the fans" (Fox).  In
     Dallas, Ken Daley called MLB's Commissioner search his
     "biggest disappointment" for MLB's first half of the season
     (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/6).  In S.F., Glenn Dickey wrote
     that MLB's top job "is not a job for the weak-hearted or for
     a man without vision.  And it is especially not a job for
     Bud Selig" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/4).
          IN CLEVELAND:  A crowd of 44,945 was on hand for
     yesterday's workouts and festivities, including the home-run
     hitting contest (WASHINGTON POST, 7/8)....The PLAIN DEALER
     profiled the Pinnacle All-Star FanFest, with 315,000 square
     feet and more than 30 baseball themed attractions (PLAIN
     DEALER, 7/5)....At the request of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg
     (D-NJ), the MLBPA has agreed to recommend that its players
     refrain from using chewing tobacco during tonight's All-Star
     Game (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 7/7)....Barry Bonds announced the
     Barry Bonds Bone Marrow Campaign, a two-year drive aimed at
     registering 1,000 African-American donors and raising
     $250,000 for families of those suffering from leukemia or
     related blood disorders (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 7/8).