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Leagues and Governing Bodies

REALIGNMENT -- HOW'S IT PLAYING: COLUMNISTS WEIGH IN

          As MLB discusses various realignment proposals, most in
     the media commented this week on the radical realignment
     plan, or the "16-14" concept that would see seven teams move
     from the NL to the AL and move eight teams from the AL to
     the NL.  The following is a sample of national reaction: 
          AWAY WE GO: In Atlanta, Mark Bradley: "In the effort to
     attract new customers, you don't reconfigure yourself to the
     extent that you drive away your current patrons. ... Are you
     looking to market your product to those who don't buy it at
     the expense of those who do?" (ATL. CONSTITUTION, 8/10).  In
     Boston, Bob Ryan: "The problem with all this realignment
     talk in baseball is that we have no reason to have faith in
     the judgment and intentions of anyone engaged in making the
     key decisions" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/13).  In Boston, Peter
     Gammons: "It sometimes appears that the owners keep trying
     to jump through flaming hoops to make fans feel good about
     the business they so damaged with the strike.  On the other
     hand, [Acting Commissioner Bud] Selig and [Realignment Chair
     /Red Sox CEO John] Harrington claim this is the only real
     long-term vision.  And while we may think they're nuts,
     neither we nor the [MLBPA] ever has had to meet a baseball
     payroll, so the cost to them is far, far greater" (BOSTON
     GLOBE, 8/10). In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse called it the
     "brainstorm of baseball nincompoops" (STAR TRIBUNE, 8/10). 
     In Providence, Sean McAdam: "For once, we say to the owners:
     Slow down!" (JOURNAL-BULLETIN, 8/10).  In San Diego, Fritz
     Quindt: "So 'Baseball wants to emphasize regional
     rivalries'?  Yet baseball wants to take a wrecking ball to
     its 3-year-old three-divisions-per-league alignment -- which
     are already split regionally.  And logically" (S.D. UNION-
     TRIBUNE, 8/11).  In S.F., Bruce Jenkins: "[Owners] point to
     the convenience of less travel, and the virtual elimination
     of 10 p.m. starting times for East Coast viewers watching
     games from out West.  What they really mean is fewer travel
     expenses for the owners, and better advertising rates from
     TV sponsors" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/12).  In S.F., Ray Ratto:
     "[W]hat is demoralizing for anyone who cares about baseball
     is not that the owners would do it, but that the fans
     wouldn't care either way" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/8).  In S.F.,
     Glenn Dickey: "The plan has flaws, but it looks like the
     most logical way to address baseball's scheduling problem"
     (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/11).  On CBS SportsLine, Mike Lurie: "New
     and wild as the proposal is, something old and tired is
     happening in the process. ... [as] baseball ownership
     continues to ignore the wisdom of working in concert with
     the [MLBPA]" (CBS SportsLine, 8/9).  Frank Deford: "Far from
     being new and revolutionary, the realignment plan is pro-
     tradition, an attempt to return more to the strength of
     rivalry and familiarity. ... It's just too bad that baseball
     hasn't got anybody to explain that" (ESPN SportsZone, 8/14).
          

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