HEADING DOWN TO ATLANTA: MLB SET TO DEBATE REALIGNMENT

          MLB owners begin meetings in Atlanta today through
     Thursday in "an attempt to realign" the AL and NL, according
     to I.J. Rosenberg of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.  The 13-
     member realignment committee will meet "early this evening,"
     then MLB's Executive Council will meet.  On Wednesday, the
     leagues will meet separately and the full group of owners
     will convene Thursday, "for a possible vote on realignment"
     (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/16).  In Chicago, Jerome Holtzman
     writes that Acting Commissioner Bud Selig, "aware he doesn't
     have the votes" for a radical realignment plan, "may
     downsize."  Holtzman writes that, "in the final version, if
     there is one, there would be only three or four" team
     relocations (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/16).  In Milwaukee, Tom
     Haudricourt reports the measure could be tabled if no
     proposal gains enough support (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 9/16).
          RINGOLSBY ON MAGOWAN: In Denver, Tracy Ringolsby writes
     on Giants Owner Peter Magowan, who has threatened to sue MLB
     if the A's are put in the same NL division as the Giants.
     Ringolsby: "In his short-range view, he sees a threat of
     erosion of his fan base. ... But that prompts the question:
     What fan base?"  Noting the attendance "woes" of both the
     A's and Giants, Ringolsby asks, "Could a realignment that
     puts them both in the NL do any further harm? ... [B]y the
     turn of the century only one team will remain in the Bay
     Area.  The Giants' plan for a new stadium makes them the
     favorite ... Magowan is so blinded by the red ink of the
     present that he can't see what is needed for a rose-colored
     future" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 9/16).