TIGERS' NEW DEN COMES JUST-IN TIME FOR THOMPSON, CLARK, ETC.

          The Tigers held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new
     ballpark yesterday, according to Charlie Vincent of the
     DETROIT FREE PRESS.  Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch: "It will not
     be a stadium or a field, it will be a ballpark."  The Tigers
     plan to be in the new stadium by Opening Day 2000, but one
     official guest, who requested anonymity, said, "I still
     don't know if it's going to happen."  Vincent: "For the
     record, no one else voiced even the slightest sign of doubt"
     (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/30). Also in Detroit, Patricia
     Montemurri reports that approximately 1,000 people attended
     the groundbreaking.  Montemurri also writes that a
     consortium of 12 U.S. and Canadian banks have "a binding
     agreement" for a $145M loan package with the Tigers and
     Ilitch.  But Michael Monahan, President of Comerica Inc. &
     Comerica Bank, the consortium's lead bank, said that the
     final deal "hasn't been signed," and he declined to say how
     long before it would be finalized (FREE PRESS, 10/30).