FRANCHISE NOTES

          NBA: The Sonics will not increase any ticket prices for
     the '98-'99 season -- which range from $7 to $100.  John
     Dresel, President of Full House, the Sonics' business arm:
     "Despite continued increases in operating costs, our ongoing
     efforts to maximize nonticket revenue have made it possible
     this year for us to hold prices at the '97-'98 level"
     (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/1)....The Raptors apologized and offered
     free tickets to fans "inconvenienced by Tuesday's ticket
     confusion" at Maple Leaf Garden (TORONTO SUN, 4/2).
     ...FanMail Inc. President Budd Nesi -- who has been handling
     the Pacers' correspondence for three years -- said the team
     has averaged 12,000 to 15,000 pieces of mail each year,
     which is up about 20% this season due to new coach Larry
     Bird and the team's improved performance (STAR-NEWS, 4/2). 
          NOTES: Twins GM Terry Ryan, on the team's exhibition
     game Tuesday in NC: "A lot of people there want us to move
     there, but a lot of people with the ballclub want to stay in
     Minnesota.  It was a little awkward" (Minneapolis STAR
     TRIBUNE, 4/2).  In St. Paul, Charley Walters writes, "Good
     bet: The Twins, without a place to go, return to the
     Metrodome for the 1999 season after negotiating a one-year
     lease" (PIONEER PRESS, 4/2).....ESPN's Peter Gammons noted
     that both Cliff Politte, the Cardinals rookie RHP who will
     make his first start today, and Cardinals President Mark
     Lamping, are graduates of Vianney HS in St. Louis.  Gammons:
     "In honor of Politte's debut the entire school will be
     closed, and all 800 students will be guests of the Cardinals
     at Busch Stadium.  Another reason St. Louis is the best
     baseball town in America" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 4/1).