ARE THEY PHILL-ING THEM UP AT THE VET? BEERS THAT IS

          The Phillies, who sell "the most expensive cup of beer"
     in the NL, "are skimming their suds ... a racket that costs
     beer-drinking fans at Veterans Stadium nearly a half-million
     bucks a year," according to Don Russell of the PHILADELPHIA
     DAILY NEWS.  In a "random sampling," Russell found that the
     team's $5 18-ounce cup of draft beer "actually contains, at
     most, just 16 ounces of beer.  A 12-ounce cup typically
     contains 10 or 11 ounces."  Russell reports that the team
     sold an estimated 750,000 cups of beer in '97, and that the
     "value of skimmed suds at 2 ounces per cup" is equal to
     $495,000.  Russell adds that the Vet gets up to 14 extra
     cups from every keg, $90 in "extra revenue."  Ogden
     Entertainment, which runs the Vet's concessions, "denied any
     ripoff" (Don Russell, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 4/23).