CHANGING SOX: Red Sox Dir of Communications Kevin Shea
said the team's new advertisement placed behind home plate
at Fenway Park touting a 24-hour phone number to order
tickets "was not clear on every TV" during Monday's
broadcast on NESN. Shea said the ad "may need to be
amended." In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy: "The addition of the
monster Coke bottles last year was enough of a jolt, but now
we have promos for tickets with every pitch. Pretty soon,
will it be the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man looming over the
light tower in right field?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/29). Also in
Boston, Steve Buckley wonders why the team needs the ad:
"When, exactly, did the Red Sox start getting hard up for
customers?" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/28).
MLS: In NJ, Tim Leonard, on talk of MLS putting a
second team in Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn: "MLS would be
foolish to think that dropping a team in the middle of the
ethnic mix of New York's five boroughs will bring fans to a
stadium. For those people, many of whom are recent
immigrants to the United States or second generation
Americans, soccer is one thing that connects them with their
homeland. Yes, they want to watch the game. But they want
to watch their game, not MLS" (Bergen RECORD, 4/28)....The
MLS Wizards have lowered the price of their general-
admission seats for Wednesday night games. Seats that were
priced at $10 will now be priced at $7 (K.C. STAR, 4/29).
NOTES: In Atlanta, the NHL expansion Thrashers said
they have accepted some 10,000 deposits at $100 apiece for
season tickets. The team needs to secure 12,000 season
tickets by next April (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/29)....A's
President Sandy Alderson, on if the team could compete
without being a top-money spender: "I was in Vietnam. And
the big payroll doesn't always win" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS,
4/28)....News organizations "that falsely reported that a
death threat had been made against" the Sharks' Bryan
Marchment "through The Dallas Morning News' Web site have
issued corrections" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/29).
