BUDIG HANDS OUT SUSPENSIONS FROM BRAWL; GETS MIXED REVIEWS

          AL President Dr. Gene Budig fined and suspended five
     Yankees and Orioles players for their part in the fight
     Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.  Orioles P Armando Benitez
     was suspended for eight games; Yankees P Graeme Lloyd and OF
     Darryl Strawberry for three games each; and O's P Alan Mills
     and Yanks P Jeff Nelson for two games each (AL).  Benitez
     and the Yankees players "waived their right to appeal,"
     while O's officials said Mills "will make a decision about
     whether to appeal later" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/21).
          REAX: In N.Y., Joel Sherman criticizes the length of
     the suspensions and writes that Budig "continues to have a
     blind spot for how important perception is in a sport that
     is constantly losing that battle," adding that it was "par
     for the course for him not to go the 10 miles from his
     midtown office to [Yankee] Stadium to be on hand last night"
     (N.Y. POST, 5/21).  On L.I., Shaun Powell: "This wasn't a
     beanball from Budig, this was a Beanie Baby. ... A month off
     the bench would have gotten an entire league's attention
     about the whole notion of beanballs" (NEWSDAY, 5/21).  
     Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner, on Benitez's eight-game
     suspension: "A month's suspension should have been the least
     he should have gotten" (HARTFORD COURANT, 5/21).  In N.Y.,
     Dave Anderson writes that as MLB "is still searching for a
     commissioner, it needs someone to rule on fines and
     suspensions in both leagues instead" of the league
     presidents (N.Y. TIMES, 5/21).  Also in N.Y., John Harper
     credit Budig's ruling, calling it "the first properly severe
     suspension that Budig has handed down" (DAILY NEWS, 5/21).
          LEAVING THE BENCH: MLBPA Associate General Counsel Gene
     Orza, on the suggestion that leaving the dugout/bullpen be
     an automatic suspension: "It can't be in our sport because
     there's only one player on the field against nine" (N.Y.
     TIMES, 5/21).  On ESPN SportsZone, Rob Neyer agrees with the
     dugout aspect, but writes that what is realistic "is a rule
     barring anyone from leaving the bullpen" (SportsZone, 5/21).