Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner "is facing some key
decisions in the next few years that could affect both his
team's future and his financial well-being," according to
Sanger & Zipay of NEWSDAY in an extensive profile. The
decisions include "where the team will be playing five years
from now; who will be televising the games, and for how
much, and whether Steinbrenner will be running, and maybe
even owning, the team. The only certainty, people close to
Steinbrenner say, is that while he is getting older,
Steinbrenner is not ready to sit back in his golden years."
Steinbrenner turns 68 on Saturday. Steinbrenner's family has
"indicated that they'd prefer not to assume the reins" of
the team, prompting him to "inquire about selling." Some
say the team "could fetch up to" $600M. A Steinbrenner
"confidant" said that he "wants to leave the club to his
sons and sons-in-law." The confidant: "But I think they
might just want to take the money and get the heck out."
Their "lack of interest" could "drive him to cash out," as
could "escalating player salaries" (NEWSDAY, 6/28).
SUBWAY SUCCESS: 53,749 fans attended Sunday's Yankees-
Mets "Subway Series" finale -- the largest Mets crowd since
'75. The three-game series drew 160,740 to Shea Stadium --
a Mets three-game attendance record (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/29).
...Next year's preliminary schedule has the teams meeting in
two three-game series -- one at each home park (DAILY NEWS,
6/29)....Tickets for this weekend's games were being scalped
for $100-300 each (N.Y. POST, 6/27)....Jerry Seinfeld, who
threw out the first pitch on Saturday, sat with former Mets
1B Keith Hernandez on Friday night (THE DAILY)....USA TODAY
calls for MLB realignment to focus on geographic rivalries:
"After all, if hot rivalries, such as the Mets-Yankees,
Indians-Reds, and Giants-A's, are good for June, why not
April and September, as well?" (USA TODAY, 6/29).
