MLB owners voted 28-2 yesterday to set aside the A's
sale, and the "delayed action" is "leaving the hard-fought
deal" of the group led by Andy Dolich "all but dead,"
according to DelVecchio & Nevius of the S.F. CHRONICLE.
Dolich told KRON-TV: "We're probably out of the picture.
There's a fair chance [the team] will not be sold to our
group." Save Mart Chair Bob Piccinini, who also led the
group's $122.5M bid: "As far as I'm concerned, we're out of
it. Unless the present owners put an extension on it, we're
dead meat." MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said that the
decision involved "pending ownership changes" while MLB
"studies whether franchises can survive" in small markets
like Oakland, K.C. and Montreal. Owners voted to "support a
committee recommendation to set aside the matter until a
task force studying" MLB's "economic fundamentals finishes
its work" and reports back to the owners by the end of '99.
Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner and others wanted the
Dolich group "to increase the A's payroll," but there were
"indications" that the new owners were "going to keep the
payroll where it was, or even cut it." Also, some owners of
major-market teams "were not thrilled with the idea of
selling" the A's for a "discount price" (S.F. CHRONICLE,
9/16). In a statement, A's co-Owner Steve Schott said, "We
are committed to building on the franchise's success. This
season, the team is performing on the field and attendance
is up. We hope that support will continue to grow" (A's).
ONE AND DONE? In S.F., Glenn Dickey: "Baseball wants
only one team in the Bay Area, and the A's are not that
team. There could not have been a more attractive buyer
than the group fronted by Andy Dolich." Dickey writes that
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is "trying to weed out teams like
the A's" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/16). A S.F. CHRONICLE editorial
states, "The Bay Area is a tough market for baseball, but
history has shown the A's can succeed when they combine a
competitive team and first-class marketing. ... They deserve
the opportunity" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/16). Dolich, on MLB
"laying the groundwork" to turn the Bay Area into a one-team
market: "I don't think I need to be a quantum physicist to
see some skywriting about that issue" (SAN JOSE MERCURY
NEWS, 9/16). Dolich, on team consolidation: "I don't think
that's a serious consideration for anybody right now" (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 9/15). Oakland Tribune Chair & A's Investor
William Dean Singleton: "We've been violated by Major League
Baseball" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 9/16).
