MLB Commissioner Bud Selig held "his annual discussion
on the state of the game" yesterday, according to USA
TODAY's Hal Bodley. Selig, on franchise relocation:
"Franchise stability is a very important thing to me. We're
spending a tremendous amount of time on that situation. We
have a social obligation to try and keep teams where they
are." Selig, when asked "what he's most proud of": "How far
we've come in the last four or five years. I not only mean
the peace and order of things, but how well so many
innovations have worked out." More Selig, on the task force
created to study MLB economics: "Before the year is over, in
the next couple of months, we'll have a precise direction to
follow for the game's economics" (USA TODAY, 10/27).
IS THERE A RAY OF HOPE? In St. Pete, Marc Topkin writes
that Selig "plans to come to Tampa Bay next month and talk
to" Devil Rays Managing General Partner Vince Naimoli about
the team's "declining attendance." Selig: "It's a subject
that needs to be addressed. No question that the attendance
dropped off there more quickly than Vince or any one of us
would have forecast" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 10/27).
NEW INITIATIVE: MLB and the MLBPA have partnered to
establish the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a $10M grant program
designed to support youth baseball. The Baseball Tomorrow
Fund will award grants for programs such as funding new
fields, renovating fields to provide better community
access, providing equipment and uniforms, training coaches,
developing skills programs and providing opportunities for
kids to attend MLB games. An executive committee of
representatives from MLB, the MLBPA and independent member
Roland Betts will oversee the fund and is currently in the
process of naming a full-time executive director (MLB).
