WILL COSTAS' NEW BOOK ON MLB BE CALLED FAIR OR FOUL?

          NBC Sports announcer Bob Costas "is expected to blast
     the lords of baseball" with the first book he has written
     for the Broadway Books imprint of Random House, according to
     Keith Kelly of the N.Y. POST.  Broadway Books VP & Exec
     Editor Charlie Conrad says the book, "Fair Ball: A Fan's
     Case For Baseball," is a "no holds barred assessment" of the
     "troubled state" of MLB and predicts, "It will stir up a lot
     of debate."  Costas is "estimated" to have received a "mid-
     six-figure advance" to write the book, which is scheduled to
     be published April 4.  While Costas is "not commenting on
     the contents of the book until it is published," IMG
     Literary Agent David Chalfant, who handled the deal and has
     read the book, said Costas "doesn't pull any [punches], but
     he doesn't take any cheap shots, either" (N.Y. POST, 1/13).