About 4,000 seats at 18,000-seat Estadio Quisqueya in
the Dominican Republic "were empty" for Saturday's MLB
exhibition game between the Astros and Red Sox, as ticket
prices "went for as much as" US$35, "a huge sum for low-
wage" earning Dominicans, according to Joseph Duarte of the
HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Red Sox P and Dominican Republic native
Pedro Martinez said, "I was very upset when I heard tickets
were $35. ... I wish it could have been free for everybody."
Astros LF Moises Alou: "I thought we were going to have a
full house, but I guess the tickets were too expensive.
This is a poor country" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/12). In
Boston, Michael Silverman, noting ticket prices ranged from
$3.50-65, wrote that "most of the empty seats were in the
bleachers, the cheapest seats" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/12). In
Boston, Bob Ryan writes that attendance for Sunday's game
"was approximately half a house." Noting that prices were
set by the Dominican Republic, Ryan wrote, "Ticket prices
and the knowledge that not all the stars were here had
something to do with it. If they're going to charge serious
money for these games ... they should make very sure neither
team is in a split-squad situation" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/13).
WORLD CUP FOR BASEBALL? At the exhibition game in the
Dominican, MLB COO Paul Beeston said, "I believe the game's
future is international and this will eventually lead to
some kind of World Cup for baseball." But he called a
potential MLB World Cup "still in the conceptual stage right
now so I don't want to get into it too much. But I feel
confident we'll have something in place in the not-too-
distant future." MLB officials "concede" that a "major
obstacle" in a World Cup is "finding time on the calendar
without interrupting the season" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 3/13).
ALL-STAR GAME IN WINDY CITY: MLB Commissioner Bud Selig
announced Saturday in Scottsdale, AZ, that the 2003 MLB All-
Star Game will be played at Comiskey Park. White Sox Dir of
PR Scott Reifert: "Obviously, we'd love to have it." The
White Sox last hosted the All-Star Game in '83 at the old
Comiskey Park (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/12). Reifert said the
White Sox "haven't been officially notified" about the
league's decision on the game (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/12).
