Nearly four in ten MLB players earned $1M or more last
season, "topped" by Orioles LF Albert Belle at $11,949,794,
according to reports obtained by Ronald Blum of the AP. Of
916 players on MLB rosters August 31, 342 made $1M or more,
which is a "record" 37.3%, up from 36.5% in '98 (AP, 3/21).
OFF THE MARK? NEWSDAY's Johnette Howard notes Cardinals
1B Mark McGwire's criticism of MLB's two-game series between
the Cubs and Mets in Japan and writes: "Baseball needs to
market itself globally to compete with the other major
sports. ... If McGwire wants to stay behind while all that
happens, let him. If nothing else, McGwire reminds us that
some athletes are better off limiting themselves to admiring
their well-struck hits as they drift toward the fence"
(NEWSDAY, 3/22). MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, on the series:
"The excitement over there is unbelievable. The travel is
such that the [teams] can get home, have a lot of time to
rest. I am very hopeful this goes smoothly because this is
a big thing for baseball." Cubs President Andy MacPhail:
"It's important to secure and prove the popularity of the
game worldwide, for all of our futures." In Chicago, Dave
Van Dyck writes that Cubs and Mets players "may have been
influenced in their vote [to OK the series] by an extra
$25,000 'thank-you' check" from MLB (CHI. SUN-TIMES, 3/22).
ONE FOR THE FILES: In the cover story of this week's
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Bill King presents an extensive
examination on the state of MLB spring training in FL.
King: "After a brief period of rest, the spring training
landscape in Florida is threatening to shift again, with
leases set to expire in the next three years for nine of the
20 teams that train there" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/20
issue)....Meanwhile, Dodgers Senior VP/Communications
Derrick Hall said that several MLB teams "will meet" Monday
with Las Vegas officials "to discuss the valley as a spring
training site" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 3/22).
