MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was interviewed by Fox
Sports' Chip Caray during FSN's live coverage of today's
Cubs-Mets MLB opener in Tokyo. Selig, on opening the season
in Japan: "It is historic, Chip. This has been a wonderful
week. I know that you're never quite certain of how things
are going to come out, but just to be here and watch the
passion and interest, it is just a wonderful experience. ...
It's a great night for baseball. Who would have ever
thought that we'd be opening the season in Tokyo? ...
They've been wonderful hosts, and I know the teams have
enjoyed it. The internationalization of our sport will
continue, because the more you run, you know this is
absolutely the right thing to do." Selig, on the state of
the game: "We're in the midst, Chip, of a remarkable
renaissance. I believe by any objective criteria, the game
has never been more popular." Selig, on what concerns him
about the game: "Clearly, the issue of disparity and the
economics of the game are something I spend a great deal of
my time on. We'll get it done. We have a lot of work to
do, and there is no question that there are those problems
and they do exist. ... [But] we will solve them." FSN's
Thom Brennaman: "Baseball very much basking in the glory of
this two-game series. ... This is so great for the
international game" (FSN, 3/29). ABC's Bob Jamieson
reported on this morning's "GMA" that 58,000 attended the
Cubs-Mets game and the top ticket price was $120, "double
the price of a Japanese professional game" ("GMA," 3/29).
A LAND TOO FAR AWAY: Criticism of MLB playing its
season opener outside the U.S. continues today. In N.Y.,
Wallace Matthews writes, "Shame on you, Selig. Your yen for
the Japanese yen proved to be stronger than your respect for
the American baseball fan. ... Supposedly, this was done in
the interest of 'global relationships.' What about
baseball's relationship with this side of the globe?" (N.Y.
POST, 3/29). In Chicago, Bernie Lincicome writes, "Some
things are ours. Some things are not for sale. ... I mean,
what's next, Wisconsin in the Final Four? Next to canceling
the 1994 World Series and not canceling the designated
hitter, this is the stupidest idea baseball ever has had"
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/29). CBS SportsLine's Ian Browne:
"Baseball has had bad ideas before. ... But this one easily
takes the cake. ... This is no way for baseball to open a
new century" (CBS SportsLine, 3/28). In CO, Lynn Zinser:
"While MLB lusts after foreign currency, it spends far too
little time on its problems back home, like why anyone
should ever attend a Minnesota Twins game. Or, why half its
teams are out of contention before Easter" (CO Springs
GAZETTE, 3/29). In S.F., Bruce Jenkins calls playing the
opener in Japan a "wonderful thing and a ridiculous thing,
all at once. Wonderful in the spirit of international
goodwill ... Ridiculous because you wonder if the whole
thing is really necessary" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/29). But a
USA TODAY editorial states, "Bring on the eel, pass the
sushi and ... play ball. Baseball is now an international
pastime. No harm in that" (USA TODAY, 3/29).
THE PLAYERS ARE DIGGIN' IT: In N.Y., George Vecsey
writes that Mets players "are having a great time in Tokyo,
which they find far more hospitable and far less daunting
than they might have anticipated" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/29).
IS BASEBALL ON THE WAY BACK OR FADING? TIME's Charles
Krauthammer writes that "baseball is in deep decline. ...
There is no talk. No interest. No buzz." The game's
"decline" is the result of "two baleful new developments.
First, star players don't stay with their teams. ... Even
worse is the new caste system: half the teams are out of the
running on opening day" (TIME, 4/3 issue).
