Franchise Notes
Negotiations for the Red Sox to open their season in Japan next year "may involve additional compensation from the Japanese commercial sponsors of the tour to the players on both teams," and the club "may be seeking $60,000 per player." The Red Sox "do not want to go to Japan to open [next] season unless they then have the traditional opener on the West Coast." The club's baseball operations side has "very little enthusiasm for a trip to Japan," but MLB "is putting considerable pressure on the team to go because of the marketing benefits" of Japanese Ps Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima. MLBPA COO Gene Orza: "The Red Sox have a right to be concerned about the schedule. ... Going to Japan is not a foregone conclusion" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/30).
DUCKS GOOSE: The Ducks have capped season-ticket sales at 15,000 and started a waiting list for future orders (Ducks). The figure is a franchise record, and the wait list requires a $100 deposit. Tickets for individual games will go on sale September 15, and the club "is expecting to announce sellouts for all" 41 home games. The Ducks had a season-ticket base of 7,000 when Henry and Susan Samueli bought the team in '05 (L.A. TIMES, 8/30).
X'S AND O'S: With the Orioles posting losses of 15-8 and 30-3 since August 22, the Baltimore SUN's Peter Schmuck writes it has taken "barely a week to obscure the two months of apparent progress that persuaded new [President of Baseball Operations] Andy MacPhail to take the interim tag off" manager Dave Trembley. Schmuck: "What I'm wondering is how this is going to play in November, when the Orioles go out looking for help in the free-agent market. ... You can make a case that the humbling events of the past week may have re-energized the reluctance of quality free agents to come to Baltimore" (Baltimore SUN, 8/30).
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