ANGELS: After Jackie Autry signed the owners' resolution
cancelling the season, she announced that she and her husband
Gene Autry, have decided to sell the Angels. She added, however,
that they will not sell the club until there have been a
resolution of baseball's labor dispute. The Autrys have told
four prospective buyers that they are asking $130M, although only
23% of the club will be sold while Gene Autry remains alive.
Terms of the sale "stipulate an immediate" $30M fee for 23% of
the club; the minority owner will be required to pay Autry $3M
each year to maintain the option to purchase the rest of the club
within six months of Autry's death. Jackie Autry would not
identify the four buyers, but it is believed she has had
preliminary talks with Walt Disney Corp. and billionaire Marvin
Davis (Bob Nightengale, L.A. TIMES, 9/15).
ATHLETICS: The A's are still for sale and "it is difficult
to determine" what effect the early end of the season will have
on the sale. Alameda County Supervisor Don Perata said interest
in buying the team is "sure to wane." But Oakland Coliseum
president George Vukasin "did not agree with Perata." The Haas
family put the team up for sale May 1994 with a price tag of $95M
and gave the city of Oakland seven months to find an ownership
group that would keep the team in Oakland. The deadline is
December 7 and the city is considering four buyers (Robert
Kuwada, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/15). "The slim silver lining
for A's fans is that -- unless the people of St. Petersburg are
so desperate they're willing to buy a baseball team that isn't
playing baseball -- the Haas family probably will start next
season is Oakland" (Ann Killion, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/15).
