RIGAS FACES DELAY IN BID FOR PIRATES

     Adelphia Communications Chair John Rigas is still awaiting
approval from MLB to start negotiations with the Pirates to buy
the team.  Rigas was the personal choice of Pittsburgh Mayor
Murphy on November 19 to buy the team and keep them in the city.
Under an agreement, if no deal is reached by January 29, the team
could be sold to the highest bidder, "free of any lease
obligations binding the team to Three Rivers Stadium."  At a news
conference with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Rigas called
MLB's delay "frustrating":  "We're a little impatient and we've
got to get going."  Pirates President Mark Sauer said baseball
owners have been "preoccupied" with other issues, but that the
team "was doing everything it can to expedite the approval
process."  Specter said he would take the matter up with acting
Commissioner Bud Selig and White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf (Jon
Schmitz, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/6).