FRANCHISE NOTES

          In Toronto, Marty York: "Has a mystery group suddenly
     surfaced with an attempt to purchase the Blue Jays?"  York
     reports a "high-ranking" MLB official said a "new group" has
     "quietly stepped forth" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 9/24).
     ...Acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig told three Harris
     County-Houston Sports Authority members visiting him in
     Milwaukee yesterday that the Astros "will stay put at least
     30 years if a new ballpark is built for the team."  Selig:
     "Major League Baseball has never, never -- underscore the
     'never' -- moved out of a place where it had a lease, we
     have a 130-plus year history of that" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE,
     9/24)....Tuesday's Red Wings-Hurricanes preseason game at
     the Greensboro Coliseum drew a crowd of 7,909, "most of them
     Wings fans" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 9/24).