AFL: The AFL makes its debut in Kansas City, MO, when
the FL Bobcats host the Nashville Kats in a regular-season
game July 25 at Kemper Arena (AFL). In K.C., Jonathan Rand
reported that The Sports Group (TSG), a K.C.-based company
trying to land an AFL team for '99, "is counting on
attendance" at the game and a season-ticket drive to gauge
K.C.'s interest in the league (K.C. STAR, 4/16).
VIVA PEDRO! In Boston, Charles Radin profiles Red Sox P
Pedro Martinez in a front page story, "Embracing The Ace:
Latino Community Rallies Around Martinez." He writes that
"Pedromania has grown to a fever pitch" and that within 48
hours of Martinez' 2-hit shutout in his Fenway Park debut,
the team sold 18,000 tickets for his next start tonight
against the Indians (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/17)....Four Mets minor
leaguers were "charged with sexual battery of a 17-year-old
woman" in Port St. Lucie, FL. Mets CEO Fred Wilpon: "If
they are guilty, I assure you from the depths of my soul
that this organization will do nothing to ask for any
special dispensation because they are athletes. If they are
guilty, they should bear the burden of that guilt" (N.Y.
TIMES, 4/17)....The Heat are opening up a new 4,000-square-
foot team store, called HEAT, at Bayside Marketplace in
Miami. Features include computers linked to NBA.com; an
American Airlines Arena info center; a video wall of NBA
highlights; and a Ticketmaster outlet (MIAMI HERALD, 4/17).
