RED SOX PUT UP THEIR DUQUE, BUT HE OFFERS LITTLE ON BALLPARK

          Red Sox Exec VP & GM Dan Duquette addressed the Greater
     Boston Chamber of Commerce yesterday and said the team has a
     "spectacular plan" for a new ballpark which they will unveil
     "once we have our ducks in a row," according to Joan
     Vennochi of the BOSTON GLOBE.  Duquette "did rule out the
     idea of rebuilding Fenway Park."  Red Sox Exec              
     VP/Administration John Buckley said there was "no fixed
     date" to announce the ballpark plan.  Vennochi: "The Sox
     still seem far from prepared to unveil anything close to a
     final proposal. ... In fact, they seem preoccupied with
     other matters," including hosting the '99 All-Star Game and
     racial harassment allegations filed by a former employee. 
     She adds, "On the positive side, Duquette easily charmed the
     business crowd ... [and] took the edge off the image
     perpetrated by the sports media that he is arrogant and
     aloof."  But while he "wasn't aloof or arrogant," he did
     seem "unsure and uncertain" regarding a new ballpark, "[a]nd
     that is bad PR for him and the Sox" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/24).