Reds Owner Marge Schott lifted the team's 32-year-old
ban on facial hair in a response to OF Greg Vaughn and
"scores of fans who backed" his bid to keep his goatee.
Vaughn: "I wasn't trying to rewrite any rules. I'm just
more comfortable with my facial hair" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
2/16)....One of the Devil Rays billboards in the Orlando
area reads, "Teach your kids that Babe wasn't just a pig and
Mickey was more than a mouse" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 2/13). The
Devil Rays annual FanFest at Tropicana Field on Saturday
drew about 20,000 (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 2/14).
HE'S GOT FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES: Padres Manager Bruce
Bochy, on Garth Brooks' chances of making the team: "There's
no chance of him being on the major-league club, but we're
excited to have him." Brooks: "Just know this -- the first
goal of all of this is not to embarrass major-league
baseball. We're going to take it extremely serious" (ORANGE
COUNTY REGISTER, 2/13). Brooks said rumors that he might be
buying into the Padres aren't true. In lieu of salary, the
team will give more than $100,000 to Brooks' Touch'em All
Foundation (S.D. UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/13). In Boston, Peter
Gammons reported that the 37-year-old Brooks would be
willing to play the entire season in the minor leagues
(BOSTON GLOBE, 2/16). Last night on "The ESPYS," Samuel L.
Jackson said, "Now I haven't seen him play, but I have a
feeling he will do for baseball what Tony Gwynn has done for
country music" ("The ESPYS", 2/15). In St. Paul, Charley
Walters reported that Brooks could join the St. Paul Saints
if his Padres tryout fails (PIONEER PRESS, 2/14).
