A'S: Joe Morgan, asked if he liked the chances of his
bid group to acquire the A's: "Normally you'd say yes. But
Selig got involved in changing the rules of the game, so
we'll see what happens. That's all" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/17).
In S.F., Ray Ratto predicted that current A's co-Owners
Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann "will use the legal loophole of
the anticipated [Andy] Dolich rejection to hold the team, go
to a year-to-year lease, and wait for higher bids to start
hitting the porch" (S.F. EXAMINER, 5/17).
MLB: In Phoenix, Jim Thomas reports that attendance at
Bank One Ballpark "is on the upswing." Though crowds are
"still down" 23% from last season, per-game attendance for
the second nine-game homestand was up about 1,300 a game
over the first homestand, from 34,370 to 35,709 (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 5/18)....In Montreal, Jim Salisbury notes that the
Expos' paid crowd of 5,104 last night "appeared to be much
lower than that." Salisbury: "This is truly the land that
baseball forgot" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/18). ESPN's
Kenny Mayne, on the attendance in Montreal: "There were,
after all, two hockey games on last night" (ESPN, 5/17).
DEBARTOLO: In S.F., 49ers co-Owners Eddie DeBartolo and
his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, agreed yesterday "to hold
all litigation in abeyance for a month" in an attempt to
gain control of the 49ers. Despite the announcement, "there
was no immediate indication of a breakthrough between the
siblings to end their protracted fight" (S.F. CHRONICLE,
5/18). In San Jose, Elliott Almond reports that a court
conference has been scheduled for June 15th in Akron, OH,
between DeBartolo and his sister. U.S. District Judge
Daniel Polster: "It's very hard to have meaningful
discussions in a war" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 5/18).
NOTE: The NHL Wild have received more than 12,000 non-
refundable deposits for season tickets 17 months before the
team is set to start play in October of 2000. The Wild
"need to convert that many $100 deposits ... into paid-in-
full season tickets before April 1" (PIONEER PRESS, 5/18).
