THROWING A CURVEBALL: MLB FILES COUNTERSUIT AGAINST ESPN

          MLB filed a countersuit against ESPN on Friday,
     claiming the network "broke its contract by moving three
     baseball games to ESPN2," according to the AP (See THE
     DAILY, 5/5).  ESPN VP/Communications Chris LaPlaca: "No one
     at ESPN has seen the suit, so we don't know its contents. 
     We were not surprised that they countersued, though" (AP,
     5/22).  In N.Y., Bob Raissman examined MLB's "claim of
     loyalty" in its relationship with ESPN and wrote that
     industry sources close to the situation "point to three
     instances where MLB didn't exactly act as a loyal partner." 
     Raissman lists the three specific instances and adds that,
     "All this shows MLB has little regard for loyalty when it
     comes to ESPN.  It shows this dispute is about cold hard
     business and cold hard cash" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/23).