In Houston, Richard Justice reports Bud Selig met with Jim Crane for the second time yesterday, and the MLB Commissioner is "expected to support his $680 million purchase of the Astros." Selig "already knew plenty about Crane before their meeting and never would have allowed the sale of the Astros to get this far if he weren’t comfortable with him." The NAACP's Houston chapter questioned Crane's agreement to buy the Astros, but Justice writes, "I’ve known Selig for almost 30 years, and if he thought there was an ounce of racism or sexism in Crane’s bones, he never would allow him to own a major league baseball team" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/24).
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN: In California, Lowell Cohn wrote Warriors co-Owner Joe Lacob has done a "wonderful thing" by recruiting Jerry West to join the team's front office. Warriors Exec Board member Bob Piccinini said, "The biggest thing this does is send a message to the community, ‘We are serious.’" Still, Lacob "has a huge ego," and he "needs to listen to West." Cohn: "He needs to solicit West’s opinion. ... You don’t hire West as a mere public-relations move. You do it because you’re serious" (Santa Rosa PRESS-DEMOCRAT, 5/24).
THE KING & HIS CASTLE: The Mariners announced yesterday that fans will "now be able to purchase discounted tickets in a special section of Safeco Field on nights Felix Hernandez pitches." Section 150 will be called "King's Court" for each of Hernandez's home starts this season. Tickets in that section will cost $30 prior to game day, or $34 if "purchased the day of the game," down from the normal $40 price. Fans in "King's Court" will receive a Hernandez T-shirt (SEATTLEPI.com, 5/23).
THE SUN ALSO RISES: The Lightning are facing the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals, and in N.Y., Jeff Klein wrote Tampa Bay is "one of the success stories of hockey in warm-weather locations." Along with the Hurricanes, Stars, Kings and Ducks, the Lightning are the "counterweight to the league’s failures" in Atlanta, Phoenix and South Florida. About 800 Lightning fans "gathered in a parking lot at the Tampa airport Sunday morning and assembled in the shape of a lightning bolt so that the team’s players could see it as their plane took off for Boston" (NYTIMES.com, 5/22).
