The AP's Ronald Blum reported MLBPA officials "met last month with management" of the four MLB teams "accused of improper spending of revenue sharing money." MLBPA General Counsel Ian Penny and Senior Advisor to the Exec Dir Rick Shapiro met with officials from the Marlins, A's, Pirates and Rays. An economist "also was among the union officials who attended" the meeting. Sources said that MLB Senior VP & Deputy General Council for Labor Relations Patrick Houlihan, MLB CFO Bob Starkey and "additional staff from the commissioner's office" also attended the four meetings. The next step in the process "is unclear," as a hearing before an arbitrator "has not been scheduled" (AP, 9/18).
SOUVENIRS OR SAFETY? In N.Y., Joe Lemire wrote one of baseball's "cherished rituals" of players tossing balls to fans in the crowd has been "disrupted by the expanded protective netting now in all 30 major league parks." But more than a dozen players all "praised the changes in the safety netting, which as of this season stretches to at least the far end of every dugout." Players have "seen too many fans, including young children, hit by screaming foul balls and flying broken bats over the last few years." Players "welcomed the change and gladly adapted their methods of distributing souvenir balls" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17).
NUMBERS GAME: In N.Y, Joel Sherman wrote part of the "decline in passion" for MLB is "mixed into how we view" statistical numbers. Sherman: "We keep telling one generation of fans they are dumb for caring about 20 wins or .300 batting averages or 100 RBIs, and the next generation of fans doesn't care about them. But what has risen in its place to keep interest in players and teams and seasons?" Sherman believes statistics "have been the backbone" of baseball, and between the "Steroid Era and the Metric Generation, we have weakened that backbone" (N.Y. POST, 9/16).
