ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press LOS ANGELES
THE MAJOR LEAGUES say it's time to start something new with the 1997 season.
Major-league baseball owners broke with more than a century of tradition Thursday, unanimously approving the start of interleague play in 1997.
Each team will play 15 or 16 interleague games that year, the first that count in the records other than the All-Star Game and World Series.
``We have the greatest tradition in the world, but tradition shouldn't be an albatross,'' acting commissioner Bud Selig said. ``This will be a tremendous success. There isn't a doubt in my mind.''
Owners aren't worried the eventual World Series teams may play each other during the regular season.
``There's nothing in the Constitution of the United States that forbids that,'' Selig said. ``I remember sitting at the Super Bowl last year and watching San Francisco play San Diego, and somebody said they played last November. There was no less interest.''
In 1997, each team in the AL East Division will play a three-game series against each team in the NL East and every AL Central team will play a three-game series against every NL Central team. AL West teams will play four games against NL West teams, but they might be split into a two-game series in each city.
``There had been some clubs who were against it in the past when we took straw votes,'' said Philadelphia Phillies owner Bill Giles, one of the plan's creators. ``I just think it's logical to accept it and approve it.''
The Major League Baseball Players Association must approve the idea, but owners said they weren't worried about union rejection.
``The concept of interleague play in major league baseball is certainly intriguing, worthy of serious consideration,'' said union head Donald Fehr. ``As we look for new ways to grow the game and make it better for our fans, interleague games deserve a hard look.''
Selig predicted the designated hitter, used by the American League since 1973, wouldn't become a sticking point. NL president Len Coleman and AL president Gene Budig said in 1997, the DH likely will be used in AL ballparks only.
The union wants the DH expanded to both leagues, because it creates high-salaried jobs. But owners have proposed the elimination of it in the AL.
Selig said the DH ``is a non-issue.''
``It [the DH] might kill interleague play, but I don't expect the union to do that,'' said Boston Red Sox chief executive officer John Harrington, chairman of the owners' schedule-format committee.
Owners said they anticipated interleague games will rotate by division, meaning every major-league team will meet at least once every three seasons, but they didn't formulate specific plans beyond 1997.
After Phoenix and Tampa Bay join the majors in 1998, the number of interleague games could increase to as many as 30 per team per season.
Professional baseball leagues began when the NL was formed in 1876, and interleague play first was suggested by Bill Veeck in the 1920s when he was president of the Chicago Cubs. The NFL has had interconference games since 1970, following its merger with the AFL.
``There were a series of opportunities out there for years that we turned our back on,'' Selig said. ``We decided today not to turn our back on them anymore. The opportunities here are limitless.''
Even before the 232-day strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series and the start of the 1995 season, owners were looking for ways to increase attendance and revenue. In September 1993, they voted to add an extra round of playoffs and split each league into three divisions instead of two starting in 1994.
Attendance dropped 20 percent last season after the sport's eighth work stoppage in 23 years, and many teams lost millions of dollars. The criticism that followed the strike caused many owners to re-evaluate their adherence to tradition.
``You're creating new excitement, new opportunities. You're creating new potential,'' Selig said.
On the final day of their winter meetings, owners also approved the proposed purchase of 25 percent of the California Angels by the Walt Disney Co., which will take over operation of the team from Gene Autry, its founding owner in 1961.
The deal is contingent on the Anaheim City Council approving within 60 days the reconstruction of Anaheim Stadium. If that doesn't happen, Disney could either pull out or attempt to move the team.
``There are obviously other alternatives,'' Disney chairman Michael Eisner said. ``They are not pretty alternatives and they are not ones we endorse. We want to stay in Anaheim, but we cannot lose hundreds of millions of dollars for that privilege.''
Owners also unanimously approved their $1.7 million, five-year television contracts with Fox, NBC, ESPN and Liberty and their licensing agreement with Major League Baseball Properties.
They said they would discuss at their March meeting a plan to partially implement a new revenue sharing formula for the 1996 season.
In the only player transaction of the day, catcher Jim Leyritz agreed to a two-year contract with the New York Yankees, avoiding arbitration. Leyritz, who hit .269 with seven home runs and 37 RBI last season, gets $1.4 million this season and $1.75 million in 1997. The Yankees have an option for 1998 at $1.9 million but must pay a $200,000 buyout if they don't exercise it.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by AP.by CNB