Traditional Stance Changed With Interleague Play

Major league baseball owners, concluding winter meetings at a downtown hotel on Thursday, unanimously approved interleague games in 1997 and the Walt Disney Co.’s purchase of 25% and control of the Angels.

Neither is a done deal, however.

Disney has 60 days to reach agreement with the city of Anaheim for $110 million in Anaheim Stadium improvements or it can withdraw from the purchase.

The interleague proposal must be approved by the players’ union.

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig noted that contingency but predicted interleague play will be a “huge success,” creating a “new level of excitement and interest” as did the expanded division and playoff formats.

Asked, however, if it wouldn’t have made more sense to pursue union approval before taking it to the full ownership, Selig said:

“Somebody has to take the first step. I mean, for many years we had a series of opportunities that we turned our back on. We’re not doing that any more.

“I’ve also had many talks with Don Fehr over the years and never had a disagreement on interleague.” Fehr is the players’ union executive director.

Meanwhile Tony Taveras, president of Disney Sports Enterprises, said, “Everybody would have liked to close [the Angels’ purchase] without the contingency, but we were unable to do it.”

Taveras said Gene and Jackie Autry will continue to operate the Angels during the 60-day window and that Disney will make no personnel changes during that time.

He also made the following points:

--Disney isn’t asking the city to contribute all $110 million.

--Rewriting an antiquated lease to give Disney the potential to recoup some of its remodeling costs is an important aspect of negotiations with the city.

--These negotiations are separate from Anaheim’s plans to build an entertainment/sports complex in the surrounding area.

--The target date for debut of a renovated stadium is opening day of 1998; if there is no agreement after 60 days, Disney has first option on retaining the club or returning it to the Autrys, who have said they would seek a new buyer.

Said Disney Chairman Michael Eisner:

“There are obviously alternatives. They are not pretty alternatives, and they are not ones we endorse. We want to stay in Anaheim, in that stadium, but we can’t lose hundreds of millions of dollars for that privilege.

“We’re not looking for an economic home run, but we don’t want an economic black hole. We recognize that 60 days is not really reasonable, but sometimes you need an unreasonable deadline to get things done.”

In the 1997 interleague proposal, teams in five-team divisions will play 15 interleague games, one fewer than teams in four-team divisions.

East would play East, Central would play Central and West would play West. That geographical matchup would rotate on a yearly basis--East vs. Central, then East vs. West, for example--if interleague is retained in the future, as expected.

If each league is expanded to 15 teams with the addition of Phoenix to the National and Tampa Bay to the American in 1998, an interleague game would be necessary every night.

The union is known to support interleague play--owners need a decision by July 1 to complete a ’97 schedule--but oppose elimination of the designated hitter, a potentially significant bargaining chip in labor talks.

Presumably, the designated hitter would remain in ‘97, employed in AL parks but not NL. However, owners have already told the union they would prefer eliminating it--perhaps on a phased-out basis.

“The National League clearly doesn’t want [the designated hitter], and half the clubs in the American League don’t want it,” said Peter Magowan, San Francisco Giant owner, in reference to a recent American League straw poll that produced a 7-7 tie on eliminating the designated hitter, a potential salary savings.

Magowan said the union’s designated hitter stance could be an interleague deal breaker, “but the feeling is they’ll be cooperative.”

“Every opinion poll we’ve seen indicates fans want it,” Magowan said. “A lot of purists may be against it, but we don’t market for the purists.”

Dodger owner Peter O’Malley said he was impressed by the committee’s report on interleague play and “enthusiastically embraces it. We have to continue to change with the times. It should create a lot of excitement.”

O’Malley added that the annual spring exhibition series with the Angels might be a victim of interleague play since it would no longer be “the unique meeting” it has been. “That’s something we’ll have to review,” he said.

Baseball Notes

The Angels acquired infielder Aaron Ledesma from the New York Mets for infielder-outfielder Kevin Flora. Ledesma, 24, played in 21 games with the Mets in 1995, hitting .242 with no homers and three RBIs. Flora, 27, who recently signed with the Angels as a free agent, played in 24 games for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, hitting .213 with two homers and seven RBIs. . . . Catcher Jim Leyritz agreed to a two-year contract with the New York Yankees, avoiding arbitration.

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How Interleague Play Will Work

Baseball owners broke with almost a century of tradition by unanimously approving the start of interleague play in 1997. Other than the World Series and the All-Star game, the American League and National League have not played games that count since the AL first challenged its senior rival in 1900.

HOW IT WILL WORK

Interleague games will take place around Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The designated hitter will be used in games at AL ballparks and not at NL parks, the same system used in the All-Star game and World Series.

THE SCHEDULE

East and Central Division teams

12 games each vs. 4 divisional rivals

11 games each vs. 9 other league teams

3 games each vs. 5 interleague teams

West Division teams

12 games each vs. 3 divisional rivals

11 games each vs. 10 other league teams

4 games each vs. 4 interleague teams

WHO WOULD PLAY?

AL East vs. NL East

AL East

Baltimore

Boston

Detroit

N.Y. Yankees

Toronto

NL East

Atlanta

Florida

Montreal

N.Y. Mets

Philadelphia

AL Central vs. NL Central

AL Central

Cleveland

Chicago W. Sox

Kansas City

Milwaukee

Minnesota

NL Central

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati

Houston

Pittsburgh

St. Louis

AL West vs. NL West

AL West

California

Oakland

Seattle

Texas

NL West

Colorado

Los Angeles

San Diego

San Francisco

Source: Associated Press