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From: rossiter@cornell.UUCP (David Rossiter)
Newsgroups: net.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Lights at Wrigley Field
Message-ID: <1330@cornell.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 5-Oct-84 13:20:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: cornell.1330
Posted: Fri Oct  5 13:20:13 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Oct-84 02:33:11 EDT
References: <204@mhuxh.UUCP>
Reply-To: rossiter@gvax.UUCP (David Rossiter)
Distribution: na
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept.
Lines: 22


Sad to say, baseball is first and foremost a MONOPOLY business.  The owners
have agreed that the Commissioner can do ANYTHING in the best interests of
baseball AS A WHOLE, including voiding trades (remember Vida Blue and the
Yankees?), dictating compensation terms, etc.  Therefore he was well within
his mandate to try to make the most $$$ for the sport as a whole, by making
the change in schedule.  A Cubs season ticket holder sued Organized
Baseball with the argument that he was being deprived of property (namely,
the fourth home date); the federal judge threw the case out immediately,
on the (valid) basis that the Commissioner could do anything to the fan,
e.g. move all Cubs games to Comiskey (!!) if he had so desired.

It's a fine line -- the health of the sport as a whole, the pleasure of
many millions (like myself) who can watch at night but not in the day,
versus the tradition of Wrigley.  Let's at least be thankful it's on
grass.

Consider future series: Montreal vs. Toronto in 1996 -- when a premature
blizzard settles over Ontario and Quebec on October 10, and they decide
to relocate the series to the New Orleans Superdome... then we're getting
too commercial for my taste!