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SPORTS Thursday, September 30, 1999 - Page 13 Money and baseball: a sports commentary BY RYAN SEAVOLT created for smaller markelteams to burgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, picked the New York Yankees, Ray Miller added to the team's SlaffWritu compete with larger market teams, and other teams, keeping a high Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, problems, by insisting on playing would have helped 10 alleviate the payroll year after year proved to be Houston Astros, and yes, even the Delino Deshields at second base It's September, and the pennant problem, the strike and the endless too taxing with the small marker of second-year Arizona Diamond- when rookie Jerry Hairston is races are heating up around the negotiations that followed it in fans and finances available to each backs, who "reeled in" Randy clearly the future of the team at that major leagues, Well, they are in at 1994 solved very little, ifanything. team. So, the A's and Pirates dis- Johnson in the off-season, to win yosition. Only recently h" least a couple of divisions. Baseball's problems escalated mantled their excellent baseball their divisions. Hairston been getting ample play- You see, the single biggest in 1997, when the owner of the teams from 1992-1993, and the All of these teams have millions problem with baseball the last few Florida Marlins at the time, Wayne Expos followed suit, starting in of fans in their surrounding areas, ingtime. also lack the pres- The Orioles years has not been fan attendance. Huizenga, simply "bought" a 1995. and all shelled out big money to ence of a serious power-hitter who Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa World Series championship in the The San Diego Padres followed bring in high-priced talent in the can lend s0lT!e protection to Albert brought fans back to the ballparks off-season by spending megabucks the Expos aCI by dismantling their off-season. Some of these teams, Belle in the lineup. Above all else, again after a few years of subpar on such talent as Alex Fernandez, National League pennant-winning such as the Braves, owned by Ted the Orioles need to bolster their fan attendance. MoisesAlou, Bobby Bonilla, man- team in the off-season, after they Turner, even have their own tete- pitiful bullpen. They've been with- The problem does not lie solely agel' Jim Leyland, and others. lost to the Yankees in the World vision station to air all of their out a reliable closer or setup man with greedy players either, al- Okay, so none of these players Series, and the Seattle Mariners games. all season. though their quarreling over one or are having the greatest of years this now appear as if they are going to Not surprisingly, all of these So what can we expect next two million dollars when they al- season, and Alou has been out for trade either Ken Griffey Jr., or Alex teams are currently in first place. year? ready make $10 or $15 million a the entire year with an injury, but, Rodriguez. So why aren't our high-budget Not much from the Orioles as year does seem very petty. at the time, they were the "cream To make matters worse, the At- Baltimore Orioles in contention they begin to rebuild, and most Likewise, the problem has not of the crop." lanta Braves and New York Mets, this season? likely much of the same scenario been team owners like George The Marlins went on to win the both large-market teams, are the The answer to that is simple: a of large-market teams dominating Steinbrenner, who spend tons of World Series that year, and then two major organizations that seem good baseball team, it appears, can- small-market teams. money on talent and dominate their owner proceeded to trade to be in the hunt for the services of not always be bought. My World Series prediction for smaller market teams. Oh, wait, away all of his high-priced talent. the two Mariners all-stars. So, the Certainly no one but Peter this year? I'll go out on a limb and maybe that has been a factor. The next year, the Marlins finished strong get stronger, and the weak Angelos could possibly think that state that I think a big-market team We have seen this trend grow in last place in the National League get weaker. Mike Timlin would be an effective will take the prize (insert the last few years. While a collec-. East and will likely do so again this At the beginning of the season, closer and thata team can cope with or Indians here). Yankees rive bargaining agreement, and the year. virtually everyone who knew any- losing Rafael Palmeiro, Roberto Oh well. There's always next subsequent ability it would have For the Montreal Expos, Pitts- thing about our national pastime Alomar, and Eric Davis. Manager year. Sports for the rest of us - Intramurals Did you the fall semester including touch Staff Writer know? football, soccer, volleyball, ulti- It's the faJl season on campus, mate frisbee, cross country, and where you can see many varsity badminton. The SpOTtS are orga- WMC quarterbacks hold the sports teams competing on the nized in many different ways. For conference records for most offen- fields and many leaves collecting example, there are recreational and sive e1ays in a game, most pass at- o"H'tffe1P'o!1Hcr: It'ii; 1i'lsd'l:ime~'fof' senous divlsionffor toucnro6[balJ tempts ill a game, most pass intramurals at Western Maryland so everybody can participate. but completions in a game, most passes College, which has been a part of every team plays-each at least once. without an interception, best life.._on,..,tpe hill since the colleg~the.playoffs., they set up a bracket in a game, opened. OverthenexT!ew months, style to,-;!rnament for the teams to completion percentage games with' and most consecutive many people will be competing in compete forthe championship. The a TD pass. a variety of sports and recreational champions of a particular sport are activities that are offered by the also rewarded with WMC Green College. Terror tee shirts as a bonus for the ***************************** According to the Director of the winners. Games are usually played holds the record Seth Aldridge Intramural Program, Keith every couple days, but the sched- for the lowest two-round score of Reitenbach.Intramurals at westem ule will vary depending on the Maryland College are sports based weather or the use of the facilities. golf in the conference. and have their office in the athletic The games don't receive as many ****************************** department, which is unlike many fans as the varsity sports, but some other colleges where the intrarnu- true friends always attend and cheer The men's soccer team holds ral programs are run by the college on the participants. If you have the record for most team goals in activities board. Hired initially as time, come out and see a game. one game, as well as most &oals the college's lacrosse coach, Also if someone is interested in allowed in one game, Reitenbach has been the program's adding a new program or changing director since 1993. During his something about the present situa- ****************************** time as director, soccer, floor tion, they can go see Mr. Keith hockey, and ultimate frisbee have Reitenbach at the Gill Center; there It's very likely that senior Ron been added while the basketball is also a yearly meeting where stu- Sermarini will become the first- and volleyball programs have been dents can discuss their opinions for expanded. new ideas for other programs. ever three time offensive all-con- There are many intramurals in ference player of the year. pastime. Phoenix sports trivia challenge 1. Almost everyone knows 2. When the ABA dissolved, 3. Which of these four fonner Page was a leg- that football great Jim four teams were absorbed into All-Star pitchers never won 4. Leroy "Satchel" in both the negro To win: Simply call Sports endary pitcher Brown played for the NFL's the larger NBA. These fran- the Cy Young Award? leagues and the major leagues. Editor Mike Yestramski at Cleveland Browns, but on chises are still active in the a) John Denny Who was the last person to get a x80 17, or Assistant Sports which college team did NBA. Name the 4 teams. b) Bob Welch hit off of Leroy "Satchel" Page? Editor Chris Anastasia at Brown star? c) Jimmy Key x8019, with all four of the issues answers to this d) Mike Scott trivia.