Mlb

A smoldering argument between baseball and ESPN that cost a national audience the chance to see the game in which Cal Ripken ended his consecutive-games streak last season has intensified, with baseball seeking to get out of its contract with the all-sports channel.In a letter dated April 21, Paul Beeston, Major League Baseball's chief operating officer, informed ESPN that MLB will seek to end its regular-season deal at the end of this season because ESPN is looking to pre-empt Sunday night telecasts for NFL games.

The value of a baseball franchise is rising, and the Orioles are following that trend. Forbes released its annual report on the value of each Major League Baseball organization today, and the Orioles rank 17 th with an estimated value of $618 million. The Orioles ranked 19 th of the 30 teams a year ago with a value of $460 million. The average baseball team is now worth $744 million, according to the study, 23 percent more than a year ago and the largest increase since Forbes began such analysis in 1998.

WASHINGTON --Sen. John McCain was deep into a lecture on how the Major League Baseball players union was moving too slowly to rid the sport of steroid-using "cheaters." "How many Rafael Palmeiros are there going to be?" asked the Arizona Republican at a hearing. It was September 2005, the month after the former Oriole became the sport's first star to test positive for steroids. A year after Palmeiro's suspension, the somewhat surprising answer to McCain's question is that no other big baseball names have been nabbed.

NEW YORK - Last night's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in New York ended too late to be included in this edition. A full report on the game can be found at baltimoresun.com. At his annual appearance before the Baseball Writers Association of America, commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday that the sport continues to prosper, partially because the attention is on the field of play these days and not peripheral issues that have haunted the game. Still, Selig acknowledged that some off-field matters still concern him, including federal investigations into bonus-skimming in the Dominican Republic and a gambling ring that reportedly enveloped former Orioles national crosschecker Alan Marr, who was fired in June.

It's the one remaining loose end - but, boy, is it a big one. Major League Baseball has completed the move of the Montreal Expos to Washington. It has dealt with D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp and tweaked the deal agreed to in September. It has named the team. It is in the process of picking an owner. D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams has signed the legislation that will enable a stadium to be built. Next up: Peter Angelos. MLB president and chief operating officer Bob DuPuy will travel to Baltimore early next week to continue negotiations over how the Orioles will be protected financially from the effects of competition in the region for the first time since 1971.

After nearly six months of difficult negotiations - and two weeks before Opening Day - the Orioles and Major League Baseball were tantalizingly close to an agreement last night that would financially protect the franchise from the competition it faces in its market for the first time in 34 years. Negotiators spent all day yesterday at baseball's Park Avenue headquarters in New York trying to hammer out a deal. Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer and point man in the talks, said last night that he was optimistic a deal was at hand.

Major League Baseball purchased full-page advertisements in major newspapers last week in which it announced the appointment of a prominent scientist to develop a urine test to detect human growth hormone. But other scientists are skeptical that such a test can be created for the relatively small amount of money baseball is pledging to invest so far. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said in the ad that athletes' use of human growth hormone "represents a threat to all sports everywhere." Selig added that "science can provide new ways to combat" players who use such banned performance boosters, and that baseball was naming Don Catlin of UCLA to conduct a study on detecting hGH. Baseball has initially agreed to devote about $500,000 - an amount that Penn State University steroids expert Charles Yesalis called "chump change."

Unable to establish a true rivalry with the relocated Montreal Expos franchise while it's situated in the National League, the Orioles have been engaged in an early battle with Washington's new team over exclusive home dates in their region. Though the Orioles waited another day to release their 2005 schedule, Major League Baseball officials confirmed that the revised edition has reduced from 30 to 28 the number of times they will play at Camden Yards while Washington competes at its temporary home at RFK Stadium.

Even if there had been a television deal in place when Major League Baseball announced - six months ago yesterday - that the Montreal Expos would move to Washington, ad salesmen would have been in a hurry-up mode to sell commercials on game broadcasts. Companies typically make final decisions on where they will spend their advertising dollars for the next year in October or November. The Expos' move was announced Sept. 29 - and didn't become official until the District of Columbia Council voted on fully funding a stadium for the newly renamed Washington Nationals on Dec. 21. Five days before Opening Day, the Nationals still don't have a local television deal, thanks to the drawn-out negotiations between Peter Angelos and MLB over how the Orioles will be financially protected from the competition they will face.

Two-time American League batting champion Nomar Garciaparra underwent wrist surgery yesterday to repair tendon damage and will be out of the Boston lineup for at least 10 weeks. Red Sox team doctor and hand specialist Dr. Bill Morgan removed a bone fragment that was contributing to the chronic tendon inflammation that forced Garciaparra out of action this spring. Morgan also repaired the sheath of tissue around the tendon. Garciaparra originally suffered the injury during the 1999 season, when he was hit by a pitch from then-Orioles reliever Al Reyes.