Mitchell’s stance new to players’ union

A lawyer for baseball players said George Mitchell never told the union before last week that he was willing to show its members evidence of doping allegations against them.

Mitchell, who has spent 1 1/2 years investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, said Friday that he asked players to meet with him “for the purpose of directly providing them with the evidence about the allegations and to give them a chance to respond.”

Union general counsel Michael Weiner said Tuesday that Mitchell only informed players of that stance during a meeting last week and in a letter Friday. Weiner wrote to the former Senate Majority leader on Tuesday asking him to clarify his position and to provide his timeframe for completing the investigation.

“He certainly had not suggested prior to last week that the purpose of asking these players to come in was to provide them with evidence, provide them with anything,” Weiner said.

Until now, Mitchell has provided players only with general notice that they have been accused.

Isn’t just a fantasy

A federal appeals court in St. Louis upheld a lower court ruling that lets a fantasy baseball company use players’ names and statistics without paying a licensing fee.

In a 2-1 decision, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. doesn’t have to pay the players, even though it profits by using their names and statistics.

The Major League Baseball Players Association had argued that companies like CBC are essentially stealing money from players.

If CBC had lost, The MLBPA would have gained monopoly rights over publicly available statistics and other information.

NLCS ratings low

The National League Championship Series had all the elements of a low-rated sporting event: a sweep involving two smaller-market, tradition-poor franchises.

The Colorado Rockies’ four-game sweep defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks drew an average 2.8 rating for all households and a 3.3 for homes with TBS. The previous low average LCS rating was a 6.2 for the New York Mets’ five-game victory over St. Louis in 2000.

Francisco remains Ranger

Reliever Frank Francisco and the Texas Rangers agreed to a one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. He was 1-1 with a 4.55 ERA this year.