President Clinton used a Thursday visit to Florida, a state with many spring training camps, to urge baseball owners not to lock out players if a federal judge rules against them.

“I think it gives us a chance at least to start the baseball season in a good way and without the replacement players,” he said in Tampa.

“As the owners and players meet in these last few days before the scheduled start of the season, I hope they will give it their best shot, that they will bargain in good faith and be flexible and willing to compromise so that America’s baseball fans again have a sport they can be proud of,” Clinton said in a statement issued by the White House.

Coors Field opening on tap: Coors Field, the Colorodo Rockies’ new $215.5 million ballpark in Denver, is set to open today, amid expectations of opening-day fanfare and controversy over the use of replacement players.

About 50,000 Rockies fans were expected to flock to the ballpark in Denver’s historic lower downtown to get a good look at the baseball-only facility and its state-ofthe-art accommodations.

Suit targets Vincent: Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent has been sued for $600,000 by the co-author of his canceled autobiography.

In papers filed in U.S. District Court on March 20, David Kaplan accused Vincent of breach of contract and fraud. Kaplan, a legal affairs editor and senior writer for Newsweek, asked for $300,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.