Financial Struggles Continue
Baseball owners lost approximately $185 million last year, the first full season after the strike, The Associated Press has learned.
With attendance down from prestrike levels, the 28 teams lost $875 million over the last three years, according to data obtained from a management source on the condition he not be identified.
But the 1996 bottom line was the best since before the 232-day players’ strike, with last year’s loss nearly half that of the 1995 season.
In 1993, the last full season before the strike, the teams combined for an operating profit of $36 million on record operating revenue of $1.87 billion. The following year, when the World Series was wiped out for the first time since 1904, the teams had an operating loss of $363.8 million on revenue of $1.21 billion.
In the 1995 season, shortened by three weeks because of the strike, the teams combined for a loss $326.3 million on revenue of $1.38 billion, according to final figures recently given to teams by the commissioner’s office.
Revenue rebounded to $1.67 billion last year, according to preliminary figures, but expenses rose to a record $1.85 billion.
If the strike hadn’t occurred, revenue probably would have topped $2 billion in 1996 based on past performance.
Players, in comparison, came out relatively well following the strike, losing about $333 million in salaries and bonuses. Their average salary, $1.17 million at the end of the 1994 season, finally surpassed its prestrike level, increasing to $1.38 million on opening day this year.
While salaries are up again this year, so is attendance, increasing 4.9 percent in the first 16 weeks of the season to an average of 27,807. Following the strike, the average dropped 20 percent, from 31,612 in 1994 to 25,260 in 1995.
Cordero balks at plea bargain
Wilfredo Cordero of the Boston Red Sox will not agree to a plea bargain that would jail him on charges he bloodied his wife’s nose and violated a restraining order, his lawyer said Thursday.
Prosecutor Anne Edwards said after the pretrial hearing Thursday in Cambridge, Mass., there had not yet been talk of a plea bargain, and she said it’s too early to tell whether she will seek jail time.
Cordero has been free on bail since the June 11 fight with Ana Cordero. He pleaded innocent to charges of assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and threatening to commit a crime.
The charge of making a threat carries a six-month maximum sentence. The other three have maximum sentences of 2 years.
Judge Arthur Sherman delayed the case until Aug. 18, when the Red Sox have a day off.
Reds shedding veterans
Terry Pendleton is gone, Jeff Branson is on the way out and just about every veteran in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse is wondering who will follow in the next week.
The changes have just begun for a team that once considered itself a contender but is grudgingly accepting its status as an also-ran. With the trading deadline approaching, a makeover is imminent.
“Everyone is aware of the trading deadline,” said first baseman Hal Morris, who has been mentioned in trade rumors since the off-season. “It’s not uncertainty, but more of a wait-and-see attitude.”
Morris started to walk away, then paused and added, “There will be some action in the next week.”
The Reds have held off until this week because they’ve been on the verge of contending in the weak N.L. Central. By losing five of their last six, they’ve fallen nine games out and ended all pretenses.
Cuban delivers for Marlins
At age 22, Cuban defector Livan Hernandez is adjusting to American culture and National League hitters.
The rookie right-hander has won his past three starts for the Florida Marlins and takes a 3-0 record into Friday night’s game against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
A year ago, the Marlins wondered if they had misjudged Hernandez when they gave him a record $2.5 million signing bonus in January 1996. He gained weight, lost speed on his fastball and resisted guidance regarding pitch selection. He struggled at Triple-A Charlotte and was demoted to Double-A Portland.
Hernandez now blames culture shock. He spoke no English when he defected from the Cuban National Team in September 1995, and he has no family in the United States.
“The problem was that when you get here, you have to adapt to the change in lifestyle - the food, being around different people,” he said through a translator. “Your life is completely different.”
This season, Hernandez has shuttled back and forth between the minors and the Marlins without complaint. He may be sent back to Triple-A for the third time in six weeks if Florida succeeds in trading for a veteran starter.
In four starts, Hernandez has an ERA of 2.95, including 1.70 over the past 19-2/3 innings. He has 19 strikeouts and 10 walks and 22-1/3 innings.
xxxx Operating at a loss Operating revenues, operating expenses and operating profits (or losses) for the 26 major league baseball teams (28 teams beginning in 1993). Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand dollars after 1983 (x-does not include $46.8 million in proceeds from strike insurance; y-preliminary estimate): Year Revenues Expenses Profits or Losses 1975 $162,598,094 $166,312,851 (-$3,714,757) 1976 182,035,149 186,704,462 (-4,669,313) 1977 233,285,111 236,155,850 (-2,870,739) 1978 265,308,026 265,303,440 (-4,586) 1979 301,750,111 302,363,300 (-613,189) 1980 351,404,824 371,177,557 (-19,772,933) x-1981 279,148,414 384,533,669 (-105,385,255) 1982 442,642,488 534,737,436 (-92,094,948) 1983 521,656,909 588,260,780 (-66,603,871) 1984 624,223,000 665,211,000 (-40,988,000) 1985 717,813,000 724,896,000 (-7,083,000) 1986 791,875,000 780,347,000 11,528,000 1987 910,877,000 809,933,000 100,944,000 1988 1,007,519,000 885,915,000 121,604,000 1989 1,241,059,000 1,026,550,000 214,509,000 1990 1,336,530,000 1,193,663,000 142,867,000 1991 1,537,395,000 1,438,442,000 98,953,000 1992 1,663,367,000 1,641,146,000 22,221,000 1993 1,865,561,000 1,829,479,000 36,082,000 1994 1,209,656,000 1,573,408,000 (-363,752,000) 1995 1,384,985,000 1,711,318,000 (-326,333,000) y-1996 1,668,000,000 1,853,000,000 (-185,000,000)