Owners Take Rain Check On Realignment Vote

Admitting that radical realignment was “very, very, very unlikely,” acting commissioner Bud Selig postponed a vote Thursday but predicted more than five teams would switch leagues next season.

After owners met for 2-1/2 hours, Selig said they had extended their deadline for a decision from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15. Realignment committee chairman John Harrington said about a half-dozen plans were under consideration.

“They’ve looked at more maps than Magellan,” Selig said.

Proponents of realignment appear set on switching Anaheim, Oakland and Seattle to the National League and moving Florida and Montreal to the American. Some also would like to move Houston and possibly Arizona to the A.L. in exchange for Kansas City and possibly Milwaukee.

“We have a difficult job in front of us,” Atlanta Braves president Stan Kasten said, “because we have 30 teams, which means we have 30 different histories, 30 different sets of circumstances, 30 different needs. And it’s very difficult, probably impossible, to perfectly harmonize all 30 of the different sets of needs. No plan is perfect.”

San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan, the chief obstacle to the five-team plan, has threatened to sue if owners attempt to move Oakland into the N.L., not wanting his rival to share what he feels is the Giants’ exclusive right to play N.L. games in the Bay area.

In the other major business at the meetings, owners approved guidelines for allowing teams to sell public shares. However, teams will not be allowed to put the majority of their stock in the marketplace, and voting rights of public shares will be restricted.

Some teams, such as the Minnesota Twins, have floated the possibility of public offerings. The Twins are seeking funding from the Minnesota government for a new ballpark and also talking to Charlotte, N.C., possibly to exert pressure on elected officials. The Minnesota Legislature meets in a special session next month to consider funding legislation.

Former Hickory (N.C.) businessman Don Beaver has discussed purchasing the Twins from owner Carl Pohlad and moving the baseball franchise - temporarily - to the Charlotte area.

“We’re just talking, but we’re in the serious talking stage,” Pohlad told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Ripken says he’s OK

Cal Ripken’s ailing back is doing much better, although the Baltimore Orioles third baseman admitted Thursday that he’s still bothered by the ailment that almost ended his record streak of games played.

Back spasms that have cut down Ripken’s range in the field and contributed heavily to a 2-for-26 slump. But his run of successive games played reached 2,468 Thursday night.

“With this back injury I’ve had to deal with things I’ve never dealt with before. It’s the most significant injury I’ve ever had,” he said.

Yet Ripken, 37, contends he is not hurting enough to pull himself out of the lineup.

“I might have to re-evaluate the situation after the season, but right now I’m excited about the improvement,” he said. “I’m only 80-85 percent, but I’m improving.”

Ripken said the spasms bothered him so much in the beginning of August that he thought there would be a point where he couldn’t play anymore.

Cone to make start Saturday

David Cone’s shoulder didn’t hurt the day after, and now the right-hander is ready to put it through the ultimate test.

“I’m going to get the ball Saturday,” Cone said, confirming he would make his first start in more than a month this weekend against Toronto.

Cone, on the disabled list since Aug. 19 with shoulder tendinitis, is hoping to get in two starts before the Yankees open the postseason.