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            Issue VII     
                        April 1994    
                                             Written by    
                               D.P. McIntire 
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 and will be prosecuted accordingly.                                         
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS.                                                          
 (1) D.P. McIntire's picks for Baseball '94.                                 
 (2) A guest chimes in:  Ted Amick's picks.                                  
 (3) A gate crasher chimes in:  Vicki Benamati's picks.                      
 (4) Will baseball have a players strike in '94?                             
 (5) Look out Durham, here I come!                                           
 (6) Another Short issue, I know...                                          
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 D.P. McINTIRE'S PICKS FOR BASEBALL '94.                                     
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   As this issue of SportsBeat is written with great haste, I took all of, oh,
90 seconds to determine how I felt baseball would finish six months from now
under its new divisional alignment structure.  I spent more time trying to
remember baseball's new alignments than I did trying to decide who would win
what divisions.
   Now, with the baseball season rapidly approaching, here are my picks for
baseball in 1994:

              NATIONAL LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Atlanta Braves               Houston Astros                S.Francisco Giants
Montreal Expos               Chicago Cubs                  Los Angeles Dodgers
Philadelphia Phillies        St.Louis Cardinals            Colorado Rockies
Florida Marlins              Pittsburgh Pirates            San Diego Padres
New York Mets                Cincinnati Reds

WILD-CARD:  Surprise!  Montreal Expos.
NL CHAMP:   Atlanta Braves, unless they fall off a cliff or something.

              AMERICAN LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Baltimore Orioles            Chicago White Sox             Texas Rangers
New York Yankees             Cleveland Indians             California Angels
Detroit Tigers               Milwaukee Brewers             Seattle Mariners
Toronto Blue Jays            Kansas City Royals            Oakland A's
Boston Red Sox               Minnesota Twins

WILD-CARD:  Another surprise!  Major League comes to life!  The Indians!
AL CHAMP:   Baltimore Orioles.  If not the O's, Texas... they're due.

1994 WORLD SERIES:  Take Baltimore over Atlanta, or Texas over Atlanta.
Either way, the Braves drop their third in four years.

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 A GUEST CHIMES IN:  TED AMICK'S PICKS.                                      
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   Ted is the system operator of Spirit, a sports-oriented BBS located in my
old hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.  Ted's system has been up for a little
over a year now, and you can reach it at 412-465-8861 N81 300/14400:

              NATIONAL LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Philadelphia Phillies        Cincinnati Reds               S.Francisco Giants
Atlanta Braves               St.Louis Cardinals            Los Angeles Dodgers
Montreal Expos               Pittsburgh Pirates            San Diego Padres
Florida Marlins              Chicago Cubs                  Colorado Rockies
New York Mets                Houston Astros

WILD-CARD:  Atlanta Braves.
NL CHAMP:   Atlanta Braves.

              AMERICAN LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Toronto Blue Jays            Chicago White Sox             Texas Rangers
New York Yankees             Kansas City Royals            Seattle Mariners
Detroit Tigers               Cleveland Indians             Oakland A's
Boston Red Sox               Minnesota Twins               California Angels
Baltimore Orioles            Milwaukee Brewers

WILD-CARD:  New York Yankees.
AL CHAMP:   Chicago White Sox.

1994 WORLD SERIES:  Chicago White Sox over Atlanta Braves.

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 A GATE CRASHER CHIMES IN:  VICKI BENAMATI'S PICKS.                          
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   Vicki is the system operator of another board from my old hometown, Eagle.
She knows very little about baseball, but I figured that I'd let at least one
female give a go at picking baseball's best, as Ted or I probably are not
capable of doing any better.  You can catch Vicki on The Eagle at 412-479-0548
N81 300/14400.
   Before going any further, Vicki is using the most scientific method of
predictions of any of us - she is basing her choices entirely on the color
schemes of the uniforms of the teams...

              NATIONAL LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Florida Marlins              Houston Astros                Colorado Rockies
Atlanta Braves               St.Louis Cardinals            S.Francisco Giants
Philadelphia Phillies        Chicago Cubs                  San Diego Padres
Montreal Expos               Pittsburgh Pirates            Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Mets                Cincinnati Reds

WILD-CARD:  Atlanta Braves.
NL CHAMP:   Colorado Rockies!  Jeez!

              AMERICAN LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CLUBS
EASTERN DIVISION:            CENTRAL DIVISION:             WESTERN DIVISION:
Baltimore Orioles            Chicago White Sox             Texas Rangers
New York Yankees             Cleveland Indians             Seattle Mariners
Toronto Blue Jays            Kansas City Royals            California Angels
Detroit Tigers               Milwaukee Brewers             Oakland A's
Boston Red Sox               Minnesota Twins             

WILD-CARD:  Cleveland Indians.
AL CHAMP:   Baltimore Orioles.

1994 WORLD SERIES:  Baltimore Orioles.

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 WILL BASEBALL HAVE A PLAYERS STRIKE IN '94?                                 
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   Baseball's powers that be are seriously talking about a strike this season,
the first with a six-division alignment.  With baseball revenues in a total
state of flux, management of the leagues without a Commissioner to help some
things straighten out, and a host of other problems such as revenue sharing,
a strike right now would bury MLB for good.
   Think about it:  1981 - players walk out for the better end of half a year
due to free agency.  The result?  The biggest attendance for the year "post-
strike" was at the All-Star Game in Cleveland.  If a Labor Day strike hits
in 1994, you can kiss the rest of the season goodbye in all likelihood, and
if its a prolonged strike, you can say sayonara to the fans as well, as we'll
all be paying our dough to see the kids in the minors.
   The players, owners, etc., had better wake up to the reality that rather
than promoting their game better, they are burying it.  The NL and AL title
series will not be seen by everyone - they plan a sort of sharing plan where
the audience sees parts of each game.  It's a damned joke.
   I heard on the radio today that the Pittsburgh Pirates will have one, and
only one, Saturday afternoon game.  If you are like, over the age of 18, then
you won't see a weekend day game all year.  Gimme a break!  I'd rather watch
the minors, which brings me to...

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 LOOK OUT DURHAM, HERE I COME!                                               
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   I will be seeing at least 10 home games of the Durham Bulls AA team this
coming season, primarily because the team plays less than 30 miles from my new
home of Raleigh, North Carolina.  The Bulls, home of the famous outfield bull
that the Hall of Fame wanted to enshrine, are my new home team.  I've traded
in my old Pittsburgh Pirates, full of millionaire no-talents, for new faces
with just a few bucks in their pockets, as the Durham Bulls aren't known for
paying millions in salaries (their parent in the Majors, the Atlanta Braves,
are another story, however).
   If the major league players decide to strike, the minors will still go on,
with teams like the Fort Wayne Wizards, Carolina Mudcats, Brantford Smoke,
and of course, my newly beloved Durham Bulls... and I'll be looking forward
to seeing them.

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 ANOTHER SHORT ISSUE, I KNOW...                                              
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   For the second month in a row, I've cut loose on a short, yet informative
issue of SportsBeat.  Hopefully next month's issue won't be a baseball
exclusive, and maybe I'll get around to talking about the Jerry & Barry Show
in Dallas, but I figured I'd dedicate April to baseball... see you next month.

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