Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1994 TAG: 9403230062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For only one example, consider the hardships visited on the Salem Buccaneers should Jordan bring his bald head and (so far) feeble bat to town.
"It would be a security nightmare," said Sam Lazzaro, the Bucs' general manager. "You'd have to have a SWAT team in place, probably."
Lazzaro envisions guards at the clubhouse doors, at the gates, by the fence separating the field from the grandstand and accompanying Jordan as he makes his regal way from clubhouse to dugout.
People who didn't know Michael Jordan from King Hussein of Jordan (not to mention a drawn infield from the infield fly rule) would be there just to tell their grandchildren they'd seen it. Preparations have begun.
"The phones have been ringing off the hook," Lazzaro said.
\ MORE JORDAN: The former National Basketball Association star is expected to play for Class AAA Nashville or Class AA Birmingham today in his second day in the minor leagues.
Jordan, reassigned to the Chicago White Sox's minor-league camp Monday, was given Tuesday off. He started in right field for Class A Prince William on Monday, going 1-for-4 with a walk against Baltimore's Frederick team.
Where Jordan will play will be determined on a daily basis.
In 13 exhibition games with the White Sox, Jordan was 3-for-20 with four walks and a sacrifice fly.
\ EPILOGUE: The last act of the ill-fated courtship between Salem Buccaneers owner Kelvin Bowles and New Yorker Eric Margenau, who sought to buy the team, appears to have taken place late last week.
Bowles said he and Margenau signed assurances that they would not pursue litigation against each other over the failed sale, thus closing the matter.
It was quite a show while it lasted, and the clear winner was Bowles. He may be out the $2 million or so he stood to receive from the sale, but he retains a team he says he wasn't crazy about selling. Plus, pending a referendum, he may get a brand-new stadium in 1995.
As for Margenau, the owner of minor-league teams in Columbia, S.C. and Fort Wayne, Ind., went to a lot of trouble and expense for the privilege of being humiliated publicly by the city fathers of Salem, only to see the Carolina League pull the plug on the sale.
And they say New Yorkers are inhospitable.
\ BUCS WIN AGAIN: In Bradenton, Fla., Chance Sanford drove in two runs and Craig Mattson threw two innings of scoreless relief as the nucleus of this year's Salem Buccaneers beat a team from the Minnesota Twins organization 4-2 in a Class A spring training exhibition game.
Sanford, a second baseman who batted .255 for Salem last year, went 3-for-3 as the Bucs banged out nine hits. Alan Nuttle hurled a scoreless inning to pick up the save.
The Bucs, 2-0 in exhibitions, entertain a team of Chicago White Sox farmhands today.
\
by CNB