Adolf builds a bonfire.../Adolf établit un feu...

CNNSI.com - SI Online - Sports Illustrated - Scorecard - Scorecard: Defend This - Tuesday July 23, 2002 05:58 PM:

And RICO plays with it.

"As it faces a racketeering suit, baseball should be afraid, very afraid

"Last week 14 former minority owners of the Expos filed racketeering charges against baseball commissioner Bud Selig and former Expos majority owner Jeffrey Loria. In the suit the plaintiffs contend that Selig, Loria and other baseball executives conspired to dilute their ownership and to drive down the value of the Expos as part of a plan to relocate or eliminate the franchise.

"Major League Baseball is unimpressed. 'The former limited partners of the Montreal Expos ... have decided to engage in a public relations campaign and file a frivolous lawsuit,' said baseball's chief operating officer, Robert DuPuy. Loria calls the suit 'frivolous and completely without merit.'

"The idea of Selig as a racketeer may sound far-fetched, but SI investigative reporter Lester Munson says there are four reasons why the commissioner must take the case very seriously.

1. The plaintiffs are huge engines of Canadian commerce with unlimited funds...
2. The attorneys representing the Canadian moguls, Jim Quinn and Jeff Kessler, are among the most impressive anywhere...
3. Paul Beeston, baseball's chief operating officer from 1997 to 2002, could be a critical player...
4. In the course of the pretrial skirmishing we may get our best look ever at the true state of baseball's finances..."

So get ready for the RICO case.

Follow it here at theinsiders.com.

Later.