BASEBALL WATCH : Foul Ball

Greed raises its ugly head again in major league baseball. As if the unsettled players’ strike isn’t bad enough, professional clubs now want to extract a pound of flesh from Little Leaguers. Teams that use a big league name like Dodgers or Angels on their uniforms must pay $6 more per uniform.

It’s all very legal, apparently. Ethan Orlinsky, a lawyer for Major League Baseball Properties, which is the licensing arm for the 28 professional clubs, cites their “uncontestable patent.” But, c’mon, do millionaires really need trademark protection from kids? It may be legal but it’s not fair.

If baseball-loving youngsters want to use the names of their favorite teams, they will be required to buy all their uniforms, in addition to all their equipment, from a manufacturer licensed by Major League Baseball Properties. The uniforms from those makers tend to cost more than uniforms from other sources. The additional expense works out to $6 per uniform. Umpires ought to cry “Foul!”

Teams that have trouble coming up with the extra bucks could plead their case to attorney Orlinksy. He promises he would try to help. That’s not good enough.

A 12-year-old who plays for a Little League team called the White Sox doesn’t need a lawyer to figure out what’s going on. Young Jack Gibbs plays in Melbourne Beach, Fla., not too far from the bush league baseball that passes for spring training in 1995. He told a reporter: “It really stinks. First, they go on strike and now they’re trying to make money off of little kids.” We couldn’t have said it better.