BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Marge Takes Another Shot at Fans

The latest Marge Schott cutback: scores at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. The Reds have canceled a SportsTicker service that supplies updates on other major league games for the stadium scoreboard. The service costs $350 a month.

Schott said Thursday she was unaware that updates were not being provided on the scoreboard. She wondered why fans would want them.

“Why do they care about one game when they’re watching another?” Schott said in a telephone interview.

She suggested scores could be obtained elsewhere. “They can get it off the radio, can’t they?” she said. “I don’t really look at the board. I’ll find out what the deal is. I don’t know anything about it, honey.

“All I know is I pay $80 a month to have a phone that goes to the National League office. It’s nuts, this stuff.”

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The St. Louis Cardinals put Ozzie Smith on the 15-day disabled list, three days after the 41-year-old shortstop aggravated a hamstring injury in his first start of the season. . . . The Cleveland Indians have broken off contract talks with star slugger Albert Belle, after Belle, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season, turned down a five-year deal worth an estimated $43 million, the Baltimore Sun reported. That $8.6-million average would make him the highest-paid player in baseball.