City Still Plans to Name Park After DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio’s brother says the Yankee Clipper would be honored to have his name on the playground where they romped as children.

DiMaggio’s lawyer says using the DiMaggio name at the San Francisco park is reprehensible.

Now, after much dithering, city officials said they will rename the 2 1/2-acre North Beach Playground after Joltin’ Joe, spend $5.8 million to renovate it and deal with the legal problems if and when they arise. The announcement will come today.

Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio’s executor, has threatened to sue the city if the playground bore DiMaggio’s name.

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A newspaper’s lighthearted spoof offering suggestions for casting of a planned movie about pitcher Jim Morris of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays didn’t leave team officials laughing.

Instead, five St. Petersburg Times newspaper racks were moved from the fan concourse at Tropicana Field to a loading dock area last Sunday, an act the Times said violated a multimillion dollar marketing agreement with the team.

Vince Naimoli, the Devils Rays’ managing general partner, apparently was unhappy that the spoof, featuring photographs of “lighthearted suggestions” for casting for the film, paired him with actor James Gandolfini, who plays a mob boss in the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

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Nine months after inviting developers to propose new uses for Tiger Stadium, Detroit still has no takers.

With the Detroit Tigers relocating to Comerica Park, where they began play Tuesday, concerns have been raised that 88-year-old Tiger Stadium will fall into neglect and eventually face the wrecking ball.

“We don’t want the facility to start falling apart,” said Doug McIntosh of McIntosh Poris, a Birmingham architectural firm. “The city had plans to bring in events to Olympia [Stadium], but nothing ever happened.”

Plans for redeveloping Olympia were floated after the Detroit Red Wings relocated to Joe Louis Arena in 1980. Nothing came of them, and the facility was demolished.

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Backup catcher Paul Bako was traded from the Houston Astros to the Florida Marlins for cash and a player to be named.

The move allows Houston to keep rookie Mitch Meluskey on the roster. Bako, acquired in a trade with the Tigers last year, probably would not have cleared waivers had the Astros tried to demote him to the minors.

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General Managers Pat Gillick of the Seattle Mariners and Chuck LaMar of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were picked for the committee that will select the 24-man roster for the U.S. Olympic baseball team.

Former general managers Bob Watson and Bill Bavasi are co-chairmen of the committee, and former Dodger manager Tom Lasorda is expected to be the U.S. manager at the Sydney Olympics in September.

Players not on 40-man rosters are eligible for the Olympic team, which will have professionals for the first time. However, some major league teams last year refused to allow eligible players to play in the Pan American Games.

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Third baseman John Valentin of the Boston Red Sox will be sidelined at least two weeks because of tendinitis in his left knee after the Red Sox put him on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 6.

Valentin was replaced on the roster by infielder Wilton Veras, who was recalled from triple-A Pawtucket.