Cub-Cardinal Rivalry Won’t Be Affected

Whatever happens with realignment, the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals says his team will be in the same division with the Chicago Cubs.

One of the plans circulated had the rivals moved to separate divisions in a National League of four four-team divisions. Cardinal owner Bill DeWitt Jr. quickly called Commissioner Bud Selig.

“He assured me that the Cardinals and the Cubs, and for that matter, the Brewers, would all be in the same division,” DeWitt told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There’s no question about it. I don’t know where that came from. That was just speculative.

“Baseball recognizes the great traditional rivalries. That’s what they’re trying to promote.”

Baseball owners are considering realignment for 2001, with the goal of getting Texas out of the AL West. Most plans have Arizona moving to the AL and Tampa Bay switching to the NL.

It appears plans will be discussed when owners meet April 18 in Houston.

*

A federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of people who may wish to protest on Gateway Economic Development Corp. property concerning the Cleveland Indians’ Chief Wahoo logo.

The American Civil Liberties Union and attorney Niki Schwartz filed the suit on behalf of the United Church of Christ, which has supported the rights of American Indian groups and others to protest the broadly smiling, red-face logo as racist.

Gateway, the landlord of Jacobs Field and Gund Arena, prohibits such protests on its property.

“People wishing to protest on what should be considered public property have been prohibited from doing so and in some cases arrested in violation of their rights,” said Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio.

Richard Owens, the Gateway executive director, said Friday he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment. He said the matter has been turned over to Gateway’s attorneys for review.

*

Red pitcher Scott Williamson, the NL rookie of the year, will miss a day or two because of a mild strain of his right upper calf.

Williamson left Thursday’s game with the Minnesota Twins after facing only three batters. He retired the first man he faced in the fifth inning, then gave up consecutive doubles to Denny Hocking and Chad Allen.

“You never want to go through these kind of little things,” he said.

*

Left-hander Jim Parque and the Chicago White Sox agreed to a three-year contract, a deal said to be worth $3 million. Parque, 24, the first player from the 1997 amateur draft to make a major league roster, was 9-15 last season with a 5.13 earned-run average. Parque attended UCLA and Crescenta Valley High. . . . The Boston Red Sox renewed the contracts of catcher Jason Varitek and reliever Derek Lowe, the last two players on the roster who were unsigned. The team had been trying to sign both players to long-term deals. Lowe, 26, had a 2.63 ERA and saved 15 games last season filling in as closer. Varitek provided surprising punch, batting .269 with 20 homers and 76 runs batted in.

*

Baltimore Oriole third baseman Cal Ripken, scratched a day earlier because of a sore neck, started in a 2-1 win over the Florida Marlins. Ripken singled in his first at-bat, hit two long flyouts and made a diving stop of a Mark Smith grounder in the eighth. . . . The Detroit Tigers obtained outfielder Wendell Magee Jr. from the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league pitcher Bobby Sismondo. Magee spent most of last season with triple-A Scranton. He hit .357 with two homers and five RBIs in 12 games with the Phillies. Sismondo went 9-12 with a 3.67 ERA in 27 games last season for Class-A West Michigan.