Appeal Denied

BALTIMORE: It must have seemed like such a good job at the time. When Gene Budig left his job as Chancellor of the University of Kansas to become the President of the American League, he must have thought he'd be spending most of his time happily watching baseball from the best seats in the park. Recently, though, he's been occupied mainly by telephone conversations handling disputes with the Baltimore Orioles. After his sloppy handling of the Roberto Alomar spitting incident, he needed to quickly and decisively rule on the latest controversy, a Baltimore protest of a catch by a 12-year old fan that turned a probable out into a game-tying eighth-inning home run in a game the Yankees later won. Budig and baseball's executive council overruled a five-page written request from Orioles owner Peter Angelos that the play be ruled an out and the game be replayed from the eighth inning with the Orioles ahead 4-3. Back on the field, the action has so far been terrific in both the American and National League Championship Series. The Yankees and Orioles split a pair of tight, tense games in New York that featured dramatic home runs, clutch pitching performances, and, of course, that memorable catch. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals have shown surprising power in hitting well against an Atlanta Braves pitching staff that just got through embarrassing the Dodger's hitters in the first round of the NL playoffs. All in all, a good show for Budig if he ever gets out of the office. -->