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r (SP RTS PR edited by Steve K. Walz Minor league baseball gains attention New York--you know what it's like to live in the Big Apple during the summertime without watching the Yankees or Mets do battle on TV or up at the stadium? For many it has been pure hell. Why even the local newspapers have been trying to figure out a way to keep their beat reporters and readers from getting baseball withdrawal symp­ toms. Classic games from the past were rehashed in the Post andkhe News, while other papers created their own journalistic fantasies by predic­ ting how the local teams would fair against their pre-strike opponents. As for the local TV/radio coverage, most of the major league squads broadcast the games of their "AAA" or "AA" affiliates, giving the fans the opportunity to get acquainted with the big clubs' prospects. In some cities, cable outlets sent broadcast teams to Japan, giving delayed coverage of games between the Tokyo Giants and Hiroshima Carp, two clubs which boast ex-major league stars. Who benefitted the most from this fiasco? Why the minor leagues, of course. Who had ever heard of the Tidewater (Mets) Tides Gary Rajsich or the Columbus (Yanks) Clippers Steve Balboni before the strike? Both of these sluggers have been locked in a home run duel in the In­ ternational League. Out in the Rockies, the Denver (Expos) Bears drew 59,000 people to nighttime tilt in July, with the Omaha Royals. Denver is a major league city with a minor league team that's chock full of future ma­ jor league stars. To wit, many major league teams sent their coaching staffs down to the minors to tutor their hottest pro­ spects, who can only benefit from the experience in more ways than one. After all, aren't they the heir apparents to the next major league Strike confab? TV COMPUIOC HKVICII. INC.