Stories Making Headlines Around Baseball

• The Toronto Globe and Mail profiles Fort Myers assistant GM Andrew Seymour, the man behind tonight’s promotion “Don’t Be a Bengal, Be a Good Citizen.”

Highlights of the promotion—which mocks the NFL team’s constant run-in with law—include: anyone wearing a Bengals jersey will have to pay “Ocho Cinco” dollars for a ticket—in honor of Bengals star wide receiver Chad Johnson’s self-appointed nickname. Fans wearing anything orange have to visit an on-site lawyer for a mild slap on the wrist. And throwing out the first pitch: Chad Johnson. ” We looked through the phone book and found a Chad Johnson [in Fort Myers] and he’s throwing out the first pitch,” Seymour said.

• The Louisville Courier Journal’s potential lawsuit against the NCAA over blogging at the College World Series has the potential to be a landmark case pertaining to new media. The newspaper is weighing legal action on First Amendment grounds while the NCAA states it is merely enforcing a long-standing policy—either way the situation is not unique to this individual case and could affect future coverage of sports.

• After selling 2,000 season-ticket packages since late March, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (set to debut Opening Day 2008) are trying their hand at 18-game packages.

“For the most part, our sales so far have been to the hard-core, die-hard baseball fan,” GM Kurt Landes told the Morning Call. . . . “Now we want to reach out to the average family.”

• A Tucson television reporter posts an op-ed on the Sidewinders’ move—and reading the lead it’s pretty obvious how he feels about the deal.

• Chicago suburb Crystal Lake is nearing a deal that will bring a Frontier League club to town.

• Utah Valley State, home of the Pioneer League’s Orem Owlz, lands a stadium naming rights deal.