21.   At least baseball tried to make the fans feel comfortable, decorating the hall with palm trees and cactuses.

22.   Baseball is trying to develop a schedule in which interleague opponents rotate, except for natural rivals such as Mets-Yankees and Cubs-White Sox.

23.   Baseball has tried to do this before, without success.

24.   Baseball is also trying to quicken the pace of play.

25.   For its part, Japanese baseball is trying to make its game more exciting.

26.   Major league officials are fearful Japanese baseball may try to change their rules regarding retirement and free agency.

27.   McClendon is aware baseball is trying to mend the adversarial relationship between its managers and umpires, some of whom acted for years as if they welcomed confrontations.

28.   Those decisions allowed baseball to try to sell its rights on the open market.