NEW YORK -- Hank Aaron will take on an increased role with
the Atlanta Braves following the team's sale Wednesday from Time
Warner Inc. to Liberty Media Corp.
The deal, which Braves chairman Terry McGuirk said values the
franchise at $450 million, was unanimously approved by baseball
owners at a special meeting called Wednesday night to beat a
midnight change in tax laws. The companies were set to transfer the
team later in the evening.
"Hank Aaron is going be a critical part of all this. It was
very important to me, and I know it's very important to Terry and
to Bill," commissioner Bud Selig said at a news conference with
McGuirk and Braves chairman emeritus Bill Bartholomay. "I'm sure
there will be an increased role for Hank."
After setting the career home run record with 755 and retiring
as a player, Aaron became a Braves vice president and the director
of player development in October 1976 and held that role for 13
years. He became a senior vice president in December 1989 and also
currently is on the club's board of directors.
Selig has been close to Aaron since the slugger played for the
Milwaukee Braves from 1954-65, and Aaron spent two seasons with
Selig's Milwaukee Brewers before retiring as a player following the
1976 season. Selig wouldn't say what Aaron's increased
responsibilities will be with the Braves.
"That's something they will announce," Selig said.
Time Warner and Liberty agreed to the sale in February. McGuirk
said details of the complicated transaction would be announced by
the companies later Wednesday.
Starting Thursday, the Braves will be a self-governed subsidiary
of Liberty Media, with McGuirk reporting to the team's board in his
capacity as chairman and president. John Schuerholz remains as
general manager and Bobby Cox as manager.
Atlanta won 14 consecutive division titles through 2005 and
defeated Cleveland in the 1995 World Series. Ted Turner took
control of the Braves in 1976, and Time Warner acquired the team in
1996 when it merged with Turner Broadcasting System.
"Continuity seems to me to be the word that is the greatest
triumph here. The performance of the Atlanta Braves over the last
15 years, the championship-caliber baseball, all that continues on
unabated," McGuirk said. "Our goal is to do it as well in the
future as it has been done in the past. It's exactly the same
people. That's sort of the elegance of this announcement. There are
no changes. There will be a continuation of past practices."
McGuirk said the sale includes a provision that the Braves will
have a payroll at least as high as its current level -- about $90
million at the start of the season. The ballpark will continue to
be known as Turner Field.
"We not only have preserved great stability here, but I think
that this is certainly in the best interests of the Braves, and
clearly I think is a great thing for baseball," Selig said.
In other news:
--Baseball will send a high-level delegation to China this month
to inspect stadiums ahead of a possible trip there for exhibition
games next year. Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer,
will head the group, which also will include San Diego Padres chief
executive officer Sandy Alderson, Boston Red Sox president Larry
Lucchino and Pittsburgh Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy.
--DuPuy said Major League Baseball will not institute any
league-wide change following the death of St. Louis Cardinals
pitcher Josh Hancock in a car crash. Hancock's blood-alcohol level
was 0.157, nearly twice Missouri's legal limit of 0.08, and
following the accident some teams have moved to more restrictive
policies on alcohol in clubhouses and on charter flights. "I think
the commissioner has made it clear that he views that as a club
policy, and that he has left it to the clubs to determine their
policy," DuPuy said.