TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's attorney general has appealed
a federal judge's ruling that blocked his effort to investigate
major league baseball's plans to eliminate two teams.
State attorney general Bob Butterworth had issued subpoenas to
major league officials, the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil
Rays seeking information on whether the Florida clubs are involved
in plans to shrink baseball by two teams.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle blocked
Butterworth's investigation, saying the inquiry was based on
allegations of antitrust violations and that the sport enjoyed a
long-standing exemption to antitrust law.
That freed baseball from having to turn over the documents
Butterworth was seeking.
Lawyers for Butterworth said then they wouldn't drop the effort
and Thursday filed an appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Atlanta.
Butterworth also said Thursday that lawyers in his office still
were looking into whether the two teams might have to turn over
documents on contraction to the state under Florida's deceptive
trade practices laws.
He said his lawyers might pursue answers about contraction under
the premise that baseball made promises to Florida communities that
might not be delivered if the teams move.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has said that he wants to
eliminate two teams before next season, but that plan appears to
have stalled. The teams most frequently mentioned have been
Minnesota and Montreal.
State lawyers were watching developments that could affect the
Marlins, in particular, including the proposed sale of the team to
Jeffrey Loria, the Montreal Expos' current owner, Butterworth said.
"If (it appears) they're not going to contract either one of
our two teams, then we're not going to rush" with a deceptive
trade practices investigation, Butterworth said.
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