BASEBALL Expos will play games in San Juan

Montreal will play three homestands in Puerto Rico and 22 games total.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- San Juan and Tokyo are becoming regular stops for major league baseball.
The Montreal Expos will play 22 of their 81 home games in Puerto Rico under a plan announced Wednesday, and the 2003 season will open in Japan with a two-game series between Seattle and Oakland.
Seeking to increase revenue from the Expos, who are among the worst draws in the major leagues, baseball announced plans to play three homestands covering seven series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
Commissioner Bud Selig also appointed a committee, filled with many of his closest advisers, to find a permanent solution for the Expos, who were purchased by the other 29 teams before last season and are operated by the commissioner's office.
Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Charlotte, N.C., are among the possible bidders. No team has moved since the expansion Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers after the 1971 season.
"They need to be in a different market," Rangers owner Tom Hicks said of the Expos. "At the right time, they need to be relocated."
Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, is on the committee, which also includes Selig's daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb; Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf; members of baseball's central office; and outside consultants.
"It would be nice to have it done in midsummer, if possible, but we're in November," DuPuy said.
Different schedule
For now, though, "Les Expos" will also be "Los Expos," playing more than one-quarter of their home schedule on the road and the remaining 59 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. While no specifics were announced, the intended schedule was revealed by several baseball officials spoke who on the condition of anonymity.
Subject to negotiations with the players' association, the Expos would play a 10-game homestand in San Juan in April, with games against the New York Mets (April 11-14), Atlanta (April 15-17) and Cincinnati (April 18-20).
The second homestand would include World Series champion Anaheim (June 3-5) and Texas (June 6-8), and the last would have Florida (Sept. 5-7) and the Chicago Cubs (Sept. 9-11).
The players' association had argued for two homestands in San Juan instead of three, seeking to minimize dislocation. The union, which must approve the games, wants baseball to pay for families to join players on the shifted homestands and also wants additional meal money.