Annika deserves chance to play

Here's hoping Annika Sorenstam gives the PGA professionals a run for their money this weekend at The Colonial golf tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
Of course, Sorenstam's appearance is a carefully crafted publicity stunt, but it's working -- we're dying to know how well she can shoot against the big boys.
A lot of us who normally would never tune in to watch golf on a Thursday or Friday will be searching with our cable-TV remotes for the USA channel when the opening rounds are played.
Just as so many of us watched 30 years ago when Bobby Riggs was walloped by Billie Jean King in tennis, our curiosity is on high alert for a golf tournament that we usually ignore.
What if ...
If Sorenstam makes the cut Friday, some golfers and analysts would have you believe that the world as we know it will come to an end. But what is the big deal?
If the 32-year-old Swede can play as well as her male competitors, she deserves any prize/money/acclaim she receives. She'll be shooting from the same tees and be given no advantages.
And if she doesn't make the cut, well at least she had the fortitude to try.
Sorenstam won't win The Colonial; in fact, she probably won't make the cut. But her appearance will give golf a nice boost in interest, something Major League Baseball owners are scrambling to figure out.
Baseball attendance and interest are way down this year.
The beancounters who were certain that baseball's golden age of new ballparks, skyrocketing ticket prices and surging attendance would last forever have to be scratching their heads at the plummeting revenues.
Baseball's owners, support staff and the Players Association obviously didn't factor in the nation's economic woes and its impact on the ticket-buying public when they settled on a four-year contract last September that did little to create true competitive balance.
Many fans are finding they can survive nicely with fewer trips to the ballpark. After all, just about every game -- home and away -- is televised.
In Cleveland
Last weekend, the Indians were home against the Oakland A's, probably the best American League team that hasn't played in the World Series over the past three seasons.
Fan response was lukewarm, but you can't blame Northeast Ohioans who are unhappy with how owner Larry Dolan has stripped the Indians of any hopes of competing anytime soon.
Sunday's attendance was the best of the series, topping 25,000, but that's still a far cry from when 43,000 fans poured into Jacobs Field every night during the glory years of the mid-'90s.
The good news for baseball fans who decide to go to a game on the spur of the moment is that they have plenty of seating choices, from the field boxes being dumped out front to lesser-expensive upperdeck options at the box office.
In Pittsburgh
The Pirates also are hurting, especially when you consider that they could contend in the National League Central Division with a mediocre .500 record.
Last week's telecasts of home games against the Astros featured stark pictures of rows and rows of empty seats in the lower levels near the field.
Tonight, the Bucs are expecting a huge crowd for Bob Prince Talking Bobblehead Doll Night. A lot of fans (this one included) are going hoping they'll offer tributes to the Ol' Gunner in-between innings.
Saturday, the Pirates will offer fireworks after the 7 p.m. game with the St. Louis Cardinals. Those games always draw well, but baseball's problem is that they can't shoot fireworks off or give away a bobblehead doll on every night.
How baseball responds to the fans they're losing will be very interesting to see.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter with The Vindicator. Write at williams@vindy.com.