Talkin' Baseball on the Internet

    ATLANTA, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- During periods of labor strife, strikes
and, finally, cancellation of playoffs and World Series in 1994, baseball fans
tired of constant rhetoric from Acting Commissioner Bud Selig and Players
Association CEO Don Fehr, according to Cox Interactive Media's FASTBALL.com.
Selig spoke for major league baseball while Fehr spoke for the players.  One
vital voice was missing -- the fans'.  Nobody spoke for them.
    Frustrated and disappointed by their favorite game, fans have had no
readily available place to be heard, no place to vent their anger or offer
their suggestions.
    That has changed.  Now, fans can speak out.  Cox Interactive Media is
providing a vehicle for fans' gripes; cheers and suggestions -- a web site
where they can peruse statistics of favorite teams and players, play trivia
and obtain other information, win contests for prizes and attend big games.
The site allows them to take part in polls and have their say in the issues of
the day.
    The web site is a venue for individuals to talk directly to major league
players, front-office management, the media and to each other.  Or, they can
talk about hits, runs and errors, pennant races and strategy --
FASTBALL.com...It's About the Game!
    The web site has already scored points within the Industry, rating four
stars by the prestigious trade publication, Yahoo! Internet Life.  Its June
issue, which applauds several sports sites for coverage of the latest scores,
updates and chats, said FASTBALL is best.
    "FASTBALL," according to the publication, "raises the bar when it comes to
the great American sport by providing all that and more.  In addition to
grand-slam, wall-to-wall baseball coverage, live updates and news flashes --
all day, all night -- it excels at providing plenty of interactive fun for the
fans, too."
    The Foul Pole section, the famous quotes and the Shockwave batting games
are mentioned as exciting, beyond-the-norm selections on FASTBALL.  "And, best
of all," according to Yahoo! Internet Life, "it is completely free."
    "This is for baseball fans, diehards and those with a casual interest --
everybody who cares about the game," said Tom Amon, manager of FASTBALL.com.
"It's an opportunity to vent one's feelings or simply engage in old-fashioned
baseball conversation.  We'll have stars and officials from baseball in our
chat rooms, and there will be opportunities for interactive participation like
no other web site.  Baseball fans are going to love it."
    Fans may go to the following Internet address on their computer to be part
of the game: FASTBALL.com, which will be for fans' contributions first and for
information next.
    Polls will appear often, such as a recent one in which fans responded to
the question: "What type of person should be baseball commissioner?"  Choices
included a former player, a current and a former team executive or team owner,
a corporate executive and a former elected official.
    Cox Interactive Media (CIM), a newly formed subsidiary of Cox Enterprises,
operates six specialty web sites, including FASTBALL, Y'All, GoWest, GoBig12,
Storm97 and Hook'em.
    CIM plans more than 20 additional sites around the country in Atlanta,
Austin, Charlotte, Dayton, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Phoenix, San
Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and others in 1997.
    A leading media company, Cox Enterprises, Inc. includes Cox Newspapers,
Inc. (newspapers, direct mail marketing, book publishing), Cox Broadcasting,
Inc. (TV, spot sales, movie/television production, research, publicly traded
Cox Radio, Inc. (NYSE: CXR)), and publicly traded Cox Communications, Inc.
(NYSE: COX) (cable distribution, programming, broadband communications).  The
company is the world's largest operator of automobile auctions through Manheim
Auctions, providing dealer financial services, government auctions, online
services and price guides.

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