USA: EX-BASEBALL STAR BUNNING SAYS BASEBALL A MONOPOLY.

Date: Jan 17, 1995

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuter) - Rep. Jim Bunning, a former big league pitching star, called Major League Baseball a monopoly whose exemption from anti-monopoly laws should be repealed.

Bunning, R-Ken., in a House floor speech, rebutted a letter to Congressmen from acting baseball commissioner Bud Selig defending the exemption from anti-trust laws by arguing it did not make organized baseball a cartel.

"The anti-trust exemption shields Major League Baseball from market forces and makes competiton impossible," Bunning said. "That sounds like monopoly to me."

Bunning has introduced legislation to repeal the exemption as it applies to labor relations. Other legislation has been introduced to repeal the anti-monopoly exemption completely.

(c) Reuters Limited 1995. All rights reserved.