Baseball is considering playing some games in Europe next year, to continue to expand the popularity of the game world wide.

Baseball goes with beer and brats -- and next year, maybe with pasta or brie.

The commissioner's office has started discussing a plan to move regular-season games to Europe in July 2004.

Italy, France, the Netherlands and England are among the candidates, according to Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International.

Sorry, not France. At this point, Spain deserves a game a lot more than France does. I also believe that baseball is somewhat popular in Italy.

Italy is probably the front-runner because they have one of the strongest fan bases and they have facilities," Archey said.

Ballparks are available in Florence and Palermo, and a soccer stadium in Rome could be converted to baseball, according to Archey. In France, he said a new ballpark is under construction outside Paris, but it might not be ready in time.

A cricket or soccer ground could be converted in England, but the possibility of rainouts is a negative factor. The Netherlands hosts a big baseball tournament each summer in Haarlem.

I think they would have to have the Yankees play in Haarlem. :-)

"Baseball is becoming an international sport. Anything they do to help the game grow is good," Arizona's Steve Finley said. "Part of major league baseball's job is to grow the game, to get baseball more popular around the world. Look at the Japan (All-Star) tour and what that's done for the relationship between the two leagues. Players are crossing over leagues now."

Finley is right. And any growth in salaries is going to have to come from growth in revenue. If you can get Europeans interested enough in baseball that they pay for internet radio and television broadcasts, baseball would be tapping a rich source of income. And everyone benefits. Logistically, it may be a difficult move. But I like the idea very much.