Baseball Cries Foul On Dodd Ticket Raffle

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd says he'll still be cheering on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, but without a randomly selected campaign donor by his side.

Major League Baseball officials warned the Connecticut Democrat this week that his plan to raffle two tickets to an American League Championship game - in return for donations to his presidential campaign - violates the organization's rules.

Dodd, a longtime Red Sox fan, offered a chance at the tickets to anyone who donated $20.04 to his campaign, an amount selected because the Sox last won the World Series in 2004. Supporters could also enter by recruiting two dozen like-minded voters to sign up on Dodd's campaign Web site.

But his office called off the raffle after MLB officials cried foul.

"This isn't quite Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone, but we are disappointed nonetheless," Dodd spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said, referring to former New York Yankees sluggers whose home runs ended Red Sox playoff hopes.

The raffle winner would have received two tickets to Game 6 of the American League Championship series against the Cleveland Indians. If Game 6 is not necessary, the winner would have received tickets for Game 2 of the World Series instead.

There were two catches: The winner had to sit with Dodd at the game and, if the Red Sox were eliminated, the baseball tickets would be replaced with airfare to a Dodd campaign event in Iowa or New Hampshire.