Presidential candidates get baseball cash

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the top recipient of baseball cash among the candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.

An analysis of contributions by USA Today shows that diehard Yankees fan Guiliani has scored more than $78,000 from baseball supporters, the newspaper reported Friday.

Among Guiliani's financial backers are Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the leaders of the Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels.

Heading the list of Democratic candidates is Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., with $50,000 from people tied to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins.

The newspaper found that more than $267,000 has been donated to presidential candidates by some of baseball's principal owners, executives, their families and players.

GOP contenders had the advantage snagging about 59 percent of the cash compared to nearly 41 percent for Democratic candidates.

One donor, Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, apparently hedged his bets by giving to Democratic candidates John Edwards, Joseph Biden, Barack Obama and Chris Dodd.