ATLANTA -- Paging Mr. Caray, Mr. Van Wieren, Mr. Simpson and Mr. Sutton. The Atlanta Braves once again have seats for you on their chartered flights.

League probes Braves' box

Major League Baseball is continuing its investigation into the Atlanta Braves allegedly building a smaller than regulation catcher's box that resulted in a rare balk this weekend. According to Patrick Courtney at MLB public relations, the league will look at videotape, talk to the umpire, the Braves and the groundskeeper about how the box was set up. The investigation is expected to be complete in about a week -- and certainly before the All-Star Game. After that, Frank Robinson, baseball's vice president of on-field operations, will determine any sort of penalty. -- ESPN.com news services

A brief feud between the Braves and TBS-Turner Sports, corporate brothers within the Time Warner family, ended Tuesday when the team said it would allow the cable channel's four announcers back on board.

Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Joe Simpson and Don Sutton were kicked off Monday's chartered flight to Montreal, where the Braves were playing the Expos in a two-game series, after TBS raised questions over the weekend about the width of the catcher's box at Turner Field.

The order, apparently made by Braves president Stan Kasten, forced the announcers to take a commercial flight to Canada. But the ban was lifted after Kasten talked Tuesday with Turner Sports president Mark Lazarus.

"It's business as usual," said Greg Hughes, spokesman for Turner Sports.

During the first inning of Saturday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, TBS aired video showing the catcher's box was 4 to 5 inches smaller than it was the previous night, when Milwaukee management complained about where Braves catcher Javy Lopez was setting up.

Opposing teams long have claimed that Atlanta pitchers are given the benefit of an extra-wide strike zone. Catchers who set up wide of the plate can increase the chances of an outside pitch being called a strike.

The superimposed video comparing the catcher's box from one night to the next was shown after a rare balk call against Fernando Lunar, the Braves' catcher on Saturday night. Plate umpire John Shulock ruled that Lunar set up with his right foot outside the 43-inch-wide box.

The balk led to Milwaukee's first run and a heated argument between Shulock and Braves manager Bobby Cox, who was ejected. Atlanta lost the game 2-1.

Kasten, who wouldn't discuss the issue Monday, did not return a telephone message left at his office Tuesday. In Montreal, Van Wieren and Caray declined comment, while Sutton would only say, "It was a family spat and hopefully it's been settled."

Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner's office, said the matter was being investigated by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, baseball's new vice president of on-field operations. "I probably shouldn't comment until the investigation is completed," Alderson said. "It shouldn't take that long."

Baseball announcers generally are employees of the team or a subsidiary, and usually travel on the club charters.

Van Wieren and Caray have served in the Braves' broadcast booth since 1976, becoming familiar to millions of baseball fans around the country through their work on the TBS "superstation." Caray is the son of late Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray and father of Chip Caray, who works for Fox and the Chicago Cubs' announcing team.

Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher, joined the Braves in 1989 and Simpson came aboard three years later.

Home-field alterations have been the unspoken norm throughout baseball's history, with a team tailoring its park to bolster strengths or hamper the opponent. It's not unusual for a speedy team to find the infield has been watered down more than usual when it visits another city. In some cases, a club might allow the grass to grow higher for the benefit of its slower fielders.

In the 1940s, Cleveland owner Bill Veeck was known for ordering all sorts of methods -- legal and otherwise -- to favor the Indians at Municipal Stadium. For instance, the groundskeeper would secretly move the fences back when the opponent was a power-hitting team. When a team with fewer long-ball hitters came to town, the fences crept closer to home plate.

Kasten, also president of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, was at the entry draft in Calgary, Alberta, over the weekend when the dispute began. Lazarus, meanwhile, was en route to London for TNT's coverage of Wimbledon.

The two finally got a chance Tuesday to have a "long, friendly conversation," Turner Sports said in a statement. "They are in complete agreement on how the relationship will work. The long-standing, warm relationship between TBS and the Braves will continue as before."

Caray and Simpson will remain in Montreal for Wednesday's game, which is not being televised by TBS but is being carried on the Braves' radio network. Afterward, Caray will take the team's chartered flight to New York for a four-game series against the Mets.

Simpson has booked a commercial ticket and will stick with those plans for the New York leg of the trip, Turner officials said. Van Wieren and Sutton already were scheduled to fly ahead to New York on a regular flight since they had Wednesday off.