Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
As President Clinton urged the sides to get back together, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos expressed doubts about management's bargaining strategy. Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott questioned the experience of Richard Ravitch, the owners' negotiator.
But Donald Fehr, head of the players' union, said nothing had changed and that baseball's eighth work stoppage since 1972 - its first midseason walkout since 1985 - would start after Thursday night's games.
``Tragically, it does not look like it's going to be resolved in time to avert a strike later tonight,'' Ravitch said at a late-day news conference at baseball headquarters in New York.
The sides didn't talk formally Thursday, with the lead negotiators meeting only at joint television appearances. The Seattle Mariners' game against the Athletics in Oakland, Calif., was the last before the walkout was to begin.
``There are no talks planned or scheduled at this point,'' Fehr said, saying players were ``resigned and resentful.''
``Resigned that it has to be and resentful that the owners have forced them to this,'' he said.
Ravitch said there was no indication a settlement would come quickly, leaving the possibility the World Series - which was played through two world wars - won't be take place for the first time since 1904.
``The union made in abundantly clear ... that under no circumstances will they negotiate the cost issue in baseball,'' Ravitch said.
Players say they are striking because they fear owners will impose a salary cap unilaterally after the season.
Ravitch and executive council chairman Bud Selig, who has ruled the sport since commissioner Fay Vincent's ouster in September 1992, maintained owners were united in their effort to forge a new economic order.
``Not a single owner has suggested to me or to Bud Selig that we modify our position in this negotiation,'' Ravitch said.
But Steinbrenner and Angelos publicly questioned the strategy. Steinbrenner said management's argument of competitive balance problems ``doesn't wash'' and insisted owners be allowed at the bargaining table.
Angelos, whose group bought the Orioles last year for a baseball-record $173 million, said owners should pledge not to implement a salary cap after this season in exchange for the union agreeing not to strike this season or next.
``That's probably your best shot right now: a quid pro quo,'' he said. ``There's no way the issues at hand will be resolved in 24 hours or the next week.''
He advocated having both sides pick accounting firms to go through teams' financial records and report whether management's claims of financial distress are accurate.
``If it is confirmed,'' Angelos said, ``the players would agree to return to the bargaining table and consider the salary-cap proposal without any biases - at least listen without making any promises. In return, the owners should agree not to implement.''
Schott questioned the experience of Ravitch, who led New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority through an 11-day strike in 1980.
``I don't know if he's ever had any experience with unions,'' she told Cincinnati radio station WLW. ``I don't think so. It takes a certain person. We'll see what he does.''
Clinton, speaking in the White House Rose Garden, said he was resigned to a strike.
``I think the people really ought to be taken into consideration here, and I hope they will be,'' he said. ``There are a lot of little kids out there who want to see this season come to a close, and there are a lot of not-so-little kids out there who know this is the most exciting baseball season in 40 years.''
In an attempt to bring pressure, Sens. Howard Metzenbaum and Orrin Hatch introduced legislation that would strip owners of baseball's antitrust exemption during any period in which the clubs impose a salary cap. The Baseball Fans Protection Act of 1994 ``would spur owners and players to resolve their dispute as soon as possible,'' Hatch said.
``I see it as biased,'' Ravitch said. ``You don't punish the person who's not taking the job action.''
Players, managers and coaches around the majors said they felt strange about the season perhaps ending in August.
``It just doesn't feel right,'' said Reds manager Davey Johnson. ``It's still hot and we're going home. And I'm not quite frazzled out yet.''
Under federal labor law, owners can declare an impasse and impose a salary cap system similar to the one used in the NBA since the 1984-85 season and the NFL since the spring.
Ravitch has refused to give up that right and the union's executive board on July 28 set the strike date in an attempt to force an agreement. If there's no deal this year, the strike would wipe out the final 52 days and 668 games, forcing the season to end prematurely for the first time since 1918, when President Wilson demanded an abrupt conclusion because of World War I.
The union maintains players are caught in a struggle between large- and small-market clubs, which in January agreed to a new set of revenue-sharing rules that won't take effect unless the union agrees to a salary cap.
Under the system of salary arbitration and free agency, the average player salary has escalated from $51,501 in 1976 to $1,188,679 on Opening Day this season.
by CNB