Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408230022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While Don Fehr and Dick Ravitch fiddle, fans burn. The minors, deservedly, are getting a nice boost from the shutdown, but in two weeks those farms will be closed for the season, too.
Meanwhile, Charlie Manuel mows the lawn at his Roanoke County home. The cutting he should be concerned with is what the Cleveland Indians do in the batter's box. As the Tribe's hitting coach, he's down about the strike for more reasons than the Indians standing only one game behind first-place Chicago in the American League Central Division.
It's a personal thing, although those who know the former Buena Vista star athlete know he's never been on an ego trip. Manuel is being paid by the Indians during the strike, but the work stoppage is costing him in another way. He's losing pension time. Perhaps more crucial is what the strike could cost Manuel in the future, before he retires.
Using new Jacobs Field as a launching pad, the revitalized franchise has a young club that leads the majors in hitting. The Tribe was headed for club records in homers and RBI, and Manuel, once the first American to be named the MVP in the Japanese leagues, has deservedly gotten the credit for helping the Tribe go batty.
``It's kind of like a player getting established,'' Manuel said. ``I waited all those years to get back to the majors, and here I am at home. We're hitting real well, and we're in second place [and 21/2 games ahead of Baltimore for the AL wild-card spot] and on course for the playoffs.
``It's not like I'm trying to grab the attention, but the kind of season we were having helps solidify my job. And the stronger my job is, the more opportunity I have.''
Manuel, 50, is somewhat caught between management and the players in the strike. His pension is funded by the club through the Major League Baseball Players Association. When the club owners didn't make a $7.8 million payment to the pension fund from the All-Star Game receipts, Manuel - as one of the designated Indians coaches on the pension plan - was snubbed as much as the players were.
A player is vested after four years of service in the plan. The strike days missed don't count, although Manuel still is getting a paycheck. He still needs about 2 1/2 seasons in the majors to reach 10-year status, which would increase the value of his retirement checks markedly.
He was the Tribe's hitting instructor in 1988-89, before spending four years as the club's Class AAA manager, winning titles the past two summers. Before he left Cleveland for Roanoke, he was told he might be asked to scout Class AAA games in Richmond and Charlotte, N.C., during the strike. That minor assignment is OK with Manuel, but he hopes it's only temporary.
``I think the strike is either going to be resolved here shortly or the season is over,'' Manuel said. ``I know the owners don't want to lose the playoffs and World Series, because they get so much TV revenue [$100 million] from that.
``I think there's room for a settlement through the players giving up arbitration in exchange for free agency earlier in your career. I don't think there will be a salary cap. Everyone's talking about the problems with that in the NFL and now in the NBA, too. That's soured the taste for it in baseball.
``If a salary cap were working in the NFL and NBA and the players could see it was the answer in those leagues, I think they might find a reason to go for that. I think the owners would want to come back. In some cities, look at the kind of years people were having.''
Like Charlie Manuel in Cleveland, for instance.
Write to Jack Bogaczyk at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010-2491.|
by CNB