
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994                   TAG: 9410130054
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ssociated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

BASEBALL TALKS PUT ON HOLD

As the baseball strike entered its third month, players and owners called off a bargaining session that tentatively had been set for today.

Players and owners haven't met at the bargaining table since Sept.9, five days before acting commissioner Bud Selig called off the rest of the 1994 season. They had spoken about resuming talks, but on Wednesday decided a meeting wouldn't be held.

``I still don't have much reason out there to believe there's a deal to be had, because I think the clubs, at least officially, are still committed to a salary cap,'' said Eugene Orza, the union's associate general counsel.

Management officials said they thought it likely talks would resume early next week. The sides have met formally only three times since the players struck Aug.12.

``There will be a meeting,'' said Richard Ravitch, management's negotiator. ``It's just a question of logistics at this point.''

Donald Fehr, head of the players' union was in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday to complete his series of nine regional meetings with players. Fehr was scheduled to return to New York late Wednesday night, and Orza said the sides today will discuss management's request for a 45-day freeze on signings and free-agent filings.

Free-agent filing is supposed to start Saturday, and the union isn't likely to agree to a delay. Chuck O'Connor, a lawyer for management, said the owners reserve the right to impose a freeze without the union's agreement, but management officials and lawyers said it was increasingly unlikely owners would attempt a freeze on their own.

In San Juan, Fehr told players the union wouldn't allow them to play in exhibition games that had been proposed against Cuba's national team until the communist nation changes its position against allowing professionals in Olympic baseball.

Cuba was one of the countries that voted against allowing professionals in Olympic baseball at an International Baseball Association meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in June. The proposal failed by three votes.

by CNB