Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 24, 1994 TAG: 9412270094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The New York Times and Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Angered by baseball club owners' decision Thursday night to impose a salary cap on players, several senior members of Congress - Republicans and Democrats - said Friday that they would try to revoke the industry's 72-year-old exemption from antitrust laws.
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., said he would use his seniority to introduce legislation on Jan. 4, the first day of Congress next year, to repeal the exemption for Major League Baseball. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who will head the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he no longer opposed such legislation and would try to push it to the Senate floor quickly.
``I am fast becoming convinced that the majority of the owners are trying to break the players' association,'' Hatch said in a telephone interview. ``I do not want to become involved in collective bargaining negotiations, but I'm starting to believe, like many people, that these negotiations are not being done in good faith.''
On Friday, the owners began releasing high-priced players. Among those let go were New York Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, Colorado Rockies third baseman Charlie Hayes and New York Mets pitcher Pete Harnisch. The moves came 19 years to the day that pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally won free agency for players in the case that ended the owners' century-old reserve clause.
The owners have said they will start spring training with replacement players if the strike continues.
The antitrust exemption - which no other major league sport shares - allows baseball owners to impose industrywide salary limits, while remaining partially shielded from any lawsuits that the players may file.
The exemption also allows a majority of owners to block other owners who may want to move their franchises to new cities, and to reserve players' freedom to move up to a certain level of service.
Hatch said the legislation had a solid chance of winning House and Senate passage, while Moynihan said the odds were excellent. ``I would put the odds about as close to 100 percent as anything that will be introduced,'' Moynihan said.
Bud Selig, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and baseball's acting commissioner, said repealing the exemption would not produce labor peace.
``If they think that Washington or the courts can solve this problem, it's tragically wrong,'' he said. ``And I don't know what's going to happen in either place, but the only place you're ever going to have a meaningful settlement is at the table.''
Union officials said they will file an unfair labor practice complaint Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board and ask the agency to seek a preliminary injunction against the cap in U.S. District Court. If the NLRB issues a complaint, a hearing is likely in February.
The changes imposed by owners include:
A cap of $34.2 million with transition rules allowing 21 teams to stay above it until 1998.
Elimination of salary arbitration.
Creation of a new class of restricted free agents for players with four to six years of major league service. Thirty-eight players are in the group.
An escalating system of minimum salaries that start at $115,000 for rookies and goes through $500,000 for players with three years of service.
A revenue-sharing system that will see 15 teams give money to 11, with two teams unaffected. The New York Yankees pay the most in 1995 ($2.3 million) and the San Diego Padres receive the most ($3.8 million).
by CNB