ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 7, 1996 TAG: 9611070043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BASEBALL NOTES
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Major-league owners voted 18-12 on Wednesday to turn down a proposed five-year labor agreement with the players' association, instead asking the union to modify the deal.
At the end of a contentious six-hour meeting, owners voted 30-0 to give their ruling executive council the authority to ratify a modified agreement on behalf of all big-league teams.
``While we could not accept the proposed agreement as presented, there is substantial agreement on the vast majority of issues,'' acting commissioner Bud Selig said, trying to put his best spin on the meeting.
Union head Donald Fehr, reached early today at his hotel in London, took a wait-and-see approach, but any changes are sure to be rejected by the players, who have said they would not consider additional alterations.
The moves by owners may be just part of the cat-and-mouse of negotiations, but it also may signal the sport will operate for yet another season under the agreement that expired in December 1993. The deal remains in force under the federal court order that ended a 232-day strike on March 31, 1995.
A three-quarters majority - 23 of 30 votes - was needed to approve the agreement.
In other baseball news:
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Talk about predictable election victories. Another member of the Los Angeles Dodgers is the rookie of the year.
Todd Hollandsworth won the honor, strengthening the Dodgers' amazing stranglehold on the award. He is fifth consecutive Los Angeles player to win the award, the ninth since 1979 and 16th since 1947.
Hollandsworth led NL rookies in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, stolen bases and fewest errors this season. After a slow start, the 23-year-old outfielder came on with a strong second half to finish with a .291 average, 12 home runs and 59 RBI.
Hollandsworth received 15 first-place votes and 105 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Florida shortstop Edgar Renteria was a strong second with 10 first-place votes and 84 points. Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall, a former Salem Buccaneer, had one first-place vote and 30 points overall. The other two first-place votes went to Montreal's F.P. Santangelo and New York's Rey Ordonez. (Voting in Scoreboard. B4)
HOUSTON STADIUM: Voters in Texas have dashed Northern Virginia's best hopes for attracting a major-league team.
In a referendum Tuesday, voters narrowly approved a measure to build a $265 million stadium in Houston, fulfilling one of the major demands of Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane. A group of Northern Virginia investors last year reportedly offered $160 million for the Astros. Virginia businessman Bill Collins wanted to move the team to the Washington, D.C., suburbs.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Todd Hollandsworthby CNB(right) celebrated 12 homers this year with Greg Gagne and other
teammates en route to the NL Rookie of the Year award.