For the second time in five seasons, the nation was denied an uninterrupted summer of pennant races when major league baseball players went on strike Tuesday afternoon.
Don Fehr, the acting director of the 700-member Major League Baseball Players Association, described it as ”a sad day in this country, and especially in this part of the century, because today`s ballplayers can`t have the benefit of a free market.”
Fehr`s statement came at 8 p.m. Chicago time after daylong negotiations, triggered by the request of commissioner Peter Ueberroth, had raised hopes for a quick settlement and even that Tuesday`s full slate of 13 games could be played.
Fehr indicated that agreement had been reached on one issue, the amount of the owners` contribution to player pensions, although he refused to elaborate. But on the central issue of salary arbitration, the two sides remain far apart, and a lengthy strike like 1981`s 50-day walkout seemed possible unless Ueberroth steps in. A players strike also delayed the start of the 1972 season.
”Without getting into the details of the negotiations, we tried every avenue we know how to get through this dispute,” Fehr said. ”My conclusion right now is that there`s no possible way.”
He and Lee MacPhail, the owners` negotiator, recessed the talks for the evening shortly before 10 p.m. Chicago time. They will resume talks at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at an undisclosed location.
Baseball officials had been hoping for a quick agreement that would allow them to immediately reschedule Tuesday`s games as parts of double-headers. Many teams were in the cities where they were scheduled to play and could have done so Wednesday. In both 1981 and 1972 no missed games were made up.
John McMullen, owner of the Houston Astros and a member of management`s Player Relations Committee, acknowledged that the arbitration issue has been blocking a settlement. He insisted, though, that the owners would not compromise on their demands: that eligibility requirements be changed and that a 100 percent limit be set on salary increases achieved through arbitration.
Though the owners say they are standing firm in an effort to cut their own financial losses, millions of dollars are also at stake for related industries and for the cities that have major league teams. According to Edward Shils, a professor at the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, the cost to the nation`s economy if the rest of the season were canceled could be as much as $500 million.
Baseball`s status as the so-called national pastime is never more secure than at midsummer. With no other professional or collegiate team sport in season, millions of fans devote their attention to the major league baseball pennant races. The disruption, especially in cities whose teams are challenging for pennants, would be extreme.
The hopes of fans, owners and players alike were lifted when the two sides turned the informal Tuesday morning meeting suggested by Ueberroth into a four-hour bargaining session. Sources close to both sides held out hope for a settlement well into the afternoon, and Fehr did not officially inform the owners that the strike was on until about 4 p.m. Chicago time.
Across the country, the players had been waiting for a decision. The Boston Red Sox, in Chicago to play the White Sox, were at their hotel. Even after the strike was announced, player representative Rick Miller said he had advised his teammates to stay in town in case a settlement was forthcoming. The Minnesota Twins remained in Oakland and the Los Angeles Dodgers were still in Atlanta.
In contrast, however, the New York Mets checked out of their Montreal hotel and flew home after it became clear there would be no agreement, and the Cleveland Indians had not left for their game in New York.
The morning meeting, at an undisclosed uptown site, was limited to three negotiators per side. Ueberroth was not at the bargaining table but ”had been very active,” according to MacPhail. The sides met from 7:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Chicago time, with a break for lunch.
Both sides then returned to their offices and reconvened at 5 p.m. As negotiators were gathering for the evening session, Ueberroth issued a statement that said, in part:
”The owners and players must be allowed a full opportunity to conclude their efforts and hammer out a settlement. We do not anticipate further comment or action by the commissioner until the results of tonight`s meeting are known.” The last sentence was read as a threat that Ueberroth might use his broad powers to impose a settlement on the owners.
In the event that the strike does drag on, both McMullen and the White Sox`s Jerry Reinsdorf suggested that minor leaguers might be brought up to finish the season if the work stoppage lasted until Sept. 1.
McMullen suggested that the fans be polled on the question. ”I don`t know what the fans would think,” McMullen said, ”but it would be interesting to find out. I don`t think construction workers or plumbers making $18.60 an hour are going to refuse to cross picket lines of guys making $400,000 a year. ”Would I bring my minor leaguers up? Sure, if the fans wanted it. How could I hurt my relations with my players if they`re not working for me? The season is not a season now. We could not come back and hold the playoffs and World Series if there were a long interruption. One alternative might be to bring up minor leaguers.”
”Their seasons are almost at an end in the minors,” Reinsdorf said,
”and the option is there for us.” He said the owners have discussed the possibility.
The principal sticking point remaining in the talks is that the owners want to increase the amount of service a player must have to be eligible for arbitration from two years to three, and to limit arbitration awards to no more than 100 percent of a player`s previous salary.
According to Fehr, this would impose salary limits on a majority of players. ”They say all they want to do is retard the salary increases,” he said. ”But they refuse to give us any guarantees.”
His concern is that, if adopted, the new procedures would not merely freeze salaries, but lower them. The average major league salary is $363,000. If the strike lasts until next season, the White Sox`s Reinsdorf said his team was abolishing the minor-league system as it`s now arranged.
White Sox co-owner Eddie Einhorn has previously suggested doing away with the minor leagues as a cost-saving measure.
