The one year anniversary of the '94-95 baseball strike was
featured by most reporters and columnists covering the sport this
weekend, with the primary theme being that both sides are no
closer to a long-term collective bargaining agreement. Some news
and views on Major League Baseball:
FROM THE OWNERS: Red Sox CEO John Harrington, who served as
one of the owners' chief negotiators during the strike, predicts
that this year's losses for the teams will match last year's
$400M mark. However, according to Will McDonough of the BOSTON
GLOBE, Harrington did say that he expects the players and owners
to issue a joint statement "within the next couple of weeks"
saying that the playoffs and World Series will be played this
year without threat of another work stoppage (BOSTON GLOBE,
8/12). Acting MLB Commissioner Bud Selig: "If anybody told me
last August 12 there wouldn't be an agreement now, I'd have said
they were crazy" (Jerry Green, DETROIT NEWS, 8/12).
THE COSTS: In Chicago, Jerome Holtzman writes that the
players' salary losses are estimated at $350M -- 29% of their pay
last year (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/13).
COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN? In Philadelphia, Jayson Stark
writes, "There are so many reasons to get this mess settled this
winter, hardly anyone doesn't think things will be better a year
from today" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/13). While low-level talks
continue, attorneys for the players "wonder how the meetings can
lead anywhere if owners are still in the process of hiring a lead
negotiator," according to Ross Newhan of the L.A. TIMES. Newhan
adds, "They fear it's all part of a protracted scenario in which
the owners will ultimately try to declare another impasse and
implement a salary cap, igniting another round of legal
confrontations -- and certain death" (L.A. TIMES, 8/13).
IT'S PAST TIME: Harrington reports "some progress" in the
lawyers' pre-meetings and says that full discussions could resume
in October (Peter Gammons, BOSTON GLOBE, 8/13). In New York,
Murray Chass cites one source not "directly involved" in the
meetings who describes them as "no-notes, informal, brain-
storming, 'let-it-all-hang-out' sessions." Chass reports, "The
owners still would like to install a salary cap, but their
representatives say they remain willing to accept a substitute.
While the groups haven't discovered the right avenue, they have
agreed that it is worthwhile to continue meeting and also that it
makes sense to revisit some avenues that hadn't worked before"
(N.Y. TIMES, 8/13). The owners meet today in Chicago, but Selig
said that labor negotiations "will not be the primary topic of
conversation" (Mark Maske, WASHINGTON POST, 8/13).
