AL President Gene Budig will hear the appeal of Indians OF
Albert Belle and others suspended for incidents on a May 31 game
between the Brewers and Indians. N.Y. DAILY NEWS columnist Mike
Lupica examines the MLPBA's backing of Belle and the union's
assessment that his action toward Brewers 2B Fernando Vina was
legal. Lupica: "The Players Association, which has become as
arrogant as the owners it fights, is supposed to represent all
the players. It is not the way Fernando Vina feels right now."
Vina told Lupica: "I feel like they're trying to get me to
change my story." He notes conversations with MLPBA Associate
General Counsel Gene Orza in which Orza told him Vina his version
of the play is "wrong." Vina: "[Belle's] the big money player,
and so they're trying to back him now. [Orza] is supposed to be
representing me, too, isn't he?" More Vina: "What kind of
Players Association are they running there? What happens the
next time something like this happens? Whose side do they take?
... I feel like my own association is dumping on me, basically.
I hope because of talking like this, they don't try to bury me."
Vina, on Orza: "He keeps trying to play attorney with me, using
that attorney stuff on me." Orza denies any intimidation.
Lupica concludes the MLBPA, which is "supposed to be for all the
players, will say that Vina is wrong today" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS,
6/13).
