If MLB talks break off this week, the "possibility of a
strike or lockout next spring is very real," according to Hal
Bodley of USA TODAY. But even if the "scenario isn't that
extreme, interleague play in '97 is doomed." Bodley notes Acting
Commissioner Bud Selig has "never had the necessary [21] votes to
approve the framework of the current deal," as the "best guess"
is no more than 14 clubs would approve it. But by Thursday,
MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr will hear what came out of MLB's
Executive Council and Labor Policy Committee meetings and he
"could bend and agree to alter the framework so a deal can be
completed before Sunday. Or he'll take everything off the
table." Bodley: "I predict the latter" (USA TODAY, 9/25).
ESPN's Keith Olbermann noted the MLBPA set the end of the season,
Sunday, as the deadline for a deal or it will withhold approval
of interleague play for '97. Olbermann: "No interleague play?
No Red Sox vs. Marlins next year? No Twins-Astros? Heck, don't
ever sign the contact. I knew that strike had to be good for
something" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 9/24).
REINSDORF'S DOCTRINE: In Chicago, while meeting White Sox
season ticket holders, White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf answered
questions on the labor situation. Reinsdorf: "We're in the
situation we're in because the union leader [Fehr] is not a
baseball fan. It did not bother him at all that there was no
World Series [in '94] and it wouldn't bother him a bit if there
was no World Series this year." Reinsdorf then said the "only
person to blame for the labor impasse was Fehr," which reportedly
prompted a "chorus of boos" (Dan Bickley, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES,
9/25).
LLOYD, LLOYD ALL NULL AND VOID: Yankees GM Bob Watson filed
a formal complaint with the AL claiming Graeme Lloyd and Pat
Listach, acquired in a trade with the Brewers, were injured
before the transaction (NEWSDAY, 9/25).
