There was a large turnout for the Southern CA stop on MLBPA
Exec Dir Don Fehr's "Solidarity Tour." 77 players, representing
23 of 28 MLB teams, attended the informational session. When the
meeting adjourned, players had "re-emphasized their allegiance to
each other and insisted that they will not be attending spring
training next season if there is no new labor agreement in
place." The Dodgers' Eric Karros: "As you come out of those
meetings, you're gung-ho. You're pretty much anti-everything"
(Lawrence Rocca, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 9/28).
NEW LEAGUE TALK: Fehr also met with agents yesterday,
including Dick Moss, "who has always dreamed of a new league and
hopes the players can for one by next spring." Fehr: "I don't
think a new league is an impossible as people think. I don't
think it can get done in a finger-snap, but I've always thought
it was a possibility" (Mark Whicker, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER,
9/28). In New York, Bill Madden profiles Moss' dream of a
player-run league: "Come next spring such a crazy venture might
seem like a very palatable alternative to breaking ranks with the
union and being branded major-league scabs" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS,
9/28).
STRIKE NOTE: Ontario provincial law prevents use of
replacement players in a labor dispute. Blue Jays GM Pat
Gillick: "We'll just have to play 162 road games" (Rod Beaton,
USA TODAY, 9/28).
