After a meeting with AL General Counsel Bill Schweitzer,
Orioles Owner Peter Angelos said he believes the league will keep
intact Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak even if replacement
players are used. Angelos told Schweitzer his team has no
intention of using replacement players and that he feels it would
be "illegal" for the owners to lock out the players. An
"intriguing possibility" exists if owners do lock out their
players and the Orioles permit their players to return and play
against replacements. Angelos would not comment on that, but
sources said it was a "distinct possibility" (Mark Maske,
WASHINGTON POST, 3/30). If the owners go with replacements, AL
President Gene Budig "basically has three options" for the
Orioles: forfeit the team's games and victories to opposing
teams; charge forfeits but not award the victories; remove the
O's from the schedule until the strike is resolved. Budig could
also pursue "punitive action" against Angelos, but that could be
"a potential public relations disaster" (Buster Olney, Baltimore
SUN, 3/30).
PETER'S PRINCIPLES: Angelos was interviewed on ABC's "World
News Tonight" by Tim McCarver, and later on CNN. Angelos, on
replacement ball: "It's bad public relations for baseball, I
think it destroys the legitimacy of the collective bargaining
process." Angelos, on the possibility that the AL may take
control of the Orioles: "I don't think anybody's taking over the
Orioles. They may say they are, but I say that they're not. ...
With the Ripken situation, I was clearly going to refuse to
become involved with any kind of process which would threaten or
disrupt his streak." Angelos said that if he was in charge, he
would have turned over financial records to justify claims of
fiscal pain: "You can't just say to the other side, 'Listen, we
have a problem, we have a financial problem, and accordingly, we
want you to cut your salaries by 20 percent,' and expect the
other side to say, 'Okay, you said it, we believe it, here's 20
percent of our pay.' It doesn't work that way" (ABC, 3/29).
CNN's Mark Morgan also profiled Angelos. Angelos said
replacement players "will do violence to the integrity of the
game" ("Sports Tonight," CNN, 3/29).
