Cubs President & CEO Andy MacPhail has become the unofficial
spokesperson on the issue of granting the players service time
for the '94-95 strike, and his message is: "The game will be
shut down again before the players union gets service time for
days it was on strike." MacPhail, who offered to become a point
man on the issue at last week's owners' meetings in Phoenix:
"They didn't play. There was no revenue generated, the game
suffered considerably because of the strike. ... They are not
entitled to it. The fact they got it in '81 is idiotic. If
anyone is holding on to expectations that (they deserve it
because of past years), I would like to hear a rational
explanation for it." One reason MacPhail is speaking out is
because service time is not an "official negotiating subject,"
and neither MLBPA Exec Dir Don Fehr nor MLB spokespersons are
able to comment on the matter. MacPhail, on the chances for
compromise: "Zero" (Dave Van Dyk, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/26).
BRIGHTER SIDE: In the new issue of GQ, Peter Richmond
examines the state of baseball through the eyes of Ken Griffey
Jr., Buck O'Neill, Ernie Banks and Mike Veeck. Richmond writes,
"If baseball really wants to promote itself, it should freeze Ken
Griffey's expression when he's talking about his games. Any of
his games. And plaster it on billboards" (GQ, 4/96 issue).
