Sports
Page 16 Friday, July 10, 1981 The Michigan Daily
MORE BASEBALL TALKS TODAY
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Owners' meeting hints
NEW YORK (AP)-Owners and representatives of
the 26 major league baseball clubs met for more than
three hours last night and expressed support for their
negotiators in the 28-day old player strike.
Ed Fitzgerald of the Milwaukee Brewers, chair-
man of management's Player Relations Committee,
said the clubs had engaged in "a full discussion and
gave their views," on the strike situation.
"THEY INSTRUCTED our committee to go back
tomorrow and bargain ... continue to bargain as we
have."
Federal mediator Kenneth Moffett has scheduled a
negotiating session for 2 p.m. EDT today. It will be
the first bargaining since talks broke off last Satur-
day.
"No votes were taken tonight, and none was
necessary," Fitzgerald continued. "No views ex-
pressed by any owners significantly differed from
those previously expressed. We will continue to
follow the route we have previously embarked on."
FITZGERALD DENIED there was any split
among the owners.
"There are no dissidents," he said. "The com-
munications throughout have been excellent. The
discussions proved we are all aware of how everyone
else felt. We will continue the process we have been
working on since we started seeking a solution."
Lee MacPhail, president of the American League
and a member of the PRC bargaining team, said he
felt the meeting had been a positive one.
"I WOULD THINK I am more hopeful of gaining a
settlement," he said. "The owners have confidence in
the bargaining team."
Fitzgerald called the meeting "merely an ex-
change of views. We're always interested to receive
those views'. As far as bargaining, we do that at the
table. Views were exchanged, and PRC was asked to
continue what it has been doing-find a solution by
bargaining."
MacPhail said every club had an opportunity to ex-
press its views and make suggestions.
"IT WAS A reaffirmation of support of the PRC and
what it has been doing," he said.
Ray Grebey, director of the PRC, called the
meeting, "the most positive meeting of PRC
shareholders I've ever attended. We had a good
dialogue and conversation, and none of it will be
wasted. It was a constructive meeting, and we were
pleased with it. We hope to get a resolution of the
strike at an early date. Unfortunately, the fans have
to endure the situation. The meeting was very much
on the upbeat."
MacPhail said he detected no negative feelings
from the meeting.
"IF THERE IS dissension among the owners, it
was not visible at the meeting today," the AL
president said.
Other members of the PRC at the meeting were
Bob Howsam of the Cincinnati Reds, John McHale of
the Montreal Expos, Dan Galbreath of the Pittsburgh
Pirates, Clark Griffith of the Minnesota Twins and
Joe Burke of the Kansas City Royals.
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at progress
The extraordinary session was held at the offices of
Louis Hoynes, National League attorney and a mem-
ber of the PRC bargaining committee. Each club was
represented, and the importance of the meeting was
emphasized by the fact that John Fetzer, owner of the
Detroit Tigers, attended. Fetzer rarely appears at
major league meetings, preferring to leave those
matters to Jim Campbell, president of the Tigers.
MOST OF THE club owners, on hand for the'
meeting, were ushered up to Hoynes' office through
tight building security which attempted to control
hordes of television camera crews.
Fitzgerald was one of three representatives from
the Milwaukee Brewers. He was joined by president
Bud Selig and vice president Harry Dalton. Dalton
previously was fined $50,000 by the PRC for speaking
out on negotiations in violation of a gag rule adopted
by management bargainers.
At the last negotiating session, July 4, the owners
altered their free-agent compensation proposal,
limiting to 12 the number of ranking players whose
signing through the re-entry draft would require
compensation to their old teams in the form of
professional players. Grebey indicated that number
was negotiable and that he had "more moves to
make," when talks broke off.
The union is still insisting on a, pool of players
drawn from all clubs participating in the re-entry
draft to supply free-agent compensation. That, essen-
tially, is where the two sides will begin when
bargaining resumes today.
Yankees
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receiving pay
NEW YORK (AP) - Four New York Yankees, including millionaire outfielder
Dave Winfield, have received payments from the club since the major league
baseball strike began June 12, it was disclosed yesterday.
Two of the players, pitcher Tommy John and catcher Bruce Robinson, could
possibly collect money from the team until the end of the walkout, if they continue
to file default notices for specific reasons - through the Major League Players
Association - and win their cases.
THE FOURTH PLAYER is pitcher Rudy May.
However, Dave Szen, director of media relations for the Yankees, pointed out
that no member of the team has a clause in his contract saying that he is to get paid
through the strike.
But he added that John, a free agent signed in November of 1978, based part of
his default notice on the contention he did not have a clause in his contract saying
he would not be paid during a strike.
"IN RECENT YEARS, we have been very careful, especially with free agents,
to include a clause in their contracts saying that if there is a strike, they don't get
paid," said Szen.
John does not have the clause in his agreement, said Szen. Winfield, who
signed for an estimated $24 million last December, does have the clause in his con-
tract, noted the Yankees' club official.
In order to receive the payments, the players had to file default notices. Robin-
son filed on July 1, and the other three filed July 6. All four were paid the day after
they filed, said Szen.
HOWEVER, HE SAID the club would file grievances against each player,
within the prescribed 45-day period.
John and Robinson, both of whom were on the disabled list when the strike
began last month, would have to file default notices after each scheduled pay
period - the first and 15th of each month - in which they did not receive a check
and go through the grievance procedure to keep receiving money.
May filed because he was owed money from last year - deferred payment -
while Winfield filed to reclaim excessive deductions he contended were taken out
of his last paycheck through games of June 11.
PETER ROSE, COUNSEL for the Major League Players Association, said
there were about a dozen players "being paid" during the strike. Marvin Miller,
executive director for the association, put the number of players at about eight.
Rose said some of the players might have to return the money. "It is very
much up in the air if the players can keep the money," he said.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Blumberg, Winfield's attorney, denied a published
report that the slugger was among the players being paid his salary during the
strike.
A
APPhoto
Lending an arm AP
Bill Gullickson, a second-year pitcher for the Montreal Expos, spends some.
of his free time helping out with the family tire business in Kankakee,
Illinois. "My main concern is staying in the best possible condition I can," he
said. "I want to be as ready as I can when the strike ends."
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