The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, August 4, 1981-Page 15 BASEBALL'S SCHEDULE UNSETTLED Owners meeting postponed y CHICAGO (AP) - A scheduled meeting of major league baseball owners, gradually recovering from the effects of the 50-day strike, has been postponed two days because of the air traffic controllers' strike. The meeting, originally set for today, was rescheduled for Thursday in Chicago. If travel still is blocked on that date, the owners will discuss the set- tlement of baseball's 50-day strike and plans for the remainder of the season by conference call. One choice is to finish the season in regular fashion and let the divisional championships fall where they may. A popular alternative is to split the season in half and start new races when cham- pionship play resumes Monday following the All-Star Game at Cleveland Sunday night. The split season, commonplace in the Reds don 't want a splt season minor leagues, appears to be the way the owners will go because interest would be stimulated among teams that are all but out of their respective races. Teams like the New York Yankees, the Oakland A's, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies probably would favor the split season because they already would have clin- ched playoff berths by being declared winners of the first half. Teams emerging as winners in the second half would play a mini-playoff series with the first-half winners to determine each divisional champion. If a team wins both halves, it would receive a bye before entering the pen- nant playoffs. This type of playoff would extend the season and push back the World Series for as long as a week. There also is the possibility that one league might vote to play out the season in regular fashion and the other might opt for the split season. In such a case, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn would be called upon to resolve the matter and Kuhn has indicated he is in favor of the split season. In fact, there are some in baseball - Heywood Sullivan, owner of the Boston Red Sox, for one - who favor the split season permanently. Also on the agenda will be owner ap- proval of the settlement reached last week between negotiating teams of the players and the owners. The executive board of the Major League Players Association met Satur- day and unanimously approved the set- tlement. The player representatives of each club, with MLPA Executive Director Marvin Miller urging adop- tion, were to take a vote of players this week. National League owners also are ex- pected to approve sale of the Chicago Cubs by William Wrigley Jr. for $20.5 million to the Tribune Co., which was announced June 15. By RON POLLACK Daily Sports Writer The owners of the 28 major league ball clubs have between today and the August ninth All-Star game to decide whether a split or continuous season will be used, and no team is more in- terested in, or affected by, the decision than the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds were a half game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League's West Division when the 50-day baseball strike started. Thus a con- tinuous season would be in the Reds' best interests. "We wouldn't want a split season," said Cincinnati manager John Mc- Namara. "It's probably a selfish reason, but being a half game back, and with Houston in third place seven and a game. "At this point, every game we play means a lot since there are a limited number of games," said outfielder Mike Vail. "That's why we're trying to get in shape as quickly as we can." NOT ONLY will each contest take on greater significance in division races, but teams will not have the luxury of giving an untested player an oppor- tunity to perform in game situations. "In a 162-game season, we can ex- periment with a guy," said Cincinnati pitching coach Bill Fischer. "But when we hit the field Monday (when the Reds resume the regular season against the Dodgers) for a 51-game season, we can't experiment." While the players and coaches can only speculate as to what type of season 'If the owners have a split season, it might accelerate get- ting fans into the stadium sin- ce if a team like Chicago or San Diego gets hot, then they're in the race.' -George Foster Tigers in good shape- for opening game DETROIT (UPI)-Manager Sparky Anderson is "amazed" by the con- dition of his Detroit Tigers and thinks they'll be better than people expect Aug. 10 when the strike-abbreviated season resumes. "I don't think we're going to be near as bad (out of shape) as some guys figure we are," Anderson said yesterday following a sparsely attended workout at Tiger Stadium.x ONLY 1,665 CAME out in a light morning drizzle to watch the Tigers go through their third day of drills. Detroit tentatively has planned just two in- tra-squad games this week, the second scheduled for Friday night. "Our pitchers look good. It looks like they were doing some throwing," Anderson said. "Like a couple of our guys said, they didn't want anyone knowing they were throwing. "THEY DIDN'T TALK about it because they didn't want any of the owners or anybody to know they were doing it," he said. "I'm not concerned that we'll be that far away," Anderson said. "I was before. A lot of it (how they bounce back) will be youth. "We've got a very good attitude here that I'm very pleased with," he said. PITCHING COACH Roger Craig of the Tigers is predicating his post-strike pitching assumptions on ace Jack Morris appearing in Sunday's All-Star game. Current plans, contingent upon Morris pitching in the All-Star game Craig said, call for Milt Wilcox to pitch when Toronto comes in Monday night to open the second season. He would be followed by lefthander Dan Schatzeder and Morris. Dan Petry would start the first contest of the four-game weekend series with the New York Yankees, followed by Wilcox, Schatzeder and Morris. "IF MORRIS DOESN'T pitch in the All-Star game," Craig said, "then he'll start first." "If he doesn't pitch in the All-Star game," Anderson said, "there ought to be some sort of investigation. He leads the league in innings-pitched, wins, and he won eight in a row before the strike ... If he doesn't pitch in the All- Star game this year, he never will." Detroit works out again today and tomorrow, with the pitchers throwing batting practice, before playing intra-squad games Thursday morning and Friday night. h MORRIS, WILCOX, Aurelio Lopez and Kevin Saucier will divide the pit- ching for a pair of teams Anderson will make up Thursday. NEW! Quahty Food Since 1938 rt Bignt. y Garden-fresh, all-you-can-eat hNTOad Auon SALAD BAR! half games behind us, we could gear ourselves at one team - the Dodgers." Infielder Junior Kennedy, meanwhile, looked at both sides of the issue. "Ob- viously we don't want a split season because we're so close to first place. But obviously, if I were on a team eight or nine games back, I would want it." ALTHOUGH A team's record will rplay a role in each owner's decision regarding what type of season will be played, it is not the only factor that will be considered. Expressing this view was outfielder George Foster, who was the Reds' player representative during the strike. "If the owners have a split season, it might accelerate getting fans into the stadium since if a team like Chicago or San Diego gets hot, then they're in the race." Regardless of the owners' decision, the pennant races will be decided by a reduced number of games than usual, thus magnifying the importance of each the owners will choose for them to play and what differences there will be in a reduced and full season, there is one question that the players are currently trying to answer: Were their differen- ces with the owners worth going on strike over? Foster contends that they were. "We were pushed into a corner where we either gave them what they asked for or go on strike," he explained. "I feel we gained ground from what they were asking. If we had given in now, it not only would have hurt us now, but in the future. So whatever sacrifice we made, I think was worth it. I feel that the proposals are good, but it's a step back although not a big step." Foster concluded by noting that at times, the strike's negotiations were very frustrating for him. "You go into a meeting one day and a proposal is given, and the next day it changes. That's when you feel you nolonger want to be player rep."