The Michigan Daily-Friday, August 7, 1981-Page 15
lit season
Owners vote 21-5 for division...
CHICAGO (UPI) - National and
American League owners voted yester-
day to adopt a split season format for
the remainder of the strike-plagued
1981 baseball season after earlier adop-
ting the settlement that ended the 50-
day strike.
Under the proposal, adopted 12-2 by
the American League and 9-3 by the
National League, the four divisional
leaders as of the day the strike began,
June 12, are declared first half winners.
The second half of the season begins
next Monday and those leaders will ad-
vance to a preliminary round against
the first half winners, Philadelphia, Los
Angeles, Oakland and the New York
Yankees.
IF THE SECOND half winner is the
same as the first, the team with the
second best overall record would
qualify for the first round playoffs,
which will be a best 3-of-5 series.
The National League approval came
with the minimum amount of votes
required because under its rules, a
three-fourths majority was needed. In
the American League, only a simply
majority was required.
As was the case with the vote on the
settlement, the dissenting teams were
not identified. That vote was 21-2 with
three abstentions.
"THERE WAS some discussion but
we all agreed, I believe, that this was
the best way to go," said National
League President Chub Feeney. "We
needed to do something to stimulate in-
terest after the strike."
American League President Lee
MacPhail agreed, saying the owners
have little choice but to adopt the split
season rather than picking up the stan-
dings where the season left off.
"If we had adopted something else
significantly different, we might have
had to reopen negotiations with the
players on the settlement," MacPhail
said. "It wasn't a rough discussion in
our meeting and there wasn't much else
to discuss."
.. . And unanimously
approve Cubs sale
CHICAGO (AP)-National League owners, meeting in conjunction with their
American League counterparts, unanimously approved yesterday the sale of the
Chicago Cubs to Tribune Co., which purchased the franchise from William
Wrigley, Jr. for a reported $20.5 million.
League president Chub Feeney said the vote was 11-0, with the Cubs unable to
vote. "The discussion was very short," said Feeney. "It was almost pro forma."
WRIGLEY'S FAMILY, founders of the chewing gum empire that bears the same
name, had owned the Cubs since 1916. Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago
Tribune, will take over a team which finished the first half of the split season with a
15-37 record, worst in the majors. The management hopes that the split season
format will allow the Cubs a chance to redeem themselves.
There had been rumors circulating in Chicago that Tribune Co. was planning to
install lights in Wrigley Field, the Cubs' home park and the only major league
stadium without playing lights, but the new owners have denied those rumors.
The sale of the club was announced in June, but was still subject to approval by
the rest of the National League owners. The vote on the Cubs was taken at a
meeting of club owners called to ratify the contract which ended the major league
players strike.
* * AP Photo
A kick in the grass A ht
Washington Diplomats goalie Jim Brown (1) sets up for a shot by Arno Stef-
fenhagen of the Chicago Sting (6). The try was unsuccessful, but the Sting
went on to win the Wednesday night game ina shootout, 3-2.
MORRIS IS ONLY DE TROITER PICKED:
All-Star reserve squads named
NEW YORK (AP)-Gorman Thomas of the Milwaukee
Brewers, who leads the major leagues with 15 home runs,
heads a list of 12 players named yesterday by manager Jim
Frey to the American League All-Star team.
The AL Stars will face their National League counterparts
Sunday night in Cleveland Stadium as major league baseball
resumes after a seven-week strike.
THOMAS WAS one of six outfielders added by Frey. The
others were Boston's Dwight Evans, the league's leading hit-
ter with a .341 average; Fred Lynn of California (.274); Tony
Armas of Oakland (.289); Tom Paciorek of Seattle (.328);
and Al Oliver to Texas (.322).
Frey named catchers Bo Diaz of the host Indians (.356),
and Ted Simmons of Milwaukee (.207), who was an All-Star
three times during his National League career with the St.
Louis Cardinals.
The infield backups are Baltimore first baseman Eddie
Murray (.259), second baseman Frank White of Kansas City
(.271), shortstop Rick Burleson of California (.299) and Texas
third baseman Buddy Bell (.293).
PREVIOUSLY, FREY had named a 10-man pitching staff
including the league's two top winners-Detroit's Jack
Morris and Ken Forsch of California, each 9-3.
The National League named 13 reserves to its All-Star
squad earlier yesterday. They are headed by three Los
Angeles Dodgers including first baseman Steve Garvey
(.279), who will not be starting for the first time in eight
years. The other Dodgers named were outfielders Pedro
Guerrero (.325) and Dusty Baker (.303).
Also selected as backups by NL manager Dallas Green
were catchers Bruce Benedict of Atlanta (.287) and Terry
Kennedy of San Diego (.308), first baseman Bill Buckner of
the Chicago Cubs (.313), shortstop Ozzie Smith of San Diego
(.259), outfielders Tim Raines of Montreal (.322), Joel
Youngblood of the New York Mets (.359), Mike Easler of Pit-
tsburgh (.317), infielders Manny Trillo of Philadelphia (.292),
and Phil Garner (.284) and Bill Madlock of Pittsburgh (.326).
Green named a nine-man pitching staff headed by the
league's two nine-game winners, Steve Carlton of
Philadelphia and Fernando Valenzuela of Los Angeles. The
remaining NL hurlers are Cincinnati's Tom Seaver (7-1),
Vida Blue of San Francisco (5-5), Burt Hooton of Los Angeles
(7-3), Houston teammates Bob Knepper (5-1) and Nolan
Ryan (5-3), Dick Ruthven of Philadelphia (8-3) and Bruce
Sutter of St. Louis (2-3). . '''
Morris
. :. . liwiener