Owners, Players Meet Amid Talk of All-Star Boycott

Talk of a possible players’ boycott of the All-Star Game July 16 at Minneapolis continued Friday in New York after representatives of the Major League Players Assn. and representatives of the management negotiating team met for the first time since May 20.

There were no new developments in the latest negotiating session, but Marvin Miller, former director of the players’ union and now a consultant to the union, called management’s proposals for a new contract “absurd.”

As for a possible boycott, Miller said: “There is no contractual obligation ever for a player to play in an All-Star Game. You could refuse to play in that game without engaging in a strike. There is nothing in a players contract or in the Basic Agreement that requires players to play in the All-Star Game.”

Don Fehr, acting executive director of the union, who was in St. Louis on a tour of major league cities to talk with players, said the boycott was an option.

Gilles Meloche, the senior goaltender in the National Hockey League in length of service, was traded by the Minnesota North Stars to the Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers for right winger Paul Houck, who played in 10 games with their Nova Scotia farm club after completing four years of eligibility at the University of Wisconsin.

Detroit boxer Shawn Thomas, who was knocked out in the seventh round of a junior lightweight bout Wednesday night, was listed in critical condition Friday in the intensive care unit of the Methodist-South Lake Campus Hospital at Merrillville, Ind. Thomas, 26, was hospitalized after his fight with Chris Calvin, also 26, of Nashville, Tenn., which was stopped with two minutes remaining in the seventh round. After the bout, Thomas’ condition worsened in the locker room and he began shaking.

Pancho Carter was one of several drivers who escaped injury in a series of crashes and spins during practice for the Miller American 200 Sunday. Winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour caused problems on the one-mile oval at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park.

Carter spun and was struck by Jim Crawford of Scotland. Crawford had to withdraw from the race. Roberto Guerrero of Colombia spun out. Bill Whittington and Steve Chassey tangled, but Whittington said that his car would be repaired in time for qualifying on Saturday. Chassey had to withdraw. Arie Luyendyk of Holland spun and made light contact with the wall.

A spokesman for Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton said the 17-year-old gymnast intends to compete in the 1988 Summer Games at Seoul, South Korea. Reports earlier in the week that Retton would not compete at Seoul but might attend the Olympics as a television commentator were called “inaccurate” by the spokesman, John Traetta, president of a New York firm that serves as Retton’s agent. “It was just a misunderstanding,” he said.

Bing Crosby is out and AT&T; is in as sponsor of the old “clambake” that for 44 years was known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. PGA officials made it official Friday. The new name will be the AT&T-Pebble; Beach Pro-Am. It will be played Jan. 30-Feb. 2, 1986.

Names in the News

Harvey Martin, former Dallas Cowboy defensive lineman, was arrested and jailed briefly for investigation of driving while intoxicated. Martin, 35, may face other charges pending investigation and tests on an unidentified substance found in his car, according to Addison, Tex., police.