Baseball Notes : Players Expected to Set Strike Date Today

The major league baseball players union likely will set a strike deadline today that could lead to the fourth player walkout in baseball history.

The 30-member executive board of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. will meet at a hotel at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to be briefed on the status of the nine-month-old contract negotiations with club owners.

Players on each of the 26 National and American league teams voted last month to authorize the board to call a strike, and a deadline is expected to be set at the session.

The meeting falls on an off-day in the baseball schedule. Several of the players will go from the labor meeting to Minneapolis for Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

Tom Herr, player representative for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Dave Winfield, representing the New York Yankees, are starters in the game. Alan Trammell of the Detroit Tigers and Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers, reserves on the American League squad, also will attend.

The players’ contract expired Dec. 31, and although 31 bargaining sessions have been held, the negotiations have stalled over the question of whether baseball owners are losing or making money.

Lee MacPhail, chief negotiator for the owners, has said he expects the players will set their strike deadline between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15. Donald Fehr, acting executive director of the Players Assn. has declined to speculate on a specific date.

If they act on their threat to strike, it would be the players’ fourth walkout and third in the last five years.

The first baseball strike in the spring of 1972 was over the owners’ pension contributions. It lasted nine days into the regular season. The players struck again in 1980, forcing the cancellation of some spring training games, but the season started as scheduled.

The third strike, in 1981--a continuation of the 1980 dispute over compensation to clubs for the loss of a free agent--was the most drastic interruption of the national pastime. The walkout lasted seven weeks and one-third of the season was canceled.

In the current dispute, the owners, seeking a way to slow the increase in player salaries that averaged $330,000 last year, presented a proposal in May to impose a salary cap on teams, similar to one used by the National Basketball Assn. The players rejected the idea.

The players want a share of the new national television contracts that will bring the owners $1.1 billion over six years.

The players claim they are entitled to one-third of the television revenue, a formula that has been used for 18 years to determine the owners’ contributions to the players’ pension and benefit funds.

One-third of the broadcasting revenues would be about $60 million a year, which the players want to use to finance a $90,000 pension benefit for players with 10 years of major league service.

Merely a coincidence, say the owners, who deny there has ever been a link between television money and pensions.

Both managers face the possibility of some lineup juggling as they prepare their teams for Tuesday night’s 56th major league All-Star Game.

The National League has replaced St. Louis’ balky Joaquin Andujar with New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling, and injured outfielder Pedro Guerrero of the Dodgers with Glenn Wilson of Philadelphia.

In the American League, All-Star catcher Lance Parrish of Detroit was hurt, leaving the starting job to Carlton Fisk of the Chicago White Sox.

Andujar, who leads the majors with 15 victories, decided two days ago that instead of being an All-Star, he’d rather be a no-show. He made his decision after he thought he would not be called upon by San Diego Manager Dick Williams to start the contest at the Twins’ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Andujar’s decision left both leagues without their top winners on the All-Star roster. Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees won his 12th game Sunday, and he said he wouldn’t be available because of that late call.

Andujar’s spot went to Darling, who was chosen by the league while Williams was busy with his Padres. “They (the league) took the initiative, which is fine,” Williams said. “I haven’t talked to the president of the league (Chub Feeney). I haven’t talked to Darling. I haven’t talked to Andujar. I haven’t talked to my wife. But I think it’s an excellent decision.”

Guerrero dropped out because of back spasms that had sent him to the hospital last week. That left the job to Wilson, who was traded from Detroit to Philadelphia last season.

Parrish, like Guerrero, also has a sore back and was replaced by Boston’s Rich Gedman.

Although neither Williams nor AL Manager Sparky Anderson of Detroit has named a starting pitcher, they could well pick Dave Stieb of Toronto, who has started the past two years for the Americans, and LaMarr Hoyt, Williams’ own pitcher, who has won 10 in a row.

The bad feelings on Andujar’s part apparently began when he faced Hoyt in a game Friday night in St. Louis, which Hoyt won, 2-0. Andujar said Williams told him the winner of that game would be the starting All-Star.

“I’ve got 152 innings, 9 complete games, I’m 15-4,” Andujar said. “I don’t have to prove anything to anybody. . . . He (Williams) talked like LaMarr Hoyt is better than I am. He treats me like a dummy.”

Williams said Andujar had misunderstood. “What I said was there was a heck of a rivalry between two pitchers,” Williams said. “He (Andujar) pitched a great game. Our guy just pitched a better one.”