Ueberroth Threatens ‘Appropriate Action’ to Avoid a Strike

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth said Sunday he would “take all appropriate action” to avoid a baseball strike.

“I’ve talked to the players, the owners, the umpires and the fans,” said Ueberroth, on hand for Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at Cooperstown, N.Y. “There should not be a strike in 1985.

“I will take all appropriate action to assist both sides for a successful conclusion of the negotiations. We can’t allow these negotiations to fail.”

The players have set Aug. 6 as a deadline for what could be baseball’s third strike in six years. Ueberroth did not elaborate on what role he would take in the negotiations.

Before addressing the crowd of about 6,000 gathered around the porch of the National Baseball Library, the commissioner was greeted by chants of “No strike, Ubie.”

Ueberroth, who a year ago Sunday was conducting the opening ceremonies of the L.A. Olympics, said a strike would hurt players such as Pete Rose, Phil Niekro, Don Sutton, Tom Seaver and Rod Carew--all closing in on milestones.

“This year must be a year of records, not a year of the strike,” Ueberroth said.

But the commissioner emphasized those most affected by a strike would be the fans.

“Baseball belongs to the fans,” Ueberroth said. “You pay for everything. You make the game what it is. A strike would hurt a lot of people. There are so many young people who are unemployed during the summer months. The elderly and the shut-ins who look forward to watching the games on television. This shouldn’t be taken away from them.”

Inducted into the Hall of Fame Sunday were Enos Slaughter, Lou Brock, Arky Vaughan and Hoyt Wilhelm.

New York Yankee Manager Billy Martin suffered a punctured lung Sunday night following an injection for back spasms by the Texas Rangers team physician at Arlington, Tex.

“Yes, I did it,” Dr. B.J. Mycoskie said. “I guess I misjudged the thickness of his chest wall. Usually, athletes have a lot thicker wall.”

According to Mycoskie, Martin approached him before the game complaining of back spasms. Mycoskie administered a shot just below the right shoulder blade, creating a small perforation in the lung.

In the third inning, Martin complained of chest pains. He left the stadium and was admitted as an out-patient to Arlington Memorial Hospital. His chest was X-rayed, and then he left the hospital and returned to the stadium.

Martin remained in his hotel room Sunday night and did not accompany the Yankees to Cleveland, where they open a series with the Indians tonight.

A race driver lost control of his car during what witnesses said was a stunt and crashed into a concession stand, killing one person and injuring about 40 others, authorities in Emmett, Idaho said Sunday.

At least 24 people were treated at hospitals, and five were admitted and remained hospitalized following the Saturday night accident at Firebird Raceway.

Witnesses said the highly modified drag racer was traveling in excess of 100 m.p.h. But Jim Dunn, 53, Los Angeles, who was driving the nitro-methane-burning car, told police he was going only 50 to 55 m.p.h. when he lost control. Dunn was not hurt.

Dunn was doing a “burn-out”--revving the engine and spinning the tires to heat them up and create smoke--when the car went out of control, witnesses said.

“Every racer there said it was just stupid,” said William Devey, 26, a race driver from Twin Falls, Ida., who suffered a broken right leg as he watched from the sidelines.

Mike McCallum used a punishing left jab and an effective body attack to successfully defend his World Boxing Assn. junior middleweight with an eighth-round TKO of David Braxton in Miami.

McCallum opened a cut over Braxton’s left eye in the fourth round and attacked it with a left jab until the fight was stopped at 2:26 of the eighth round.

McCallum, originally from Kingston, Jamaica, and now out of Detroit, is now 25-0 with 22 knockouts.

Braxton, also of Detroit, is 34-2. He entered the bout as the WBA’s No. 1 contender.

Champion Joey Olivo of Los Angeles outpointed South Korean challenger Choi Mun-jin and retained his World Boxing Assn. junior flyweight title in a 15-round match at Seoul, South Korea.

Olivo, 28, used his longer reach to keep the challenger away while scoring points with fast left jabs and occasional straight right punches in a rather dull bout.

It was Olivo’s first defense since he won the 108-pound title last March. He is now 36-4. Choi is 21-4-2.

Olivo reportedly received $65,000, while the Korean earned $8,750.

The United States, Canada, Zimbabwe and Trinidad and Tobago pulled out of the International Paraplegic Games for disabled athletes at Stoke Mandeville, England to protest South African participation.

South Africa fielded a squad of 20 whites and one non-white for the annual event for wheelchair contestants and sparked a protest on the track and a demonstration outside the stadium.

More than 700 disabled people from 36 countries this year entered the games which will feature events from archery to weightlifting.

Joseph (Smoky Joe) Wood, a former Boston Red Sox pitcher with a legendary fastball who often was considered but never accepted into baseball’s Hall of Fame, died Saturday at a convalescent home at the age of 95 in West Haven, Conn.

Wood had an overall record of 115-59 in 1908-21, finishing his career an an outfielder after arm problems forced him off the mound.

He was 21-17 in 1911 and that year pitched a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. His best season was 1912, when he went 34-5 with an ERA of 1.86.