Baseball Pact Is Reached; Play to Resume Thursday : Players Polled for Approval

Negotiators reached an agreement today to end the strike of major league baseball players that wiped out two days of games. The settlement came less than 24 hours after the strike officially began, and play will resume Thursday.

In the settlement, which was being voted on by the players this afternoon, owners reportedly received some of the concessions they wanted in salary arbitration--the issue that actually caused the strike--and players got a healthy raise in their pensions.

A union source said the agreement is for five years.

The agreement was announced by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, who had vowed to prevent any strike at all and then had brought the sides together Tuesday for what turned into desperate daylong negotiations. In a statement released by his office, Ueberroth said the two sides reached a “tentative understanding.”

‘It’s a Big Relief’

Scott McGregor, player representative for the Baltimore Orioles, said: “They have come to an agreement. Now, it’s a matter of getting it down on paper and getting it ratified. I’m ecstatic about it. It’s a big relief.”

Player representatives were polling their teammates on ratification this afternoon, and teams were making plans to resume the season Thursday, with today’s 12-game schedule called off, just as Tuesday’s 13 games were.

Peter Bavasi, president of the Cleveland Indians, said it was his understanding that today’s games were off. “We’ve been told to report for duty (Thursday,)” he said.

There was no immediate word on when or if games lost to the strike would be made up.

Many Went Home

Many of the players had gone home when the strike began, and teams were trying frantically to find them.

“We are going to play (Thursday) night against California,” said Minnesota Twins spokesman Tom Mee.

“Yes, absolutely, positively, baseball is back,” said John Sevano of the California Angels’ public relations department.

There was no immediate announcement of terms. A union player representative, who asked not to be identified, said, however, that the tentative agreement contained:

--No cap on salary arbitration awards.

--Increase in eligibility for arbitration from two years of major league service to three, with the increase not taking effect during the first two years of the contract.

--A $40 million-a-year contribution from the owners to the players’ pension fund, up from $15.5 million. The players originally had asked for $60 million a year.

--Redirecting part of the difference between the $60 million and $40 million to financially troubled clubs.

11-Hour Meeting

Negotiators for the players and owners met for 11 hours, on Tuesday, their busiest day of the 8 1/2-month-old bargaining talks, but could not reach agreement, and the second mid-season strike in baseball in four years was called.

They continued talking Tuesday night but broke up shortly before midnight, with the union saying they remained far apart on arbitration.

Today, at 10 a.m., they met again.

An hour later, Ueberroth’s office announced that the two sides were meeting together with Ueberroth for the first time in these negotiations. And, shortly after noon, the “tentative understanding” was announced.

Ueberroth’s role in the settlement was unclear.

The commissioner last week offered a set of seven proposals to avert baseball’s second player walkout in four years, but his suggestions were criticized by both sides.