Baseball Strike Begins; Last-Ditch Talks Fail : Game Disrupted for Fourth Time in 14 Seasons; Union Tells Players Not to Show Up at Stadiums

The 650 major league players went on strike Tuesday, disrupting organized baseball for the fourth time in the last 14 seasons, including three times in the regular season.

After nearly nine months of fruitless bargaining between owners and union representatives, the strike came as a result of a deadlock over issues involving the owners’ insistence on a limit on salary arbitration awards and the unions’ demand for about a $25-million annual increase in pension benefits.

Four protracted negotiating sessions Tuesday requested by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth failed to break the deadlock, and union leader Donald Fehr ordered the players not to show up at the stadiums.

The American and National leagues responded by postponing 13 games that had been scheduled Tuesday night.

Although Fehr said he saw “no possibilities” of an imminent resolution of the issues, the chief negotiator for the owners, Lee MacPhail, said he thought there had been some progress in the talks Tuesday. MacPhail announced that a new session would begin at 9:30 a.m. today.

Ueberroth had no immediate comment on the beginning of the strike other than to say he was monitoring the negotiations and hoped the two sides would hammer out a settlement.

The strike was the first since a 50-day work stoppage during the 1981 season. That strike was followed by the signing of a three-year contract that expired last Dec. 31. Negotiators have been attempting to agree on a new five-year work agreement since then.

Another brief strike in baseball took place at the beginning of the 1972 season. Also, in the last week of the exhibition games in the 1980 season, baseball players walked out for a week, but that didn’t affect regular season games.

Despite rapidly escalating player salaries in the last several years, with average pay for players nearly doubling since 1981 to $363,000, union leaders have expressed deep concern that proposals made by the owners in the current negotiations would curtail the players’ rights and lead to a salary downturn.

The owners, on the other hand, insist that the escalating salaries and other benefits are bankrupting the game. They said overall losses for the 26 clubs amounted to $28 million last year and released projections that said they would lose even more in the future.

Last spring, the owners handed over financial books to the union indicating that most of the clubs were losing money. The union commissioned economic studies challenging the reported losses. That report said the clubs made $9 million and charged that the books contained distortions.

Ueberroth--who became commissioner last fall--declared in a speech in Cooperstown, N.Y., July 28 that he would not allow a strike. In recent days, he has expressed optimism that the professional negotiators on both sides would succeed in reaching a settlement, and he has taken no action thus far to prevent the walkout.

Breaking with the owners, the commissioner opposed their proposals for a salary cap. As the strike was declared, union leader Fehr said the union would never accept a salary limit.

“It seems to me that it’s really a sad day in this country . . . where you have an industry that (says) it will prevent players from making what they are worth,” Fehr said.

He ordered all teams to disperse and suggested that the players return to their homes.