Angels’ Romanick Says Owners Out to Break Union

Pitcher Ron Romanick of the Angels, the club’s player representative, said Tuesday he doubted that the baseball strike would be settled in the near future.

“The latest status is that they (the owners) are apparently trying to break the union,” Romanick said following a late afternoon conversation with players’ union attorney Eugene Orza. “They (the owners) want $42 million off the pension figure after we had already offered to take away $125 million.

“That’s not bargaining. What it is, I don’t know.”

Romanick referred to the players’ pension share over the course of the six-year, $1.1 billion television package.

“They keep taking things away until there’s finally nothing left to take,” Romanick said. “Apparently, they think they can break the union. I don’t think so.”

Other Angels went through the clubhouse in the course of the afternoon, picking up their personal belongings, including equipment to enable them to maintain individual workouts during the strike.

The Angels announced that Tuesday night’s game was called off about 4 1/2 hours before it was scheduled to begin.

To a man, the Angel players expressed dismay that the situation was allowed to degenerate to the point of a strike.

“They took too long to get serious,” infielder Rob Wilfong said, referring to the negotiators.

Wilfong said he was optimistic that a settlement would be reached in the near future.

“(California Manager) Gene Mauch said he knows that they’re close,” Wilfong said. “If it takes a one-day strike to get it resolved, great. It will have been worth it.”

Said Rod Carew: “I’m frustrated. Why do they have to get this thing down to the last minute? This is ridiculous.”

Pitcher Geoff Zahn: “I’m frustrated because two sides can’t come to an agreement when they surely ought to be able to.”

Pitcher Donnie Moore: “I wasn’t worried about it, I’m still not. Nor am I thinking about it. I do hope it won’t be too long.”

Outfielder Gary Pettis: “It’s just something that happens. It’s part of the game, there are unions in all professions. We had to stay together.”

Mauch, after having spent most of the afternoon at General Manager Mike Port’s side, retained faith that Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Seattle Mariners would be played as scheduled.

“I’d like to think the plan is to get this thing over tonight,” Mauch said. “I thought we’d be playing tonight even after I heard that the Eastern games had been canceled. I’m going home feeling we have a chance to play tomorrow.”

In the California front office, business proceeded with the assumption that this was a one-game strike.

“We certainly hope this will be short-lived,” Port said. “We’re moving on as if there will be a game tomorrow. As long as the two sides are talking, there’s room for optimism.

“Meanwhile, we want to carry on as if there was status quo.”