Richard Nixon to Arbitrate Dispute Involving Major League Umpires

Former President Richard M. Nixon has been selected as the binding arbitrator in the contract dispute between the major league umpires and management over compensation for the expanded league championship series, it was announced Tuesday.

A spokesman for Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth said that Nixon, 72, was chosen by the Major League Umpires Assn. and the American and National League presidents. He said that Ueberroth had not been involved in the selection.

Richie Phillips, general counsel for the umpires’ union, said that Nixon, who resigned the presidency in 1974, was “a longtime friend of baseball and a man who both sides can trust and have confidence in.” The former President was a frequent spectator at Angel games when he lived in San Clemente and has attended major league games in the New York area since moving back East in 1979.

The Associated Press reported that Nixon is expected to hold a hearing either Friday in New York or Saturday in the city where the World Series will open.

The umpires reached an agreement after a brief strike last year that called for payment of $10,000 per umpire for the 12 men working the two league championship series, and a payment of $160,000 to a pool for other umpires who were not chosen to work. That agreement was reached, however, when the playoffs were best-of-five series. They were expanded to best-of-seven this year, and the umpires want more.

Nixon has written several books and traveled widely since quitting the Presidency as a result of the Watergate scandal. This is the first time he has been called upon as an arbitrator.