Baseball / Ross Newhan : Owners Should Pay Stiff Price--and They Just May, Eventually

Let me see if I have this right:

On Monday, while the All-Stars are gathering in Cincinnati, arbitrator George Nicolau will begin taking testimony on a contention by the Major League Players Assn. that the baseball owners acted in concert to restrict free-agent movement in the winter of 1987-88.

This is Collusion Grievance III and will begin even before Nicolau has made a decision on Collusion Grievance II, dealing with the winter of 1986-87, and even before arbitrator Tom Roberts assesses monetary damages from the remedy phase of Collusion Grievance I, dealing with the winter of 1985-86.

Does anyone have a scorecard?

Is justice delayed justice denied?

Most agents now believe that the answer to the second question is an emphatic yes . They believe that the owners will win this litigious tripleheader on attrition alone, that a number of the affected players already are or will be out of the game by the time decisions are reached, and that their own union has made the quest for financial compensation so complicated that the remedy phase in Trial I has become mired in endless cross-examination and stalling ploys by representatives of the owners.

On Sept. 21, Roberts ruled that the owners were guilty of conspiracy. He subsequently granted restricted free agency to Kirk Gibson, Donnie Moore and five other players. The question of financial compensation is still being argued. Neither side knows when it will end.

Nicolau will take testimony in the third case Monday and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and then again July 21-22. He has then scheduled a month recess, during which he is expected to deliver his decision in the second conspiracy case. He was initially expected to rule only on the guilt or innocence of the owners, leaving remedial decisions for a subsequent trial.

Now, however, it is believed possible that Nicolau could cite precedent and grant immediate and restricted free agency to several players, including Tim Raines, Jack Morris and Lance Parrish. The question of financial compensation would be left to a remedial trial that might linger as long as the one Roberts is conducting.

The uncertainty of the timetables makes one thing clear: The cloud of conspiracy won’t soon be lifted. How will the two sides discuss free agency in relation to a new collective bargaining agreement when they are already in court on that issue? How are they to negotiate a new agreement when the current agreement, now almost three years old and scheduled to expire at the end of the 1989 season, hasn’t even been printed yet?

It is not a pretty legacy that Commissioner Peter Ueberroth will be leaving. It is not a healthy picture for a sport that prides itself on integrity.

The testimony that was leaked to the Associated Press a few days ago seemed to confirm the often-chronicled opinion that the orders came from Ueberroth, that the clubs blatantly shared information in violation of the bargaining agreement and that there was an equally illegal attempt to restrict or put a cap on free-agent offers. Sanity is one thing. Abstinence is another.

The financial penalties--if and when they come--might deter the owners from continuing the practice, but there should be a stiffer price.

They have violated the trust inherent in a labor agreement, the bond between clubs and players. They should be made to sacrifice their greatest trust, their immunity from anti-trust legislation. Aren’t conspiracies in most other businesses handled through that legislative process, or are we still to believe that baseball is strictly sport?

Mike LaCoss’ shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night was the fourth for the San Francisco Giants in their last five games and put the Giants five games over .500 for the first time.

“I’m very pleased with the position we’re in,” Manager Roger Craig said. “I like our chances. We’re starting to put everything together, and we have 14 games left with the Dodgers. We have a chance to make up a lot of ground.”

Across the Bay, the Oakland Athletics’ 11-game lead of June 5 is down to 4 1/2 games, and Dave Parker is expected to be out of the lineup for six to eight weeks because of a thumb injury.

“The key word about Dave Parker is amazing ,” Manager Tony LaRussa said. “The man has had an amazing career and he didn’t do it with mirrors.

“I expect that he’ll sit out these six weeks and then do something amazing in September.”

In the meantime, the Athletics are hoping that Don Baylor, batting .210 with only 7 extra-base hits in 167 at-bats, can help Jose Canseco and a resurgent Mark McGwire pick up some of the power slack.

“I think he’ll come through for us,” LaRussa said. “Whatever your gut tells you about Don Baylor right now, if it’s negative, check it.”

Chicago Cubs’ Manager Don Zimmer refutes the allegation that he juggled his rotation so that Greg Maddux, who pitches in San Diego today, wouldn’t have to pitch in Tuesday night’s All-Star game.

“I only adjusted the rotation so Greg could pitch a few times on five days’ rest,” Zimmer said. “Remember, this is a young kid and he’s already pitched a lot of innings (Maddux leads the National League). I don’t want to ruin him.”

Zimmer on Rick Reuschel of the Giants: “He throws 19 different speeds. You look fastball, you get a slow one. You look for a slow one, you get a slower one. You look for a slower slow one, you get a fastball. It drives you wacky.”

A June boom seemed to defuse some of the pressure on Boston Red Sox Manager John McNamara, but his status is again tenuous.

With his rotation disintegrating--Bruce Hurst is on the disabled list with a viral infection, Jeff Sellers has a broken hand and Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd is 7-7 with a 5.20 earned-run average--General Manager Lou Gorman said: “I think if the team is 10 or 12 games out at the All-Star break, the pressure will be back.”

The Red Sox were 8 1/2 out through Friday.

New York Mets’ catcher Gary Carter let his sensitivity and paranoia show the other day when he criticized the media for adding to the pressure of a prolonged slump. Carter has only 40 hits in his last 194 at-bats and no homers in his last 154, remaining stuck on career No. 299.

“You guys are trying to run me out of town,” Carter told Met beat writers. “I go through a slump and everyone wants to get rid of me.

“Even if I never hit another home run, so what? How many guys hit 299? I guess everybody has forgotten that the reason I was brought here was to win a world championship. I guess everybody has forgotten that we did that.”

With the releases of Dan Quisenberry, Gene Garber, Thad Bosley and Steve Balboni, the Kansas City Royals have swallowed $2.35 million in base salaries alone this year.

Said General Manager John Schuerholz: “I find it difficult because in some sense it’s an admission of not doing you’re job properly, not making the proper assessment. You don’t like making mistakes in the operation of your business.”

The Royals’ revolving door has left veteran second baseman Frank White dizzy and disturbed.

“No one knows what’s going on around here with all the people coming and going,” he said. “There are more distractions than the Bo (Jackson) thing last year.”

Joe Niekro, who was released by the Minnesota Twins with an $800,000 contract, will earn his salary as the club’s triple-A pitching coach. General Manager Andy MacPhail applauded Niekro’s willingness to return to the bushes and said:

“That’s why you’re not going to get somebody to do it (work in the minors) for the money. These guys could put their money in the bank, draw interest and earn more of a salary than we can pay at the minor league level.”

At 22, having pitched only 70 innings in the big leagues, Al Leiter of the New York Yankees has already worked for three general managers, three pitching coaches and two managers.

“The excitement of it all is pretty amazing,” he said. “I’ve known pitchers who have come here and flipped out, gone bananas. I’m not like that. I try to look at things from a fan’s perspective. I sit here, see what develops and check out how it reads in the paper the next day.”

It will be interesting to see whether the Detroit Tigers can hold on in the American League East if Jack Morris, 7-9 on the season and 1-5 at home, remains in the longest slump of his career.

Morris did not make his last start of the first half, scheduled for Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

“It’s not that I’m not trying, but I stink right now,” he said. “I’ve been feeling the years. I have to work harder.”

Morris said he intends to resume a martial arts regimen that he gave up early in the season because of neck problems. Of his problems at Tiger Stadium, he said: “I like pitching better on the road. Our mound is flat. It’s like the Serengeti Plain. If you want a cheap excuse, use that.”