Play Ball! City Section Reinstates 4-A Playoffs

As a result of the settlement of the Los Angeles schoolteachers’ strike, the City Section has reinstated the 4-A Division baseball playoffs.

City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness and a group representing the 4-A coaches hammered out a plan Thursday morning that calls for first-round games today and the next three rounds to be played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The final is scheduled for Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Teams that survive the first round of the 16-team tournament will be allowed to practice either Saturday or Monday, a school holiday. In addition, the City has instituted a pitching limit for next week, limiting a player to 14 innings over three games.

Harkness had canceled the playoffs Tuesday because of a coaches’ boycott stemming from the strike against Los Angeles Unified School District. The 11-day-old strike was settled Thursday and teachers are expected back in school today.

A group of 18 4-A coaches had voted last week to boycott the playoffs as part of the strike. Harkness announced the cancellation after a poll of the schools whose teams had qualified for the playoffs revealed that only a handful were willing to field teams without the coach of record. District rules state that the school official coaching a team must be a credentialed employee.

Harkness, who had insisted that the playoffs could not be postponed because of conflicts with academics, reinstated the postseason tournament because the new format calls for no extension of the season.

“From the first day the coaches talked about the boycott, an extension beyond June 1 was not acceptable,” he said. “I’ve got no problem going back on my decision because this agreement is the best thing for kids who want to finish the season.”

The 4-A baseball coaches had been criticized by parents and district officials because they rejected the recommendation of the Los Angeles City Coaches Assn. that allowed coaches who honored picket lines to continue to direct their teams after school. The strike did not disrupt playoffs in 3-A baseball, golf, gymnastics, softball, swimming, track and volleyball.

“I feel like we fought World War III,” San Fernando Coach Steve Marden said. “This is like a governor’s reprieve. We were eating our last meal and we were down to the dessert. Today feels like a doubleheader victory. We got a contract with the union that we like, and the commitment we had for our teams will be able to be realized.”

Marden played an instrumental role in the reinstatement of the games. When he sensed an end to the strike Wednesday night, he devised a plan for a rescheduled tournament and then gained approval from the boycotting coaches to present the plan to Harkness at a meeting Thursday.

In order to accommodate two wild-card games that were canceled last week, Marden called for games Friday and Saturday in addition to the Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday games. Harkness had ruled that El Camino Real and Gardena would join the 16-team tournament based on better conference records, knocking Birmingham and Cleveland from the tournament.

Harkness ruled against any Saturday games in deference to administrators, who he said have been overworked during the strike.

“There’s been a lot of stress at the schools and administrators have done enough,” he said. “With no advance warning to set up these games, they didn’t need Saturday baseball, especially on a three-day weekend.”

Birmingham Coach Wayne Sink said if put in the same position, he would boycott again.

“My position was simple: If we have to strike, you cannot come back and coach. I haven’t really had any negative feedback from the players,” he said.

Thursday was not a day for negatives for those involved in City baseball. After nearly two weeks of strife, coaches, players, parents and school officials joined to commend the reinstatement.

“We probably had our best practice of the year today,” Kennedy shortstop Gino Tagliaferri said. “We worked out for about 3 1/2 hours and everyone was there. This is our second season. I’m not so happy about going back to school, but this makes it OK.”

Although some teams assembled in time for practice Thursday, word traveled slowly to others. Tim Costic led Monroe to a City championship last year and was named The Times’ Valley Player of the Year. He didn’t learn of the announcement until 4 p.m. and wondered whether players would be prepared for today’s games.

“I’ve been running, taking swings and throwing with my dad, but we haven’t worked out as a team,” he said. “That’s going to hurt us. Some guys maybe haven’t picked up a ball because they thought the high school season was over. I wish the playoffs had started on schedule, but at least we’re playing.”

Others expressed concern about the emotional damage the strike had caused between players and coaches. Some players have said that they are bitter and disappointed because they feel abandoned by their coaches.

“I don’t feel we’ll be together as a team and there is bitterness from players,” Costic said. “Strikes do funny things. Friends before the strike may not be friends now.”

Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano planned a meeting with his players before today’s game against Gardena and conceded that the session could turn ugly. Players have criticized him for the leadership role he played in the boycott and he received a venomous letter from an anonymous parent accusing him of disloyalty to the team.

Rick Evans, father of Chatsworth shortstop Jason, has supported Lofrano and is relieved that the strike is over. He said nothing would keep him from attending today’s game but he issued a warning:

“The coaches have to re-convince the players that they’re on their side again,” Evans said. “The coaches have to win the kids over with some kind of Knute Rockne motivational speech.”

Lofrano is not the fire-and-brimstone type but he realizes that special steps are needed to mend fences.

“We need to clear the air, but I expect hard feelings from the players,” he said. “But the bottom line is that we’re back playing tomorrow. You can’t let those things bother you when you cross the lines.”

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Top-seeded Chatsworth and defending-champion Monroe are among the 16 teams that will play today. Steve Elling’s story, Page 14.