White Makes Charlton Eligible to Face Braves : Baseball: National League president says he wants Reds to be at full strength against Atlanta.

National League President Bill White put three days of Cincinnati reliever Norm Charlton’s suspension on hold Monday, making him eligible for the Reds’ three-game series against the Atlanta Braves that began Monday night.

Charlton began serving a one-week suspension Sunday for intentionally hitting the Dodgers’ Mike Scioscia with a pitch. But White decided Charlton should be activated against Atlanta.

That left the Reds with their three best relievers: Charlton, Randy Myers and Rob Dibble. Only Myers pitched during the Reds’ 4-0 loss Monday night.

“With the close pennant race in the Western Division, it is imperative that all teams play with their full complement of players in order to guarantee that the competition is fair and balanced,” White said.

Brave Manager Bobby Cox saw it as another reason for changing the major leagues’ system of dealing with suspensions.

“It’s not right,” Cox said. “There has to be a system in baseball where this doesn’t happen. Give them a 24-hour appeal and get on with it. This way, you can pick your spots.”

Charlton was suspended after saying that he hit Scioscia with a pitch Sept. 9 for stealing signs, and threatening to hurt him again the next time he faced him. White handed down the suspension one week later at the start of a two-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Charlton appealed, putting the suspension on hold. He dropped his appeal Sunday with one week left in the season so the penalty wouldn’t carry over to next season.

“I don’t really understand it,” Charlton said. “There’s this thing called the integrity of the game that Pete Rose got kicked out for. They said Pete Rose might ruin the integrity of the game. Yet Bill White suspends me against L.A. I drop the appeal, and he makes me play (against Atlanta).”

Charlton will go back on suspension once the Brave series ends; Cincinnati will close its season with three games at San Diego. Charlton hopes he isn’t forced to serve the rest of his suspension next season.

“My first responsibility is not to Los Angeles. My first responsibility is to the Reds,” Charlton said. “When we got down to the last seven games, I made a decision (to serve the suspension). I didn’t want to take it into next year.”

Asked what he thought was White’s reasoning, Charlton said, “If I answer that, I’ll be suspended for another week. I don’t try to think for other people. But I don’t understand why he suspended me against Los Angeles and forced me to play against Atlanta.”