BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Owners Prevail, Keep Exemption

A Senate committee unsympathetic to either side in a dispute between baseball team owners and players defeated a proposal Thursday that backers said would forestall a players strike.

The Senate Judiciary Committee rejected a bill by Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), that would remove major league baseball’s antitrust exemption in labor matters.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the panel, said baseball owners were “not a group that seems to be particularly concerned about anything except their self interests and the players are right up there with them.”

The committee rejected the bill, 10-7.

The players’ union said the bill would have helped forestall a walkout.

“Regrettably, the interests of the fans were ignored, and the interests of the owners’ cartel protected,” Donald Fehr, head of the players’ union, said. “This vote continues the state of affairs which has resulted in a strike or lockout every time major league players and owners go to the bargaining table.”

Bud Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and chairman of the ruling executive council, said he was pleased by the vote.

“It will allow the collective bargaining process to continue unimpeded,” he said.

Professional baseball has held an antitrust exemption since a 1922 Supreme Court decision. It precludes the Major League Baseball Players Assn. from suing team owners, and union officials say that could lead to the game’s eighth work stoppage since 1972.

If baseball were subject to antitrust laws, the union could decertify, as the NFL Players Assn. did, and sue. That would move the confrontation into court while play continues.

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Chicago Cub broadcaster Harry Caray, apparently overcome by the heat, fell on a set of steps at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami but was pronounced fine after hospital tests.

Caray, who won’t give his age but is believed to be in his mid-70s, was listed in stable condition at Parkway Regional Medical Center and will remain in the hospital overnight for observation, said hospital spokeswoman Lynn Friend.

Caray cut and bruised his face when he fell.

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Larry Walker of the Montreal Expos was suspended for four games by National League President Leonard S. Coleman Jr. Walker received the suspension, effective today, and was fined an undisclosed amount for charging the mound and provoking a bench-clearing brawl in a game on June 14 against Pittsburgh. . . . Phillie outfielder Lenny Dykstra was listed in good condition at a Philadelphia hospital after having his appendix removed. Dykstra will be out two to three weeks.