‘Calm Before the Calm’ Marks Day 18 of Strike

Bud Selig, baseball’s acting commissioner, and Richard Ravitch, the owners’ chief labor negotiator, insisted again Monday that solving the industry’s long-term economic problems through a salary cap or an equivalent system is as important as resuming the season.

On Day 18 of the players’ strike, the comments by Selig and Ravitch underscored a view expressed by Gene Orza, associate general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., who said: “All the outward signs point to the season being over already.”

Outward signs?

Orza said there has been no change in a timetable the owners have been pursuing for two years. “They seem determined to break the union and force a salary cap down our throats, and I just don’t know what we can do about it,” he added.

The union is using the strike as financial leverage against management, but it can’t stop the owners from declaring an impasse and unilaterally implementing a new compensation system when the scheduled season is over.

The sides will meet separately with federal mediators Wednesday in New York, but no negotiations are scheduled.

“It’s the calm before the calm,” Orza said of the lack of activity.

He said the union assumes that the owners have a critical date in mind for reassessing the status of the season, but “then again they may not, in which case the season may be over. The integrity of the postseason has already been compromised to an unfortunate point.”

It has been speculated that the playoffs and World Series can be saved only if the season resumes by mid-September. Donald Fehr, executive director of the union, said Monday that players have considered going back to work through the end of the regular season, collecting their last paychecks, then striking again in the postseason, when the owners have $140 million in TV revenue at stake.

“We’ve thought about it, but not seriously,” Fehr said. “Either the owners want to make a deal or they don’t. I’ve never thought they did, but we’ll know soon enough.”

Said Ravitch: “We’ll do everything humanly possible to save the postseason, but saving the game for the future rates the highest priority, which is why the owners are not willing to roll (the negotiations) over for a year. I’m not aware of any owner who has suggested abandoning the central issue, which is dividing revenue with the players on a percentage basis.”

Although there is no indication that the union will agree to a salary cap, Ravitch said he was confident the bargaining stalemate will be resolved within two weeks.

Reached in Milwaukee, Selig said he didn’t believe this was the critical week in regard to resuming the season, adding: “But we’ll be on dangerous ground shortly. Time is running. We need to sit down and make a deal, but I’m not sure there’s a magic date by which the teams have to get back in condition.”

In Los Angeles, owner Peter O’Malley said the Dodgers continue to support Ravitch and the salary-cap proposal but warned: “Both sides must show more flexibility in the days ahead, or the balance of the season is in jeopardy. I urge the mediators to get both sides back to the table as soon as possible.”