Strike Up a Chord of Uncertainty : Baseball: Local major league rookies and minor leaguers weigh decision over crossing picket line.

The venerable Sparky Anderson pleaded for sanity when major league baseball players went on strike Aug. 12.

“Now is not the time for wild accusations,” he said. “Do it as business people and not from anger. It’s up to all of us now to handle this thing with dignity. This is a chance to show how much class we have, how we handle this.”

The words of the Detroit Tigers’ manager went unheeded. The owners voted to implement the salary cap Thursday, and the strike threatens to disrupt the 1995 season as well.

For established major league millionaires from the area such as Bret Saberhagen, Jack McDowell and Todd Zeile, paychecks have been missed during the protracted strike. Yet, it’s tough to drum up much sympathy for their financial plight.

The strike has been an equal-opportunity intruder into the lives of less-experienced professional baseball players.

There are rookies such as Phillie catcher Mike Lieberthal whose careers were just gaining steam.

There are standout triple-A players such as Pirate first baseman Rich Aude poised to make the big jump.

There are players such as Cub minor league pitcher Derek Wallace who are union members simply because they were added to a team’s 40-man roster to protect them from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

There are double-A players such as Athletic outfielder Joel Wolfe anxious about the logjam created by the major-league work stoppage.

There are Class-A players such as Phillie infielder David Waco who will be the most tempted by the prospect of playing on replacement teams.

“The strike in a sense was like a bomb. It doesn’t discriminate, it affects everyone in professional baseball,” said Wolfe, a former Chatsworth High player who had a strong season in double A last summer.

The walkout had a particularly jarring impact on three rookies who attended area high schools: Lieberthal, Brewer third baseman Jeff Cirillo and Angel pitcher Andrew Lorraine. All three were sent back to the minors by general managers who wanted them to continue playing.

Once the strike became inevitable, Lieberthal viewed the demotion as positive.

“They wanted me to get more at-bats, to play another three weeks, which was fine,” said Lieberthal, a Westlake High graduate. “I agreed with them. And I got paid for an extra month-and-a-half.”

Other players were expecting to be promoted to the major leagues when rosters would have expanded Sept 1. Their hopes were dashed by the strike.

Aude, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ first baseman of the future after batting .281 with 15 homers and 79 runs batted in for triple-A Buffalo, N.Y., last summer, had a brief stint with the Pirates when rosters expanded in 1993. He fully expected to make a strong impression last September.

“It put a big-time wrench into those plans,” said Aude, a Chatsworth High graduate. “In ’93 I was kind of nervous when I was called up. The second time around I would have been more aggressive and been able to handle the pressure. It would have been fun.”

The uncertainty continues for Aude and Lieberthal, both of whom are on their team’s 40-man roster. Should the strike extend into spring training, it is unclear whether they would be crossing the picket line by reporting to camp.

“As of right now, the union won’t allow anyone on the 40-man to go to spring training,” Lieberthal said. “That could change. But if it’s a matter of crossing the lines, I won’t be doing that.”

Neither will Aude. Both said they recognize that veteran players are sacrificing income to ensure that future major leaguers retain maximum earning power.

“Players in the last one or two years of their career are really sacrificing, and they are doing this for younger players,” Lieberthal said. “I have to respect that.”

Unlike Aude and Lieberthal, Wallace has yet to taste a day of major league play. He is a member of the players’ union nonetheless because the Cubs placed him on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

“Technically, I’m on strike,” said Wallace, a product of Chatsworth High and Pepperdine who split last season between double A and triple A.

Like Aude and Lieberthal, Wallace is not part of the 25-man roster, putting them in a sort of limbo. The union says that as members, they should not report to camp. The owners say that because they are not part of the 25-man roster, they will be assigned to triple-A teams.

Forcing players like these to return to the minors creates a logjam for double-A and Class-A players such as Wolfe and Waco.

“The strike has made everything stagnate,” Wolfe said. “It is one big, bad thing, a minor leaguer’s worst nightmare.”

The decision to cross picket lines is more difficult for players in the low minors. “I thought it through and decided I wouldn’t play unless they told me I’d lose my job,” said Waco, a former Chatsworth High infielder who batted .339 last summer. “The last thing I want is to be blacklisted.”

But the clock is ticking for the 24-year-old Wolfe and 25-year-old Waco. They have reached an age where they will be considered major-league prospects for only a few more seasons.

“It is make-or-break time,” Wolfe said. “When a guy is doing well and there is no place to go, it’s a real bad thing. It limits everyone’s opportunities.”

That is why he would consider playing on a replacement team.

“It’s easy to say, ‘I won’t cross a picket line,’ but if you are talking about $100,000 to $150,000 to play in the big leagues it will be very difficult to say no,” Wolfe said. “But I don’t want to be called a scab. I want to make it because I’m good enough.”

The strike punctured a season that was offering tremendous promise for minor leaguers. With some teams looking to dump overpriced, aging players, the future was bright. “The front office was telling us over and over, they are getting rid of big salaries and going with young guys,” Wolfe said. “Everyone said that this is the best time for minor leaguers.”