BASEBALL

Maryland Governor Parris Glendening signed into law Monday a bill that bars replacement players from taking the field at Camden Yards.

“This bill is extremely important to doing what we can to have real baseball in Maryland,” said Glendening, a Baltimore Oriole fan.

Under the law, no games can be played at Camden Yards unless at least 75% of the players were on major league rosters in 1994.

The measure was introduced by Baltimore-area lawmakers who want to back Oriole owner Peter Angelos’ stance against the use of replacement players.

Angelos has angered his fellow owners, and the American League has threatened him with fines of up $250,000 for each missed game, suspension or even the loss of this franchise.

Baseball lawyers have said in recent weeks that the league probably will order the Orioles to forfeit any games with replacements that the teams misses. Lawmakers said that the law allows Angelos to argue that he was forbidden by the state, which owns the stadium, from using strikebreakers.

Supporters of the bill also argued that replacement ball would be an inferior product that could undermine the game’s popularity and threaten the state’s investment in Camden Yards.

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Three more Cincinnati Reds minor leaguers decided to become replacement players. Eight minor-leaguers have changed their minds and agreed to become replacements in the past two days.