Umpires Do Not Strike Back After Court’s Judgment Call

A federal judge responded to baseball’s request Friday and issued an injunction, preventing major league umpires from striking for the rest of postseason play.

Richie Phillips, counsel to the umpires’ union, said he did not agree with Judge Edmund Ludwig’s legal interpretation of the issues involved in the Roberto Alomar spitting incident and how it relates to the no-strike clause in the bargaining agreement between the umpires and baseball but that the umpires would not defy the injunction.

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig said that the umpires have agreed to join representatives of the players’ union and major league baseball in a code-of-conduct summit meeting in Phoenix on Nov. 14. Selig said that all aspects of baseball’s suspension and appeal process will be discussed.

“I have asked all the parties to . . . discuss the problems that currently exist in the game and to give everyone the opportunity to clear the air,” Selig said in a statement.

“We must arrive at solutions so that we never again face the kind of conflict that has arisen over the . . . Alomar incident.”

Umpires were outraged at the leniency of American League President Gene Budig’s five-day suspension of Alomar for spitting at umpire John Hirschbeck and wanted the Baltimore Oriole second baseman to serve the suspension during the playoffs rather than at the start of next season.

Umpires had honored Ludwig’s initial order to remain on the job through Thursday, when Budig scheduled a hearing of Alomar’s appeal. But when Alomar withdrew the appeal on instructions from the players’ union, the hearing was canceled and the sides returned to Ludwig’s Philadelphia court for Friday’s injunction hearing, which sources said was virtually scripted by management labor negotiator Randy Levine, who refused comment.

The script permitted Phillips to deliver an indictment of baseball’s leadership in which he said the game “is in a state of very serious decay. There is no longer social significance in baseball. There is only economic significance.”

Phillips argued that the issue involved in the umpires’ boycott threat did not stem from the economic context of the no-strike clause but from issues of safety in the workplace.

Ludwig expressed sympathy for the umpires’ position.

“I agree with much of the arguments made on behalf of the umpires,” he said. “I understand very much why the umpires have reacted this way. As an umpire myself, I understand their authority and dignity is at stake. These umpires are the best. In a way, it is a compliment to them to issue the restraining order.”

He added that “to not grant the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the clubs” in that the umpires are irreplaceable.

However, baseball was prepared to play the rest of the postseason games with replacement umpires, as it has during previous work stoppages.

Selig, who attended the session, said “in no way” did he condone Alomar’s actions but “it is important for us to move forward.”

He said baseball’s disciplinary methods were too subjective and that he hoped the November meeting would produce an agreement on specific penalties for specific offenses, such as instigating brawls or charging the mound.

American League umpire Al Clark, preparing to work the playoff game between the Orioles and Cleveland Indians in Cleveland, said the Alomar incident will not be forgotten quickly.

“We are the honor, honesty and integrity of the game, and we are all hurt very badly,” he said. “What we want to know is, what is next if these actions don’t stop?”

Said Jim Evans, the crew chief at Cleveland, “The fans reflect what goes on on the field. I try to tell managers, ‘OK, a mistake was made, don’t go crazy on me.’ We’re getting to the point where we could get 50,000 fans charging the field because of the behavior of a player.

“John Hirschbeck was personally insulted and physically assaulted. I talked to him and he said it was the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. He’s concerned, like we all are, about the repercussions.”

Fans at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field cheered the umpires Friday and booed Alomar. Some fans mocked him, holding up “spit shields.”

Times staff writer Elliott Teaford contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What They’re Saying

Comments on the Roberto Alomar spitting incident, the decision to suspend him for five games at the beginning of the 1997 season and the judges ruling Friday preventing a strike by umpires:

‘The despicability of the act speaks for itself. The umpire handled it like a true professional, and the punishment was entirely too lenient. But the judge made a ruling. The judge, in the best interest of the game, ordered us to work. In some ways it’s actually a compliment to us to say the playoffs cannot be played without us. . . .

‘I’m not happy with the outcome, but I’m happy that for now it’s over. As far as this summit meeting that’s supposed to take place in November, we’ve been promised that for 20 years.’--UMPIRE TIM TSCHIDA

*

‘I just think it’s shameful that this had to go to a federal judge. This is in-house, baseball, this is our family. This should have been handled in our own house.’--UMPIRE MARK JOHNSON

*

‘I don’t think you’re going to find a player who says [Alomar] wasn’t wrong or shouldn’t be punished. . . . My personal opinion is that if you get suspended late in the year, you get suspended for the playoffs.’--ATLANTA PITCHER TOM GLAVINE

*

‘This was a horrendous decision by [American League President] Gene Budig. I have no ax to grind with Roberto Alomar. I have an ax to grind with the incident. It was a disgusting incident. It’s an abnormal act, a filthy act. This is not an accident that happens. To spit in a guy’s face is absolutely a crime, and he got away with it. . . . It really tells you what people think of our profession and what people you work for think of you.’--UMPIRE BRUCE FROEMMING