Donnelly Can’t Make Cut With the Union

The bright red T-shirts were big sellers at Edison Field, the ones that commemorated the Angels’ World Series title on the front and listed the championship roster on the back. Brendan Donnelly’s name did not appear on the shirt.

The Angels might not have won without Donnelly, who posted a 2.17 earned-run average in his rookie season and pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings in the Series. But, because he served as a replacement player during the 1994-95 strike, he is barred from union membership and does not receive licensing revenue.

Don Fehr, the executive director of the union, said Saturday that players have not changed their stance on admitting replacement players. Although a labor agreement was reached last year without a players’ strike or owners’ lockout, Angel player representative Scott Schoeneweis said he believed the union might never agree to admit replacement players, as a deterrent to players who might be asked to participate in games during a future work stoppage.

Fehr met with Angel players Saturday, then met privately with Donnelly. Schoeneweis called Donnelly “a great guy and a great teammate” but said “it would not be an easy task” for him to win the necessary membership approval from players on the union’s executive board.

Fehr, asked why the union could not have permitted Donnelly’s name to appear on the World Series shirts while still withholding revenue from him, declined to comment. Said Schoeneweis: “A true fan knows he’s on the team.”

“I know I was there,” Donnelly said. “A T-shirt isn’t going to change anything.”

Donnelly harbors no illusions about his relationship with the union.

“That’s the way it is,” he said. “I don’t exist in their minds.”

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The Angels do not expect Aaron Sele to rejoin the starting rotation until May 1 at the earliest, and they would not be surprised if he did not return until June 1. Sele underwent surgery in October to repair a torn rotator cuff, and he has yet to throw off a mound.

“I’ve heard the same quote from four different people -- we’d rather have you for the last five months than have you for the first month and have a setback,” Sele said. “It’s not really frustration. The shoe could be on the other foot, and I could have to fight for a job and be released if I didn’t make the club. I’m fortunate the people with the Angels understand how surgeries and rehabs go.”

Sele is in the second year of a three-year, $24-million contract. Schoeneweis and Mickey Callaway are the top contenders to fill his spot in the rotation.

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As Commissioner Bud Selig asked the union to join in banning ephedra, the substance possibly linked to the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler, Fehr noted such products are classified as dietary supplements and are not regulated.

“If something is dangerous for a professional athlete, it’s also dangerous for me and you,” Fehr said. “If it’s out there where anybody can buy it and it’s OK for everybody else, maybe it’s time to reexamine the law.”

Fehr said the union will discuss the issue after toxicology tests on Bechler are completed. He did not concede that the union must act even if Congress does not.

“If this is appropriate for anyone else living in this country, is it inappropriate for you, when whatever else it is you’re doing does not cause a danger to anyone else?” he said. “You’re not flying an airplane.”