Wilmington Evening Journal - April 3, 1980

Phils to continue training without exhibitions

By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor

CLEARWATER Fla. – Third baseman Mike Schmidt rallied several of his teammates around and said he would try to help them find free lodging.

Catcher Bob Boone encouraged everyone to remain and work out, but emphasized it was up to everyone's own free will.

Ruly Carpenter was preparing a little speech he planned to deliver to his striking employees this morning.

It's not exactly business as usual, but the Phillies were planning last night to resume spring training, minus the exhibition games, at Jack Russell Stadium today. Carpenter, one of the 26 owners who was slapped in the face by the Major League Players Association action Tuesday, planned to open the doors of spring-training facilities.

"All I am doing is following the guidelines set by the Player Relations Committee," said Carpenter. "I will read them the text of the telex I received from Ray Grebey."

On Tuesday, the executive board of the players association, meeting in Dallas, voted to cancel the remaining spring-training games, but agreed to open the 1980 season on time, delaying regular-season strike action until May 22.

If a new basic agreement is not reached between the players union and owners by midnight May 22, a strike will begin on Friday, May 23.

"The workouts will be under the supervision of our manager and coaches," added Carpenter. "I will tell the players that I hope they are professional enough to remain. If they do, their transportation to Philadelphia next Wednesday will be paid by the Phillies. There will be a workout at Veterans Stadium on Thursday and the season (against Montreal) will open on Friday night."

There was some discussion after the team arrived from Cocoa yesterday afternoon that the players would remain here for a day or two, then go to Philadelphia and hold workouts at the Vet.

"No way," said Carpenter. "If they do not work out here, they will be on their own. The Vet will not be open to them."

Effective midnight Tuesday, the players' will no longer receive their spring-training expenses, amounting to $53.75 per day or $376.25 per week. Although the players technically do not receive a salary during the spring, they do get meal money of $25.50 a day, lodging of $12.75 and incidental expenses of $15.50 for a total of $53.75.

"We give the players their envelopes each Tuesday morning, but this week because of the trip to the East Coast, I paid them on Monday," said traveling secretary Eddie Ferenz. "So, really, they have been given their expenses through next Monday."

"That is true," said Larry Bowa, the Phillies' player representative. "I have been told this money will be deducted from our next checks."

Most of the players, still bitter over having been kept in Cocoa on Tuesday night, arrived at Jack Russell Stadium wondering what they would be doing.

"I really don't know what to say," said outfielder Bake McBride. "If they open the park and we have workouts. I am going to stay. If not, I'm going home.”

“I'm in an awkward situation," said rookie pitching standout Scott Munninghoff. "I am trying to make this club and need all the work I can get. This kinda puts a damper on things. I will have to wait until our meeting on Thursday to see what will happen."

When the players walked into the club house, they found their bats and other club-owned equipment missing.

"Everything has been locked up. Orders from Ruly Carpenter," said equipment manager Kenny Bush.

Word quickly spread around Florida that players from most teams bad headed home as early as Tuesday night.

The Phillies were en route by bus from Pompano Beach to Cocoa when they learned of the action taken by the board in Dallas. Instead of returning to Clearwater, they were ordered to continue to Cocoa where they had been scheduled to play Houston yesterday.

This turned out to be a tactical move by Carpenter and Manager Dallas Green to keep the players together until all the facts were gathered. Yesterday morning, Green met with the team before it left the motel in Cocoa. It had been briefed at 1 a.m. by Bob Boone, the National League player representative, and Bowa.

"All we did was bring them up to date on what had happened at the meeting," said Boone. "We entered it with a lot of different ways to go. In the end we did what we felt is best for ourselves and what is best for baseball. We put ourselves in the best position possible, making it definite that we want to play and we don't want to strike. We have got to get the owners' attention; we want them to know we are not kidding, but at the same time we want everyone to know we want to save the season.

"Obviously, the reason we are not playing now is because we are not getting paid and we do not want to add to the revenue the owners can use against us. What we are saying is, give us a proposal. To me, the sad thing about the whole thing is that we went to that board meeting on April 1 and they just fueled our fires because we haven't had anything new to discuss since March 18."

"I am very glad the season is going to open on time," said Carpenter, "but if the compensation issue cannot be agreed upon, I think something very serious might happen. I don't think the players realize what they have done to the fans; they are very, very upset. We didn't sell one ticket yesterday at the Vet.

"It bothered me when some of the players came out and said they wanted to hurt the owners financially. Why? The owners have given the players just about everything they want. They have great salaries, great benefits and yet they want to hurt the owners financially. What is the need for this vendetta?"

Carpenter said the statement by Marvin Miller, executive director of the players association, that the owners were still pouring money in a strike fund for insurance was ridiculous.

"I couldn't believe that," said Carpenter. "The strike insurance we nave was purchased last year to protect us in case there was not a season this year. What insurance company in the world would sell insurance right now knowing the current facts? That would be insanity."

Green said the camp will be run as normal as possible. There will be squad games and he will continue to prepare for the season opener.

"Everything will be the same except for the lack of exhibition games," he said. "I will continue to evaluate our people and make the squad cuts the same as I had planned to do. According to the guidelines, each player must be in condition to open the season on time.

"I hope they have enough professional pride to remain here and get ready for the season. I am going to stress to them that I am sure their opponents, the Pirates and Cardinals and Expos, will be doing that."

Baseball negotiators meet in N.Y.

Associated Press

It's back to Square One for most of the striking members of the Major League Baseball Players' Association – taking batting and fielding practice and possibly playing some intrasquad games just like the pre-exhibition days of spring training.

And it's on to Round Two for negotiators Marvin Miller, executive director of the Players' Association, and Ray Grebey, chief bargainer for the clubowners, who were scheduled to hold their second session with federal mediator Kenneth E. Moffett today in New York.

Having decided to cancel the last week of exhibition games but open the season as scheduled next Wednesday and give the two sides until the Memorial Day weekend to reach a settlement, the players branched out from coast to coast, with those not involved in official or informal workouts promising to stay in shape on their own.

Only two teams – the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres – did not hold some sort of practice yesterday. The Expos refused to work out under their coaches' supervision while the Padres voted to return to San Diego.

Some players were, combining workouts with a chance for a rare April vacation.

After taking batting practice and doing his running, Boston star Carl Yastrzemski said he would work out today and Friday and then spend the Easter weekend at his Florida home.

"I'll be back Monday and be ready to accompany the team to Milwaukee for the season opener," he said.

For others, like Jack Brohamer of the Red Sox, a week without exhibitions won't make much difference.

"I'm going to sit on the bench, as usual," quipped the reserve infielder. "That's how I stay in shape during the season."

With millions of dollars at stake in the ongoing negotiations, some differences crept into the picture, with the owners refusing to pay room and board – a contract requires a player to participate in exhibition games – which brought gripes from some players, who will have to shell out several hundred dollars to stay in camp.

"Because we're going to work out, I think we should be reimbursed, but we won't be," said Baltimore's Mark Belanger.

And Minnesota's Mike Marshall, the Twins' player representative, said he would return home "if my expenses aren't paid."

In addition, the April 1 deadline for the players' modified proposals has passed and they are no longer on the bargaining table. That means, for example, the time period of five years before a player can claim free agency reverts back to the initial proposal of four years and the minimum salary demand goes from a reduced $37,500 back up to $40,000.

Miller and Grebey also were at odds over the latest developments after the Players' Association's executive board decided on Tuesday to call off the remaining 92 exhibition games and set a strike deadline of May 22.

Grebey criticized the Players' Association for not officially notifying the owners of the exhibition strike. "In all my years in this business, that's never happened before," he said.

Miller, meanwhile, rapped the owners' refusal to pay the players' expenses during the mini-strike.

"First, those expenses will be a part of any settlement," he said. "Second, I'm perpetually astonished that businessmen can be so small. For a couple of hundred dollars they're taking the risk of alienating the players and making any settlement that much more difficult. It's lunacy... unless they're trying to provoke a strike. In that case, it's very smart. They'll succeed."

The players' decision will cost the owners money from the final exhibitions – the scrapped three-game Freeway Series between the Califor nia Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers has been extremely lucrative – while the May 22 strike deadline was chosen because attendance generally begins picking up around Memorial! Day. Also, the players will get paid on April 15, May 1 and May 15.

"Hit 'em where it hurts – with those big June dates instead of those April games that dont draw anything," said Philadelphia’s Larry Bowa.

Milier disagreed with the notion expressed by some players that the clear majority supported an opening-day strike. He said the action taken was a consensus that came out of the union’s negotiating subcommittee just prior to the executive board's meeting.

In Daytona Beach, Fla., about half of the Montreal Expos decided to return to their homes. The coaches were ready to supervise a workout but the remaining players said they would practice only if the coaches left, according to team publicist Richard Griffin. The coaches did not leave and there was no workout.

The Padres, meanwhile, voted to return to San Diego. A spokesman said they would look for a place to hold unsupervised workouts. In place of the Freeway Series, the Angels' players lined up California State University at Fullerton while the Dodgers will work out at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The Dodgers voted to play a squad game with the Angels but the California club said no.

The Cleveland Indians said that players who work out daily will receive travel expenses to the club's opener in Anaheim, Calif., but any player missing a workout will have to pay his own way.

Two of the New York Mets' top hands, first baseman Lee Mazzilli and shortstop Frank Taveras, were among 15 players leaving the club's training camp but said they would work out at Shea Stadium in New York today.

Angry Autry would cancel baseball season

Associated Press

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Gene Autry, owner of the California Angels, is angry enough over the most recent action of the Major League Players Association to call off the entire 1980 baseball season.

Autry was still steaming yesterday over Tuesday's action of the players, who called a strike of remaining exhibition games, said they would return to start the regular season on April 9 but will reevaluate negotiations toward a new four-year basic agreement on May 22.

"Frankly, if I had my say and the other owners agreed with me, I'd close down for the season," said Autry. "What's the sense in going out again? It's a waste of our time, their time and a lot of money.

"There's no reason for it and I would just as soon forget the season."

Autry said Tuesday that the players demonstrated bad timing and bad judgment and acted in such a way as to lock themselves out when they walked out on the exhibitions. Yesterday, he said he might probe the sentiment of other owners regarding "a one-year moratorium."

"One of these days, the players are going to have to take a deep look at what their leader has gotten them into," said Autry, referring to Marvin Miller, executive director of the Players Association.

"I've been a member of unions almost all my life and I know that once they get their foot in the door, they're never happy," continued Autry. "They keep wanting more and more with no consideration for the other side.

"There's only so far you can go, only so much water in the well, and for an owner who is trying to do the right things it's all very frustrating.

"You bring your club to spring training to get It ready for the championship season and then it walks away from the competition it needs and the fans who pay the bills. This club isn't ready to play and it's not going to get ready working out on a college field."

Autry referred to the Angels' decision to work out at Cal State Fullerton, near Anaheim. Don Baylor, the team's player representative, called a team meeting yesterday and the players decided to return to their area homes rather than remaining in Palm Springs and working out at their own expense.

Baylor said the Angels will work out daily at Fullerton. Baylor will be in charge of the hitters and outfielder Merv Rettenmund will be in charge of the pitchers. Baylor said that insurance considerations will prevent the team from playing practice games but simulated game conditions will be used.

The Angels, defending American League West Division champions, are scheduled to open the 1980 season on Friday night, April 11 against Cleveland at Anaheim Stadium.

The Angels were to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the annual Freeway Series this weekend, at Anaheim Stadium tomorrow and Saturday nights and at Dodger Stadium Sunday afternoon, but the players' action of Tuesday canceled the series.

Royals’ Terrell becomes footbote to history after dissenting vote

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Spurred by deep religious convictions, Jerry Terrell, an aging utility infielder fighting for a job, has become a footnote in the history of baseball.

Still-unborn generations of trivia experts will some day recall that it was Terrell who cast the lone negative vote in the 971-1 tally by which major league players authorized a strike in 1980.

That Terrell was the union's player representative for the Kansas City Royals at the time will only add to his mystique.

Patiently, the slender Terrell refuses to confirm or deny he was the lone dissenter. But a few days before union head Marvin Miller came to Kansas City's spring training complex in Fort Myers, Fla., to get the Royals' strike authorization vote, he was overheard telling a teammate, "I'll be a scab if I have to.”

And a few of his teammates, while bearing him no animosity, have confided that he is indeed the lone dissenter. They also believe Terrell took his stand because of religious considerations, not because he supports the owners in their bitter dispute with players.

"I am just 1-39th of a team's opinion, and the majority feels the other way," Terrell says. It is not hard to cast the vote. The players know my views, and there is mutual respect."

A lifetime .255 hitter, Terrell came up with the Minnesota Twins in 1973, at one time or another playing every position but catcher. He signed with the Royals as a free agent in 1978 but the most significant year in his career and life, he says, was 1975.

“I'm comfortable at any position," he said. "But if I hadn't given my life over to Christ in 1975, I would have had an ulcer.”

Since he refuses to say whether he cast the lone anti-strike vote, it follows that he would refuse to say why he cast it.

But he stayed in Florida this week when player representatives met in Dallas to vote to cancel the rest of the exhibition season and put off a strike until May 22. Terrell's wife was in Kansas City expecting their third child any time and he wanted to be able to get home at a moment's notice.

"You know me," he said. "God first, family second, and baseball is way down there third on the list."

Terrell says he's not concerned that his spot on the Royals' 25-man roster is in jeopardy.

"God doesn't care if I'm a ballplayer or a gas-station attendant," he said. "Somebody should be able to use a good utility man."