European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday february 19, t987 the stars and stripes Page 19 commentary owners find arbitration the real rub one Day Poco looked around the Ockfen Okic swamp though for a moment about conditions in the mud and sagely observed we have met inc enemy and they is give that Lilloo fellow a major league baseball fran Chise fourteen years ago while fighting a holding action against free Agency a Battle they eventually would lose baseball s Bosses agreed to salary arbitration for the hired hands. Bingo there went the War. Perhaps because they arc slow learners it took awhile for the owners1 to figure out thai free Agency was less of a headache for them than arbitration for a free agent to reap a King s Ransom contract some club has to offer it. So if or owner keeps his Check Book zipped Light free Agency need not break his Bank. For evidence of that consider the current unemployed Lalus of Tim Raines Lance Parrish Etal. Even the most penurious owner however can t do a thing about an arbitration award. Lose in that forum and it s Back up the brinks truck boys. Last Friday Detroit Pitcher Jack Morris winning est Pitcher of this decade with 113 victories set an arbitration record with a tidy st.85 million Mark lasted Only until first baseman Don mat singly of inc new York Yankees .352 baiting aver age 3 Home runs 113 runt bailed in presented his Case and was rewarded with $1.975 million. Bot results were predictable. Thai Eft management with 13 victories and seven defeats in inc current arbitration Box score. However that log includes some pyrrhic victories. They include for example a 1210,000 award to Daryl Motley who bailed .203 in 77 games last year an spent part of the season in the minors. All of this was greeted with great interest by Cal Vin Griffith former proprietor of the Minnesota twins and the first member of his fraternity to get burned by the arbitration fire in 1974. Three twins pile her Dick Woodson on i fielder Larry Hisle and infielder Steve Braun filed that year and All won costing Calvin a cumulative $18,000. I was disappointed because those players did t bring people into the Park Griffith said. I told those Fellows if they were going to get in they were going to eel it Only through Arbri lation not from me. I did t Mink icy had earned the first Case was Woodson who successfully argued thai his 10-8 record was Worth $211,500. Not the $22,500 Griffith wanted to pay. A mediocre Pitcher Griffith said. We had five or six like next was Hisle who hit .272 and was awarded 129,000 instead of the j23,000 Griffith wanted to pay. A Good Hitler the sex owner decided some what grudgingly and Long after inc fact. Then there was Braun who had batted .283 the previous season and was offered 125,000. He could t run or Griffith said. We should have paid him one third of a major league the final Price was $31,000, which hip pcs to be one half of today s minimum major league salary. What made me mad is that the arbitrators who decided inc cases did t know anything about base Ball Griffith said. They did t know what an rib was or what an Era was. That irritated me. The arbitrators were used to labor cases. They were 5 and-10-Cenl, a an hour Guys and suddenly they were deciding j 30,000, �40,000, $50,000, $100,000cases," they also had heir hands on Calvin s Wallet
