European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 34 the stars and stripes sports wednesday june 8, 1994 Williams climbs on bandwagon born la Williams swings big Bat in Yankees 136 Victory Over rangers monday night. File by Ben Walker a baseball writer after two innings it looked like everyone on the new York Yankees except Crnic Williams would get a big hit. By the end of the game monday night though Williams was the Only hitter the Yankees were talking about. Williams homered twice including a grand slam and drove in a career High seven runs As the Yankees routed the Texas rangers 17-7, a a it a really Nice to have a Good game a Williams said. A a in be been trying to stick to my approach to the game Ana its really paying Jimmy key 8-1 won his seventh straight decision and new York ended a four game losing Streak. The loss Cost Texas a Chance to reach ,500 for the first time this season. Williams was benched twice during the weekend and began the night batting ,220. He wound up hitting the first grand slam Ever at the Ballpark in Arlington. Williams hit a two run Homer in the fourth As the Yankees took a 10-0 Lead. But it was his running catch in Center Field that kept new York ahead 10-6 in the fifth inning and his rib single in the eighth that caught the attention of manager Buck Showalter. Quot that catch and base hit were the two key plays in the game a Showalter said. A some people lose sight of that. I the switch hitting Williams homered from both sides going to the opposite Field both times. Wade Boggs and Mike Gallego also homered for the Yankees. Jose Canseco and will Clark each had hits and scored in the fourth and fifth innings for Texas. In other monday games mariners 5, indians 4 Felix Fermin traded from Cleveland to Seattle in the of season hit a sacrifice Fly in the eighth inning that ended the indians eight game winning Streak. Ken Griffey or. Hit his 23rd Homer most in the majors and first in eight games for the Host mariners. American league Eric Anthony in a l-for-33 slump started the eighth with a double Mike blowers sacrificed and Fermin hit a Fly Ball to Center. Twins 8, Angels 2 Kevin Tapani won his sixth straight Start and Minnesota sent California to its seventh loss in eight games. Tapani 7-2 gave up one run in seven innings. He has a 2.08 Era during his winning Streak. Kirby Puckett and Scott Leius hit two run homers off Phil Leftwich 3-5. Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds homered for the Host Angels tigers 11, red sox 5 Tim Belcher pitched another Good game and Detroit 27-27 reached the .500 Mark for the first time this season Boston lost its fourth in a . Tony Phillips who had the first two Homer game of his career sunday hit a two run triple in the fourth inning that put the Host tigers ahead for Good. Alan Trammell homered and drove in three runs. Belcher 4-8 won for the fourth time in five starts. He gave up three runs in seven innings. Joe Hesketh 3-4 was chased before he got an out in the fifth. Orioles 4, royals 2 Mike Mussina improved to 61 lifetime against the royals and 4-0 in Kansas City. Mussina 8-3 pitched 7v& innings and Lee Smith closed for his 22nd save. Mike Devereaux drove in two runs for Baltimore. The orioles took a 3-2 Lead in the sixth on a sacrifice Fly by Leo Gomez Brewers 9, athletics 6 Jose Valentin homered and drove in four runs and visiting Milwaukee gave Oakland its fourth straight loss. Cal Eldred 6-6 won his third in a Row despite giving up five runs in seven innings. Mike Fetters pitched the ninth for his sixth save. By Murray chass a High ranking executive of an american league team asked a reporter the other Day what the chances were that the players would strike later this season. Told that the chances were very Strong that the players would strike very Likely in August the executive was clearly bothered that management people had not been appraised of the serious nature of the threat. A a it a been kept very quiet in baseball circles a he said. A no one knows enough about it. When someone mentions something about a strike everyone is hushed about 1 he did no to mean hushed As in if we done to talk about it it wont happen. People in management he was saying have Little knowledge about the labor front and they have received no intelligence about the possibility of a strike. In ownership circles there is talk of gloom and doom but not because of the threat of a strike. The atmosphere is Bleak because owners of a sizable number of teams believe they face financial doom if they done to get the salary Cap they covet. Against this backdrop the owners Are having their quarterly meeting in Cincinnati this week. They will address the labor negotiations wednesday and thursday and their chief labor executive Richard Ravitch will emerge with a salary Cap proposal that will Speed up the bargaining process that almost certainly will result in the eighth work stoppage in the last eight labor negotiations. In baseball As in any sport a 1.000 percentage is the ultimate goal whether in a team s won lost record or a commentary players individual performance. No one Ever reaches that goal though. That baseball a owners and players should achieve it in work stoppages is not conducive to the Good health of the game or the business. Some owners would like to avoid this seasons stoppage or at least postpone it for a year or two. They would do that by extending the collective bargaining agreement that expired at the end of last year for another year or two. The club executive who asked about the strike possibility also asked if the players would agree to an Extension. But the players willingness to do that matter because the owners who want an Extension rather than a stoppage done to have the numbers or the clout to table the salary Cap proposal. A you can to put this decision off forever a said one member of management. A every year you put it off the tougher it is to achieve. There san immense Cost in deferring the owners will discuss the proposal in Cincinnati. Ravitch docs not need a vote authorizing him to make the proposal but he needs to know that a vast majority of the owners support his position. He is not expected to encounter serious opposition though some of the More militant owners May think he is being too generous in his initial proposal. Once he has the support he seeks Ravitch will present the Long awaited proposal to Union officials at a bargaining session in new York next tuesday. Two Days later the unions executive Board will meet in Chicago to discuss the proposal and the possibility of a strike. The Board will meet again in Pittsburgh july 11, Force strike the Day before the All Star game. It is at that second meeting that the Board is expected to set a strike Date. A frequently asks what the players want this time. This time it s what the owners want and the players done to want. The players would strike preemptively before the owners could declare a Legal impasse in the talks and implement their Cap for next season. Some owners done to think the players would strike because they want to forgo their Large salaries. But the owners have made that mistake in previous negotiations. In 1981, Ray Grebey their Chiet negotiator told the owners the players strike because they give up their pay. When they struck he told them they a be Back As soon As they missed their first paycheck. Fifty Days later the strike ended when the owners ran out of strike insurance. If any players might have been wavering this time the owners did Donald fehrs work for him in solidifying and unifying them. Two weeks ago in los Angeles their negotiators presented the players with a hot of proposals demanding give backs. If any doubts about opposition to a Complex salary Cap existed the series of give backs left no ambiguity. Players could easily understand what it would mean to receive credit for Only 50 percent major league service when they the disabled list instead of 100 percent or not to receive the Long established Spring training allowance if they lived in the areas where their teams train. The salary Cap is the Only Issue that really matters in these talks. The owners Only muddied the negotiating water and splashed themselves with it with the los Angeles proposals. The new York time
