European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Unday augusts 1994 sports the stars and stripes Page 35 a amp is Fol 5 a fan in Cleveland weighs in with his comment on the longstanding dispute Between baseball owners and players. Lengthy loss of baseball hurts Only working stiffs George Vecsey a or Frey Vecsey what do you think is there going to be a strike athe Man works at one of the Ball Parks. He lives on the tips people give him. A this could be a Long one huh a the Man asked me. A they could still be out next season right a in be been a reporter too Long to get whipped around by labor or management during a contract dispute but i nod my head and Tell the Guy v a they with these people you never  my Friend winces. He and All the other working stiffs could get Hurt if they can to stuff a few wet and worn dollars into their pockets every Home game. I see them every time i go to the Ball Park. I get a kick out of the Ushers brushing past the Gaggle of reporters outside the Metsy locker room in the Depths of Shea stadium a watch out working men coming through a they shout mostly serious. They Hus tie for their Bucks. A. So do the vendors lugging trays up and Down the narrow aisles. So do the people who serve in the restau rants and the press rooms. So do the clubhouse men who pick up the dirty laundry the players dump on the floor who nope the players remember to write a Check in Case they go out on strike on Friday. T the owners i done to believe a word they. Say. If they re not making enough Money let them sell their teams to some other Rich people. I hate the idea of the Pittsburgh pirates the team of Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente possibly being moved to some Nouveau Sun Belt Oasis but there is Money out there for baseball teams. That tells me  players by accepting All the Money the owners were tossing around like drunks on a Binge the players a have Long Smice moved out of the category of organized labor. If they Haven to saved enough Money from their six and seven digit incomes to get by for a month or three that a their problem. ,. The fans in a not sure i identify with All this Boycott talk. Its been Freedom of Choice All along. The fans pay their Money for their own entertainment. The athletes actually hear the Boos when they strike out or give up a Home run they sense the fans ambiguous feelings to commentary Ward them. If the ans knew How much contempt most professional athletes have for them they would be Hor rifled. The players perform. In a not sure How much else they owe the fans. Being a role Model that a just stuff the clubs and the sponsors and the agents made up to make More Money from the fans. The owners Are business people and the players Are All freelance entertainers All of them out to make a Buck at our expense. The worst thing the owners do is mooch tax Breaks and renovated stadiums and new roadways from municipalities the Way Yankee owner George Steinbrenner is doing. The fans tax dollars helped buy sports cars for millionaire athletes but the fans knew that before this contract ran out. What a the Point in making a protest before the thursday night deadline my advice is go catch one More game in person or on the tube. Enjoy it while you can. It could be a Long time. And if there a no baseball game come Friday a we will get by a As the grateful dead chant. A we will  there Are enough movies on the tube and the local deca plex. Done to we All know somebody we could invite Over for a Tea or a Beer we could take up Reading again As bizarre As that . My wife informs me a few tiles just popped off the Wall. Funny i Hadnot noticed. A in i sports you still want sports for those of you who can tolerate three hours grinding along with 12 minutes of action professional football is coming around again. Our Callow dream team ii is in the world basketball tournament up in Canada. Too bad they did no to Start it next week. For the last 17 Tennis fans left in the world the . Open incoming in three weeks. Note to italian television i want to see the Padua Samp Doria soccer game on sept. 4 in Case Alexi Lalas plays in the opener. And it wont be Long before Mark Messier and Charles Oakley resume mucking it up in the Corners. Its been a great baseball season and maybe it will end with a great big asterisk. If so we All have real lives. Done to we i done to care about the owners or the players not one bit. I Only care about the people at the Ball Park who work hard for Dollar Bills. The new Yoffy Tim _ of s owner suggests open books by Murray chass tilt new York times. Peter Angelos thinks big. That a not surprising for a Man who with his partners paid a big Price a $173 million a for the Baltimore orioles. With another baseball strike a near certainty Angelos conceives of nothing less than a plan he says would eradicate once and for All the ongoing War Between the games management and labor teams. It is an idea that perhaps stemmed from a comment by Mike Mussina an economics major at Stanford before he became an Oriole Pitcher. A the owners Are making tons of Money a Angelos quoted Mussina As saying. A. A i say to our Side a the $173 million Man said a if this Young Man with his academic background and High level of intelligence believes that and we re losing $100 million a year weve dropped the Ball. The key is to inform the players let them really understand what the facts Are financially. If baseball has a problem let the owners prove it. The owners should put their books on the  but Angelos does no to want to put the books on just any table be wants Titan to be placed on a table surround Herlihy distinguished members of a presidential commission a Blue ribbon panel headed by a a person perceived to have Complete integrity a member of the supreme court or somebody like  representatives of both sides Angelos would participate Angelos said and major accounting firms could be hired to lend their expertise. A it seems to me a he said a the first obligation the owners have is to prove without any fear of refutation that there is a $100 million shortfall in 1994 and there will be that plus in �?T95. Based on what in be been shown in owners meetings i m convinced there a a shortfall a crisis and i support the owners position 100 percent. A but let the chips fall where they May. If that turns out not to be the Case id have to reassess my position and others would too. If its established that losses and claims of losses Are artificial obviously there would be owners who  support the position advanced by the owners. Then wed have to take another  _ at least Angelos added the owners and the players would be done with the part of the dispute in which one Side makes claims and the other dismisses them As being untrue. A that portion has been with us for 25 years a he said. A a Long term solution or approach is needed to eliminate the acrimony.�?�. The last negotiations in 1990, produced an economic study committee that seemed to spend forever scrutinizing baseball a economic health. A another study committee Isnit going to do anything but update those statistics a Richard Ravitch the owners chief labor executive said. A a they la find what we be  not if the panel looked deeply enough Union officials believe. They say that the owners books done to Tell enough about the games financial state. Fine. Let them Tell the panel members where to look and what to look for to get at the truth if the truth Isnit what the owners Are expressing. The idea is to get to the Core of the dispute and resolve it. Angelos recognizes that his idea  be sufficient to deter the players from walking out Friday. Ravitch said the suggestion is a a disguised Way of saying once again defer dealing with the Cost Issue in  the owners he added  unequivocally we will not defer the Issue any longer. If the Angelos idea could Settle the Issue As he thinks it could the owners would Benefit in the Long run from agreeing not to implement their salary Cap in the off season so that the players  strike now. Angelosk a commission certainly could finish its work before the end of next season. If the owners Are con a corned about the economic stability of the poorer clubs take the Money the Richer clubs would have lost during a strike a Angelos says the orioles alone will lose $10 million to $15 million a and give it to their poorer Brethren for 1995 in the name of Revenue sharing