It was exactly a year ago that Richard Ravitch was piped aboard. Signed for $750,000 a year, $100,000 more than the salary of then Commissioner Fay Vincent, Ravitch was hired to lead the owners in their quadrennial battle with the Players Association.
”Go get `em kid, we`ll all be right behind you,” Ravitch was told.
Ravitch was delighted. ”That`s what we`re going to need,” he said,
”100 percent support.”
Ravitch, a personable New Yorker with a three-page list of business and civic achievements, has since been forced to adjust. Three months ago he lowered his sights to a three-quarters majority. Three weeks ago he was down to two-thirds and, according to recent published reports, is now requesting a simple 51-49 majority.
Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the players` union, who is wise in the ways of management-labor negotiations, never moved unless 90 to 95 percent of his constituency was eager for battle. Which is the primary reason Miller had a 15-year record of success at the bargaining table.
I recall one year, in 1972, when the players were embroiled in a pension dispute. Miller suggested the possibility of boycotting the final week of spring training.
The players agreed except for the Cincinnati Reds, who insisted they had to play an exhibition game on the last Saturday of the spring training schedule.
”It`s an annual charity game,” said Johnny Bench, speaking for his teammates. ”We would like to honor that commitment.”
In that case, Miller said, there would be no boycott. He didn`t want any unecessary pressure on the Cincinnati players. Also, he realized the importance of a united front. The Reds didn`t play that exhibition game, and, as usual, the stoppage was successful.
The memory of this episode was brought to mind when I encountered Ravitch late Tuesday afternoon. An athletic fellow, with a bounce in his walk, Ravitch was returning to his room at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort after a round of tennis. When I asked how it was going, he shrugged and said, ”We`ll see tomorrow.”
Wednesday was tomorrow.
The 28 club owners held a lengthy strategy meeting. The question: Do they exercise their option of re-opening the collective contract with the union? Or will they want another year? The agreement expires Dec. 31.
During the break for lunch, I asked a long-time mogul if unanimity was likely.
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”There is still a significant split,” he replied. ”I can`t tell which side is the majority.”
Later, an owner who is ready for war insisted the militants were gaining. ”There was no vote,” he said ”but when it comes down to it, two-thirds will be for a reopener.”
There are risks in a reopener. In effect, the contract would have lapsed. If negotiations were dragging, the players would have the legal right to strike. The educated guess is that the players would walk out in mid-September, two weeks or so before the end of the regular season. The playoffs and World Series would be at peril.
On the other side, if the owners reopen there is the equally dangerous threat of a management lockout. In that event, the entire 1993 season, or a good portion of it, could be lost.
Two years ago, during a management-labor impasse, Vincent offered a solution. The owners, he said, would end their lockout if the players would waive their right to strike. The union refused to agree.
After the meeting Wednesday, Bud Selig of Milwaukee, the commissioner pro-tem, was asked what Ravitch had to say.
”He reaffiremd what he has learned from the clubs,” Selig said. ”It`s a give-and-take proposition. He`s got to be sensitive to them (the entire ownership), and they have to be sensitive to him. It`s a two-way street.”
Asked if Ravitch is ”happy” in his assignment, Selig said, ”Oh, yes, Dick is very happy.”
Selig concluded with a telling statement:
”This time, all 28 clubs will be involved and make the decision.”
So don`t expect a reopener or a lockout. Ravitch and the owners would be foolish to order a stoppage with a simple majority. Half the clubs would be against a lockout and begin crying for peace as soon as the gates were closed. In addition to discussing their labor problems, the owners listened to Neil Pilson, president of CBS Sports, baseball`s principal network television carrier. Pilson, for several years, has been warning the owners their revenues will be diminished in the next contract.
”We spent a lot of time on television,” said an owner who asked for anonymity.
Was it doom and gloom?
”We don`t deal in doom and gloom. We deal in reality.”
And what`s the reality?
The owner laughed and then said, ”Doom and gloom.”