Replacement Players

In his heart, Montreal general manager Kevin Malone believes the Expos were the best team in baseball last year. Montreal would've maintained its lead over the Atlanta Braves, he is sure, and swept through the playoffs and World Series and earned riches and rings and revitalized the entire organization.But the strike destroyed all that -- the Expos claim losses of $20 million and, depending on how the next labor agreement is drawn up, could lose three of their best players. If there is restricted free agency, center fielder Marquis Grissom and pitcher Ken Hill are expected to sign in Florida, and ace reliever John Wetteland will go to the Boston Red Sox. Their contracts include no-trade clauses, and Malone says the Expos can't match the offers.

It's only right that the Orioles will offer refunds to season-ticket holders if they use replacement players. But the point is moot, because owner Peter Angelos would never field such a team.Indeed, yesterday's announcement of a refund policy should not be interpreted as a sign that Angelos plans to join his union-busting brethren and put scabs in Orioles uniforms.Rather, it was an attempt to placate angry season-ticket holders who were given less than two weeks to reserve their 1995 seats.

Just wondering:Are you reading any Peter Angelos into the Maryland Senate Finance Committee's recommendation that replacement players be banned from performing on the sacred lawns of Camden Yards this season?* Doesn't it appear as if they're a tad too generous at the Daytona 500 when eight drivers crash their cars and end up walking off with combined prize money exceeding $300,000?* Feeling sorry for good guy and hard worker Tom Gugliotta? The ex-Washington Bullet sent to the Golden State Warriors just a while ago probably caught a break being traded to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves because the Frisco team treated him like he wasn't there.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles general manager Roland Hemond spent part of yesterday calling around Florida, seeking reaction from opposing general managers to his club's stand against replacement players.Hemond won't say exactly who said what. But he did say that some teams indicated a willingness to play on the Orioles' terms -- that is, fielding only players signed to minor-league contracts -- while others are inclined to use their players signed to replacement contracts."Some of them indicated they didn't think" they would play without replacements, Hemond said, "and they said, 'Get back to us. Let's talk again.

Life in the American Hockey League went on as usual for the Skipjacks yesterday, one day after the beginning of the first strike in the 75-year history of the NHL.The Skipjacks players and all AHL players have agreed in their Professional Hockey Players Association contract not to strike, and none will be called up as replacement players for the NHL teams.The NHL owners and the NHL Players Association have agreed that replacement players would not be used the remainder of the regular season or in the playoffs scheduled to start in six days.

Once he learned the nuances of the business, Mike Flanagan made a smooth transition from the playing field to the television booth.It would figure, then, that his move back to the dugout, as the Orioles' new pitching coach, would be routine.It hasn't been that simple.As he prepares for the beginning of spring training Friday, Flanagan doesn't know where his real pitchers will be -- or, more importantly, what they'll be doing."Right now, I'd guess we'll be looking at a lot of these kids," Flanagan said after the final off-season workout at Camden Yards last week.

If not for the strike, Matt Williams or Frank Thomas might hold major-league baseball's single-season home run record and Tony Gwynn might be the most recent .400 hitter.The 71Z2-month labor dispute prematurely ended their challenges to those milestones and refocused attention on another, Cal Ripken's pursuit of Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record.The owners' threatened use of replacement players and the union's refusal to return to work jeopardized Ripken's streak at 2,009 consecutive games, 122 shy of breaking Gehrig's mark.

Predictably, the back-to-work news was greeted enthusiastically by Orioles past, present and future yesterday.Confusion over some of the details and the expected free-agent signing frenzy was far outweighed by relief that the 7 1/2 -month strike finally was over. The next few days will be hectic, especially for those who are unsigned, but to those who were available for comment, the idea of returning to the playing field was all that mattered."That [strike] part of it is over," veteran designated hitter Harold Baines said from his Eastern Shore home.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Suppose the strike continues. Suppose the Orioles stand pat and decline to participate in replacement games once the regular season starts.Now suppose that some Orioles major-leaguer, desperate for money, crosses the picket line and tells the team he's ready to play -- for a team that's not playing.What will the Orioles do then?This brain teaser, a real possibility if yesterday's National Labor Relations Board decision does not end the strike, is something the Orioles' front office hasn't thought about much.

Jim Poole should have reported to spring training yesterday.He should have been throwing soft tosses off the mound, covering first base and running in the outfield. Instead, Poole testified yesterday before the State Senate Finance Committee in support of two bills designed to keep replacement games out of Camden Yards."I can't say I'm very comfortable," Poole, dressed in a gray suit and a Nicole Miller baseball tie, told the committee. "This is not the uniform I'm usually wearing on this date."