Strike Date

The Major League Baseball Players Association has set an Aug. 30 strike date, putting pressure on the players and owners to reach a new labor agreement or risk the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972. Bargainers have just two weeks to avert a strike that could wipe out the final month of the regular season and - in the worst case - mirror the 1994 dispute that vexed fans and caused the cancellation of the World Series. The decision to set the strike date was made yesterday in a conference call of union player representatives.

NEW YORK -- While negotiators for the baseball players continue to ask questions about the owners' proposals, the owners' negotiators continue to wait for the players' first proposals."

When Tom Bolton lost his touch against left-handed hitters, he also lost his job. And that probably isn't even the worst of it.Because rookie Armando Benitez was so impressive in his first two major-league appearances, Bolton became the odd man out when the Orioles brought Arthur Rhodes in to pitch last night's game against the Minnesota Twins. After an impressive start, the veteran had fallen on tough times, and the luxury of two left-handers in the bullpen was one manager Johnny Oates no longer could afford.

As Orioles pitcher Jason Johnson continues to move forward in his return from shoulder tendinitis, he also is pulled in other directions that take his mind off the field. Johnson confirmed again that he would make Friday's start in Detroit after being activated from the disabled list. He spent part of yesterday engaged in a conference call with the union hierarchy and baseball's other player representatives, with updates provided on labor negotiations and the issue of steroid testing. "I think the majority of the guys, they want something done as far as steroid testing is concerned," he said.

NEW YORK -- The Major League Baseball Players Association has decided to strike sooner rather than later, setting Aug. 12 as the deadline for a work stoppage that could wipe out the last 52 days of the season and baseball's newly expanded postseason tournament.Union director Donald Fehr made the announcement late yesterday afternoon at the Intercontinental Hotel, where union and management negotiators had concluded a contentious meeting Wednesday without making progress toward a new labor agreement.

Maybe that's what will happen in Milwaukee during the next few days, but a gathering of baseball's player representatives in Chicago tomorrow could provide a little rain for Bud Selig's hometown parade. The Major League Baseball Players Association will convene an important executive council meeting the day before the midsummer classic, the expressed purpose of which is to give player reps an update on the current collective-bargaining negotiations with ownership. There also are rumblings of a darker agenda - speculation that union officials will discuss possible strike scenarios and may even set a strike date.

MILWAUKEE -- Orioles players and owner Peter Angelos agree on at least one thing: The owners should not have withheld the $7.8 million All-Star Game payment to the players' pension fund, a move that caused the players to discuss pushing up the strike date to yesterday, before they decided to keep it at Aug. 12.They disagree on the intent of the move.Orioles player representatives Mike Mussina and Jim Poole were on a conference call with union officials and player representatives from other clubs yesterday.

The baseball labor negotiations sailed into uncharted waters yesterday when Don Fehr called the owners "provocative."What, is Jerry Reinsdorf going around talking tough in a Speedo bathing suit? Are the owners attempting to distract the players with a Gene Autry fold-out?George Steinbrenner in the role of un provocateur? Thanks, but no thanks.Of course, Fehr was referring not to that kind of provocation, but the other kind. You know, the get-real-mad kind.The players were peeved that the owners withheld a $7.8 million payment to the players' pension fund.

MILWAUKEE -- Orioles players and owner Peter Angelos agree on at least one thing: The owners should not have withheld the $7.8 million All-Star Game payment to the players' pension fund, a move that caused the players to discuss pushing up the strike date to yesterday, before they decided to keep it at Aug. 12.They disagree on the intent of the move.Orioles player representatives Mike Mussina and Jim Poole were on a conference call with union officials and player representatives from other clubs yesterday.

They went and did it. Representatives of the Major League Baseball Players Association set an Aug. 12 strike deadline on Thursday, leaving just two weeks to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement and avert another in a series of labor-related work stoppages.So what happens now? The negotiations should intensify during the next 13 days as the deadline approaches, though that is about all that anyone can predict with any degree of certainty.There are a lot more questions than answers, but what follows is an attempt to answer some of the common questions that have arisen since the union drew its line in the sand.