Play Ball!

For 95 years, the opening of the major league baseball season has been as much an American rite of spring as viewing the cherry blossoms in Washington. To sentimentalists, the first crack of bat against ball is a sweet sound heard across the nation. To every President since William Howard Taft, opening day has also meant a chance to toss out the first ball and make a hit with the fans. But this year's scheduled opening came and went last week with no hits, no runs, no President,* and one called strike.

Under the circumstances, that one strike was sufficient to retire all the players in big-league baseball. Deadlocked in a dispute with club owners over pension-fund payments, they boycotted all of the scheduled major league games. Across the country, stadiums, freshly mowed (or, in the case of those with artificial turf, vacuumed) in anticipation of the start of the new season, stood empty and silent.

John Allyn, president of the Chicago White Sox, for one, permitted his striking players to practice at their home field. In some cities, youngsters were treated to rare closeups of their favorite stars trying to keep in shape on public parks and school diamonds. It was like the bush leagues. In Los Angeles, a group of wide-eyed boys turned their playground over to Frank Robinson, Maury Wills and other Dodgers. The big-leaguers went through a vigorous workout, using an overturned picnic table as a screen. In Atlanta, another bunch of kids joyfully shagged balls for Home Run Hero Hank Aaron and other Braves at Marist School. Boston Red Sox players tried to stay in shape by working out at Harvard Stadium.

Eleven Hawks. Neither the players, who were not receiving any salaries, nor the owners, who were not selling any tickets, programs, hot dogs or broadcasts, were particularly happy about the strike. The players tried to effect a compromise, paring down their demands; but the 24 owners, dominated by eleven who are considered hawks, seemed as unwilling to give ground as a .400 hitter facing an 0-5 pitcher.

"All you hear from the players nowadays is gimme, gimme, gimme and threat, threat, threat. I'm getting sick and tired of it," complained Oakland Athletics Owner Charles Finley, who has been devoting much of his energy lately to a contract hassle with Pitcher Vida Blue. Other owners reflected the same hard line. Declared Beer Baron Gussie Busch, owner of the St. Louis

Cardinals: "We're not going to give another damn cent. And if they want to strike, let them strike." Gene Autry, the former cowboy film star who now owns the California Angels, said: "If I have to, I can still back that horse out of the barn and make it that way."

In an effort to get the negotiations going again, Marvin Miller, executive director of the Players Association, proposed a plan that he said would not cost the owners a "damn cent" more. To meet player demands for a 17% cost of living increase in the pension plan, Miller suggested using an existing surplus in the pension fund, which is financed out of revenue from network television receipts. The owners refused and turned down a later proposal that the players return to work for two or three weeks while negotiations were going on. They objected to a clause that would have required them to submit the dispute to binding arbitration if these negotiations failed.

Thwarted again, the players decided to file unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Said Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles: "The only thing I can figure out is they want to bring us to our knees and break us." Added Larry Dierker of the Houston Astros: "This is some kind of plan to either kill the players' group or get rid of Marvin Miller. Miller has been very tough and the owners don't like him. They've always been able to get tough with the players in the past and there wasn't anything the players could do about it. Now, for the first time, we have a little say in things."

Beneficent Plan. A longtime economics expert with the United Steelworkers of America, Miller has won considerable gains for the baseball players since he was hired to represent them in 1966. He has to his credit an increase in minimum pay to $13,500 from the 1969 level of $6,000, and the existing pension plan, which is clearly among the most beneficent in the nation. At age 45, a player who has spent as little as four years in the major leagues is eligible to receive $174.34 a month for life; if he waits until he reaches 65 before beginning to collect, he can get $618.04 a month. The benefits increase notably for players who have had longer big-league careers.

Thus the owners may well be concerned about what Miller will ask for when their basic agreement with their teams is renegotiated later this year. They could be making a show of their own strength while testing the resolve of the players. While the owners have the support of many fans envious of the $100,000-plus salaries of stars, many of the 600 major league players in fact earn less than $20,000 for a 162-game season.

At week's end, nobody seemed to know how long the strike would continue. And even Richard Nixon, the nation's No. 1 sports fan, showed no desire to play umpire.

* In fact, President Nixon had not planned to attend the opener, which for the first time in 50 years was not scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C.. Reason: Washington no longer has a major league team.

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