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CNN Live Today

MLB: A Called Strike?

Aired August 16, 2002 - 11:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: They have threatened to do it for months, and today, Major League players might just come through with a strike date, crippling baseball in a run-up to the playoffs and the World Series, so say it ain't so.
CNN's sports correspondent, Josie Karp, joins us from New York this morning with an update.

Now, how are the talks going? Have we heard anything about this phone conversation -- Josie?

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESONDENT: Well, the general impression is that the phone conversation is now over. Just a few minutes ago, Martin, several members of the Los Angeles Dodgers left this building behind me. It's where the Major League Baseball Players Association has its headquarters.

They were very tight-lipped. They didn't want to say anything. But I talked to Kevin Brown, who at one point was the highest-paid baseball player in the Major Leagues, and he said -- the only thing he would say is, what everyone expected to happen, happened.

And what we expected going into this conference call of the executive board of the Major League Baseball Players Association was that they were going to set a strike date for August 30.

Now, they met face-to-face back as a group on Monday in Chicago. And there, they decided to actually postpone setting a strike date, because they had hoped that the progress that had been made to that point would continue. But over the last three days, very little progress has been made, and the major stumbling block is the idea of a luxury tax.

Now, the two sides have actually exchanged proposals on the luxury tax. That happened on Wednesday. After that, the owners' lead negotiator came out and said that negotiations had hit a bump in the road. A union source told me that it was substantially more than a bump in the road, but the luxury tax is now a problem, and he said, a real problem.

So today, the players executive board had that conference call, and a lot of them indicated that setting a strike date was their only option.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MO MAUGHN, NEW YORK METS: We have already shown some good faith in trying to set this thing back up. We have been through this before, and you know, it's tough, and a lot of people don't understand it. And you know, thinking that baseball is going to stop is a very negative thing.

MIKE PIAZZA, NEW YORK METS: Unfortunately, it's sort of the last thing you have to do to try to, you know, grease the wheels a little bit, so a lot, I should say. I mean, not to downplay it or anything. But again, we're just sitting tight, and hopefully there is continued dialogue.

TREVOR HOFFMAN, SAN DIEGO PADRES: I think the biggest key is that the language we're both talking is it's starting to be on the same page. And it's easy to kind of compare apples and oranges rather than -- or apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. And I think as long as you're talking the same language, then you're going to be able to work towards a common goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARP: There are a couple things to look for if, indeed, this strike date has been set. One is, how does the tone of the negotiation now change? On Monday, Tom Glavine, the National League representative, said one of the big reasons they didn't actually set a strike date then was because they know that setting a date can really throw a wrench into things, especially in terms of attitudes, when it comes to talking at the table.

To this point, it's been very cordial, and that's a lot different than previous negotiations.

The other thing, of course, to look for is how the public reacts if the date is August 30, and that's the most likely date, that is the Friday of Labor Day. There's a lot of time between now and then, a lot of games will be played, and a lot of people will be able to let their feelings be known about exactly how they feel about what's transpired.

In midtown Manhattan, I am Josie Karp.

Martin -- I'm going to send it back to you.

SAVIDGE: There is no joy in Mudville (ph) today. All right, Josie, thank you very much. We'll stay in touch with you.

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