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American Morning

Interview with Rick Wolff

Aired August 16, 2002 - 07:32   ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Fans of major league baseball are down deep in the count today. Labor talks have hit a snag, another snag, and today the players' union could pick a strike date, one that might have players walking off the field, possibly by the end of August.
Is it deja vu all over again?

Sports writer Rick Wolff, host of a radio talk show here in New York called "The Sports Edge" of WFAN here now.

Good morning, Rick. Good to see you.

RICK WOLFF, "THE SPORTS EDGE": Good morning.

HEMMER: Are they going to go through with this, do you think?

WOLFF: Gee, we sure hope not. I mean it's just getting to be such a common occurrence with baseball and let's face it, you listen to the callers on the sports call-in shows, nobody but nobody wants this to take place. You never get anybody calling up and saying, you know, I'm with the players on this or I'm with the owners. Nobody wants this.

HEMMER: Really? In the past we have had a lot of people, a lot of fans take sides.

WOLFF: There have been people in the past who have taken sides in this and see the issues. But right now everybody agrees the timing is terrible. So here you have two sides where yes, we really don't want this to happen so the players, the owners say no, we're doing great at baseball, changes have to be made in terms of, you know, the luxury tax. But the fact is nobody wants this to take place.

HEMMER: I don't think either side wants it to happen either, though. I hear the players, you know, in veiled comments say, you know what? We don't want to walk out. I think the owners feel the same way. And I think that's, in part, why we've seen somewhat of a give and take behind closed doors.

WOLFF: I agree. That's why I do think there's still that glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that says you know what? Let's just be civil about this. Everybody in baseball, you know, the average salary for a major league player is $2.4 million. The owners are making money. Let's just try to work this out because, you know, people are saying don't do this again because I'm not coming back the next time.

HEMMER: And that could be the biggest price to pay.

You mentioned luxury tax. Is that the big hang-up?

WOLFF: Yes, I mean there's no question that we've gotten to a point now with baseball franchises, you have the haves and the have nots. And to have a sense of equity and parity, at some point you have to sort of, as they say, level the playing field.

HEMMER: Let's define this for our viewers. Essentially what the luxury tax would do is if a team spends over a certain amount of money, let's say $100 million, on its combined payroll, anything that exceeds that would be taxed roughly 50 percent and the money goes to other teams.

WOLFF: The actual have not franchises don't have the revenue streams from, let's say, TV and radio and so on and so forth. And that's the idea that that money is then spent by those have not franchises to get better players to increase their own payroll.

HEMMER: I have another sense here that the owners have a lot of disagreement among them right now between the big league ball clubs like George Steinbrenner, some of the smaller clubs that Bud Selig, the acting commissioner, has worked for. And in there I see a substantial rub for the owners to come to agreement. Do you get the same sense or not?

WOLFF: I think history shows us that the owners rarely agree on anything. And the fact is this is another example of these owners having to get together and do what's right for baseball and not necessarily what's right for their own pocketbooks.

HEMMER: Do you think they're aware -- listen to the mood of the country. In about a month's time, there's going to be a one year mark for the events of last September. Yet America's pastime right near hanging on a precarious edge.

WOLFF: There's no question...

HEMMER: Do they understand that?

WOLFF: They do hear that. They understand it. The players, of course, hear this. They know that the mood of the country is not in any way conducive to a players' strike in baseball. They want to keep going. They want to preserve. The sense I have is that the fans feel -- this is obviously the national pastime and we have an obligation, particularly in light of September 11, to keep going, to keep persevering and not let little things like economics get in the way.

HEMMER: Yes, quickly here, there are two black eyes to speak of in baseball, the big leagues and the little leagues. There's a team out of Harlem right now that's playing out in Pennsylvania and it's been threatened throughout the week that three of their players had broken the rules by living outside the district where they'd played.

Well, we went to bed last night thinking they might be disqualified. We woke up today finding out that the league apparently has bent some of the rules to allow the Harlem ball players to continue playing. What gives?

WOLFF: Well, I think the operative word you said is bending some of the rules. Now, we went through this nightmare last year with little league baseball and Williamsport and the whole Danny Amante (ph) situation. Now this year with the Harlem kids, the residency requirements. Well, the fact is little league baseball, let's make the rules very obvious and easy to follow.

If you looked at the stipulations on residency, you need a lawyer to go through the various loopholes. Well, can a kid live here, stay with a guardian, how long are they going to stay there? Come on. Let's make this simple and very straightforward little league so this never happens again, because right now we're taking away from the fun of the kids playing ball and focusing on legalities. That's not right.

HEMMER: Thank you, Rick. Have a good weekend, OK?

Rick Wolff here.

I think a lot of this comes down to parents and coaches and the amount of pressure they're now putting on their kids to go ahead and win.

WOLFF: It's all about that. It's all about parents.

HEMMER: Thanks, Rick.

WOLFF: You bet.

HEMMER: Talk to you later.

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