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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Mel Antonen

Aired July 07, 2002 - 11:21   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Talk of strikes and steroid abuse dominate Major League baseball today, and the passing of Ted Williams recalls the baseball of another era. Here to consider the future of the game is Mel Antonen, baseball writer for "USA Today." He's with us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Good to see you.

MEL ANTONEN, USA TODAY: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: I got a chance to talk to you the other day on the phone, but now good to see you.

ANTONEN: Well, thank you.

WHITFIELD: OK, let's talk about the strike first. Chances good that the player strike will happen?

ANTONEN: It looks like it will. It looks like they're going to set a date and you know it seems kind of ridiculous that the day before the All-Star Game, the showpiece game of baseball, the players are going to set a strike date and then expect everything to be just fine on Tuesday. It seems kind of ridiculous that the owners and the players are fighting so much, they forget about the fans.

WHITFIELD: And what a big disappointment. A few things are at issue, as we saw in Josie Karp's piece. Revenue is one thing, salary ceiling, but what really is at the heart of the players potential strike?

ANTONEN: Well, this is a very unusual labor negotiation. You know usually when two sides have labor problems in any industry, the union is usually asking something from the management. Well this is the other way around. Management wants the union to agree to a salary cap. Management the union to agree to a luxury tax, stuff like that that the union believes actually artificially holds down salaries.

So really, the heart of this all is money and the system by which they are going to play. Right now the players love the system that allows for a $2.4 million average salary. The owners are asking basically for the change in that system and the players don't want to do it.

WHITFIELD: Do you suppose that if there is a strike that this really could backfire because fans may feel like you know the players are big cry babies, considering the fact that you talk about the average salary of $2 million and when you have the passing of a great like Ted Williams, who was a real purist and a real American icon to the purity of the game? Won't fans say you know players really are taking it too far?

ANTONEN: Yes. Fans are really tired of strike talk and labor negotiations. They say both sides are wrong, and I think before anything can happen constructively, what fans would like to see is both sides come to the table and say, "OK what can I do to save the game?"

Right now, both sides are so at each other's throats, you know, they want to beat each other at the expense of the game, and cooler heads have to prevail to the point where somebody will say "OK, what can I do for the game?"

But you're right, nobody's thinking about the fans. Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants said that no matter what, the fans will always come back and the fans will come back to baseball. Well, he's wrong. Fans won't come back if they go on strike and if there's a big, big labor dispute.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about steroids now. In tomorrow's USA Today, you expect to have quite an article exposing perhaps or elaborating a little bit more on steroid use and abuse in Major League Baseball. Are we talking about just a few bad apples or is it your discovery that it is quite widespread?

ANTONEN: Most people in baseball, you know, steroids in baseball, illegal drugs, it's no secret that it's a widespread problem. Ken Caminiti and Jose Conseco, two former MVPs said earlier this month that steroid use is running rampant in baseball. Caminiti said 50 percent of the players. Conseco said about 85 percent of the players.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

ANTONEN: Well, I think those estimates are a little high but doctors and team trainers and managers and coaches know that there is a problem, a big steroid problem in baseball and it's got to be negotiated before they can have a steroids drug testing test in baseball to make the game clear. They got to agree to it in this basic agreement and, as you just heard, you know there's a ton of economic issues that are on the forefront first.

WHITFIELD: So there are some serious talks that, or at least perhaps baseball is at the beginning stages of some serious talks of drug testing, just like you see in the NBA, the NFL, and even Olympic sports?

ANTONEN: I think that you know they've had a few discussions. The union and management have met a couple of times on steroids issues. They met for three hours on June 20 to talk about it. There's a lot of legal issues. There's a lot of privacy issues, and it's an issue that I think everybody would like to solve. They just don't know quite how they're going to do it. WHITFIELD: All right, well, let's talk about Ted Williams then, the passing of a great hitter in baseball. Are you happy to see the sort of tribute that he's been able to garner given his passing just this past Friday?

ANTONEN: Oh, yes it's amazing, the baseball world and a lot of America is grieving. Ted Williams was an incredible hitter, but he always put his country first. You know he served in two wars and he put his country ahead of baseball. He's the greatest hitter in the history of baseball and he was a wonderful man and a great teacher, and nobody loved baseball more than Ted Williams.

WHITFIELD: Wouldn't you think that the timing of his passing would then give pause to the players who are in the throws of their discussions with the union starting tomorrow?

ANTONEN: I would hope so. You know Ted Williams was always very upset at all this labor unrest that has been going on for 20 years, 20 or 30 years. Ted Williams never liked that he was embarrassed by it. He couldn't understand why players and owners couldn't get along.

So in honor of Ted Williams, maybe players and owners will figure out a solution. But you know, on September 11 after that great tragedy - that tragedy on September 11, players and owners also said back then that we're going to put our game in perspective and we're not going to have any labor problems next summer. Well, they proved themselves wrong.

WHITFIELD: All right, Mel Antonen of "USA Today," thank you very much and look forward to reading your article tomorrow on baseball, Major League baseball and steroid use.

ANTONEN: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot, good to see you.

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