Dodgers Are Put on Hold by Negotiations

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Aug. 30, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

HOUSTON — The Dodgers’ charter did land here early Thursday evening, and the team did check into its hotel shortly thereafter, but players, coaches and front-office executives spent the rest of the evening in a holding pattern.

While negotiators in New York worked into Thursday evening in an attempt to reach a labor agreement that would avert a strike--and baseball’s ninth work stoppage since 1972--the Dodgers went to bed not knowing if they would report to Minute Maid Park this afternoon to begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros or if they would be heading home.

During a late-night conference call Thursday, union chief Don Fehr told players that negotiations would continue into Friday morning, and that some kind of resolution was expected early today. Some players seemed optimistic a deal would be struck; others weren’t so sure.

“I’d like to think [we’ll reach a settlement], but a lot has to happen in a short period of time, and I don’t know if that’s possible,” Dodger second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “We came back with a good proposal, almost to the tilt of what we’re going to come back with, but there’s only hours left. I don’t know if [Commissioner Bud] Selig has something up his sleeve or something to prove, but it’s going to be weird to see what happens [today].

“This has gone on so much for the last 34 years, but it’s part of life. It’s definitely frustrating when you don’t have an answer.”

Center fielder Dave Roberts also listened to the conference call, which lasted about a half-hour, and came away more hopeful.

“Don [Fehr] seemed optimistic, but he told us to be patient, that they still had some work ahead of them,” Roberts said. “They’re still talking, still trying to work things out. I think the sides are too close not to get it done.”

Shawn Green, the Dodger right fielder who is having a most valuable player-caliber season, hitting .279 with 38 home runs and 101 runs batted in, said the waiting has been the hardest part.

“It’s obviously on everyone’s minds, but everyone understands it’s just a matter of time before we know what’s going to happen,” Green said. “Players have a lot vested in this. Everyone is anxious to know what’s going on.”

Though Grudzielanek feels the chances for an agreement are “about 50-50,” he tried to treat Thursday as he would any off-day.

“I’m going to bed ready to play [today],” Grudzielanek said. “If we don’t, then I’ll deal with it. But you have to stay focused mentally.”

The Dodgers are 77-56 and have a two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League wild-card race, so if a strike were to wipe out the rest of this season, they would have plenty to lose.

But as long as negotiators were still talking, there was still hope.

“Since I got up [Thursday] morning and packed my bags, I’ve given no thought to the possibility of not playing baseball [tonight],” Manager Jim Tracy said. “I don’t want to see the season interrupted for one pitch. If it is, we’ll have to deal with it.”

If a strike begins today, Dodger players will have to pay for their own hotel rooms beginning tonight, and for their own airfare if they want to travel home. Front-office and support staff would remain in Houston until Sunday evening, at which point they would return to Los Angeles on a team charter flight.

However, the Dodgers plan to make that charter flight available to players if they want to travel back to Los Angeles. Several players said they have held off making contingency travel plans and would wait until negotiations are completed until they decide what to do.

Roberts, the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, said the possibility of a strike has cast a pall over the team.

“We’ve got this black cloud looming over us,” Roberts said. “This is my first opportunity to play every day in the big leagues, and it’s been a good year for the Dodgers, and we’ve put ourselves in a position to go to the playoffs.

“I’ve been optimistic, and I hope that we can play this thing through, but obviously it’s been on my mind. I just hope it doesn’t take away from the season I’ve had or the Dodgers have had.”

A lengthy strike would affect players such as Roberts the most. The center fielder is making $217,500 this season, slightly over the major league minimum of $200,000. Though he has saved as much as he can this season, he said he’d probably conduct clinics during a work stoppage to earn extra income. Players would also draw money from the union’s strike fund.

“It affects guys with low service time the most, because we don’t have the money in the bank the other guys have,” said Roberts, who is married, has a 2-year-old son, a mortgage on a house in Oceanside and a lease on an apartment in Pasadena. “But we knew what we were getting into. We just have to make do.

“You don’t want to be caught off guard, and the reality is, there may not be a settlement. You have to prepare your family by being more conscious of saving money and not being too spend-happy.”

There were few signs in the home clubhouse following Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Arizona that the Dodgers were preparing for a lengthy trip.

Still, the sight of Tyler Houston’s golf clubs was alarming, as was the inordinate number of large boxes in front of Brian Jordan’s locker. Jordan, in fact, tried to lighten the mood by joking that he would be on a flight home to Atlanta at 12:01 a.m. Friday, one minute after the strike deadline.

“It’s just a blase, blah mood in here,” Jordan said. “You’re optimistic one day, not the next. You just don’t know.”

Staff writer Paul Gutierrez contributed to this story.