He's laboring under a delusion
By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist, 12/18/2003
The strange part of it is that Gene Orza happens to be a likable fellow. He's a terrific dinner companion. He loves baseball and he knows a ton about the national pastime. Woe is the baseball trivia buff who goes one-on-one with Orza.
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That said, it is also easy to sometimes detest Orza. This is one of those times.
The mighty Major League Players Association struck yesterday, killing a deal (at least temporarily) that would have made two of its members extremely happy. The PA (please don't use the word union when speaking of this group) won't let Alex Rodriguez restructure his quarter-billion dollar contract in the manner that Rodriguez and the Red Sox found agreeable. Too dangerous, said the PA. It doesn't honor the collective bargaining agreement.
So the on-again, off-again deal that would have sent A-Rod to Boston for Manny Ramirez is dead. For now. The only hope would be a successful challenge from the commissioner's office or Rodriguez going back to his Players Association chiefs (let's not forget the ever-intransigent Donald Fehr) and finding a way to make it work for the Red Sox and the association.
The Red Sox issued a statement last night and spoke of the PA "thwarting" the wishes of its members. Curt Schilling pretty much said the same thing when he spoke with the Globe's Gordon Edes. But Orza said Curt hasn't checked with the players on the executive council of the Players Association. He said those guys agree with the move to disallow Rodriguez's restructured contract.
Rubbish. When it comes to these issues, major league players know only what the Players Association tells them. Big league ballplayers (like sportswriters) are not trained in labor law. They do what the bosses tell them. There is no independent thinking. Not allowed. And when you look at the track record, why would any player disagree with the PA? Marvin Miller and Fehr have a 10,000-game winning streak over the owners.
Hats off to Schilling. This is not the first time he's invoked common sense when the Players Association has been unreasonable. He said he thinks it's outrageous for the PA to tell a member "no" when the member has worked out an agreement that will make his family happy. Schilling noted that he helps pay the salaries of Messrs. Fehr and Orza and that there would be no "ripple" effect from restructuring a contract such as A-Rod's.
Naturally, the Players Association will never see it that way. Nothing is ever enough for these guys. Its members are the most privileged, secure employees in the world, but it operates from a mind-set that the boss is always out to take advantage of the workers. The PA defends the ever-spiraling salaries, saying, "It's not our fault the owners can't control themselves," but when there is market correction, they cry collusion. It's a nifty arrangement.
The logic of the A-Rod-for-Manny deal has been that too many folks want it to happen -- therefore it will happen. This logic still applies. Even though Sox general manager Theo Epstein last night returned from New York and even though Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said that yesterday's developments "signaled the end of the matter," it's not over.
Let's not forget that Uncle Bud Selig is threatening to get involved. The Commish, the same man who delivered the Sox franchise to John W. Henry and Friends, is a big fan of this deal and has threatened to approve the restructuring, which would effectively send the matter to arbitration (and I guess we're assuming that Henry and Tom Hicks have agreed on who's paying how much to Manny if the deal is made?). If this happens, we can all enjoy the spectacle of Orza taking on the commissioner, the Red Sox, the Rangers, and two of his highest-profile members, all in the name of protecting the sanctity of the collective bargaining agreement.
Like I said, you'd like Gene if you got to know him. But at the moment, he's moved ahead of Grady Little and Danny Ainge in local unpopularity polls. He's Scrooge.
But we've learned to follow the words of Yogi and Bluto when it comes to this deal. It ain't over till it's over, and nothing is over until we say it is. Even if Gene Orza tries to impede and infuriate with the letter of the law.
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