Japanese baseball players give OK to strike

TOKYO — Japanese professional baseball players voted overwhelmingly Thursday to authorize a strike as part of an effort to prevent the merger of several Pacific League teams.

About 98 percent of the 750 members of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association voted to authorize the players’ executive committee to strike, though no date was set, the Nikkan Sports newspaper reported.

A representative of the Japan Trade Union Confederation attended the meeting and pledged support for the players’ association, it said.

Tuesday, the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes signed a basic agreement on their proposed merger, but the move must be approved at an owners’ meeting Sept. 8. The merged club would be run by a new company jointly owned by the parent companies of the two teams.