Real Pros Prepare To Replace Replacements Federal Ruling Causes Fill-Ins To Expect The Termination Of Their Big-League Dreams

Replacement players were already saying their goodbyes, wondering whether they’d ever get the $25,000 on which they were banking.

It was time to pack up, destination unknown.

Cecil Fielder, David Cone and the striking major leaguers weren’t sure what to expect, either. Their bags were packed, too, but they didn’t know when they would get the official word to hit the road.

“Everybody’s getting an itch to put the uniform back on and smell the dirt again,” said Fielder, in New York with the rest of the players’ negotiating committee.

The players ended their 232-day strike Friday when a federal judge restored last year’s work rules, saying owners had bargained unfairly. The next move was up to the owners, leaving the replacements - and most everybody else - in limbo.

“I knew this day was going to come soon,” Oil Can Boyd said. “I don’t know exactly what this means, but we’ll have to wait around and see.”

Boyd, the losing pitcher Friday for the Chicago White Sox in Sarasota, Fla., had agreed to be a strikebreaker. So had many others, who’d spent seven weeks at spring training striving for the extra $25,000 in bonuses they’d get for playing just one day in the regular season.

“We worked this hard to try to start the season out,” Florida outfielder Matt Winters said. “It’s tough enough when you don’t have this thing looming over your head. Now you’ve got a guillotine ready to chop your head off at the last minute.”

The Marlins were scheduled to play the first game of the year, on Sunday night at home against the New York Mets. But the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor threw that in doubt.

Sotomayor’s ruling came during the second inning of Milwaukee’s exhibition against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz.

“I can’t believe she ruled before I finished my game,” Brewers starting pitcher Mike Farrell said. “You know, I already knew this might be the last one or whatever, but dang, at least give me a little time …”

Time, though, seemed to be in short supply for many who wanted one more chance at making the majors.

“These guys look like it’s a quarter to 12 and they’re waiting for the governor to call,” Pittsburgh third-base coach Rich Donnelly said in Bradenton, Fla.

Pirates pitcher Manny Silinas said he would likely return to the Netherlands to play.

“It’s funny. Even in replacement baseball, it came down to the last two or three days of spring training. You never know until that last cut,” Silinas said.”But we all knew the chance we were taking. We can’t be mad about it, because we all knew the rules going in.”

In Clearwater, Fla., a few Philadelphia Phillies cleaned out their lockers. “It’s over, in my mind,” infielder Luis Ojeda said. “Need a glove?

I’ve got one right here,” outfielder Jason Alstead said.

There was a chance that some replacements might catch on somewhere, somehow. Chances are, though, they’ll be gone by the time Cone, the 1994 Cy Young winner with Kansas City, and others start arriving in camp.