Sides Back Trying To Bridge Gap On Day 200 Of Baseball Strike, Negotiators Resume Their Talks

Just a few miles from the fields where replacement players readied themselves for exhibition games, striking major league baseball players and owners talked calmly for 5 hours Monday without delving into specifics.

The sides, which hadn’t bargained on the issues since Feb. 7, will continue talks today, just a day before the exhibition schedule starts. Neither players nor owners seemed to know if there was progress toward settling the strike.

“Clearly we still have a lot of work to do. The gulf between us is wide,” union head Donald Fehr said. “But at least we’re talking again. The tone is quite civil. I expect the discussions to continue (today) and throughout the week.”

The warm and sunny afternoon was perfect for baseball, but the strike, which completed its 200th day, kept major leaguers indoors while unheralded replacement players practiced on diamonds in Florida and Arizona.

“It was certainly a very candid discussion of the core issues,” acting commissioner Bud Selig said. “We really did get to the heart of the matter.”

With the vistas of majestic mountains to inspire them, the sides didn’t discuss their differences over luxury tax rates, which caused talks to break off three weeks ago. Instead, they discussed how all the different elements of a deal would affect each other, including free agency, salary arbitration, revenue sharing and the proposed industry growth fund.

“Both sides have to bend,” Boston Red Sox chief executive officer John Harrington said. “At this stage of a work stoppage, both parties are going to have to.”

Selig said he wanted the sides to ignore side issues, such as the National Labor Relations Board. NLRB spokesman David Parker said the board will rule this week or next on the union’s unfair labor practice charge.

If the NLRB issues a complaint, it could ask a federal judge to order the restoration of old work rules - including salary arbitration.

Players would end the strike if that happens, but owners likely would lock them out.

“We can’t - either side - dwell on the issues around us,” Selig said.

The sides pared down their bargaining teams to six people from management and five from the union.

“This is not going to be just a quick process,” Selig said, “so there’s no sense to have too many emotional ups and downs.”

Atlanta Braves president Stan Kasten said there was no chance owners would drop their plan to use replacements culled from older minor-leaguers and retired major-leaguers.

“Until we have a deal, that’s what we’re going to continue to do,” Kasten said. “We’re not going to close down. If you do that, there are not going to be jobs for ushers, ticket takers, parking lot attendants, front office people. That is not an acceptable alternative.”

In Tampa, Fla., 340 minor league players met with Eugene Orza, the union’s No. 2 official, and were urged to boycott spring training games. Cecil Fielder, Bobby Bonilla and Barry Larkin explained the union’s position.

“We’re heard management’s side, now we have the union’s side,” said Brian Keyser, a minor-leaguer in the Chicago White Sox system. “Both sides are convincing. Now you need to cut through the red tape. It’s going to be a personal decision.”

The bargaining session was the first devoted to the issues since President Clinton summoned both sides to the White House, only to see his efforts collapse without a deal. A two-day session between Fehr and Selig last week in Milwaukee led both sides to agree to resume talks.

Monday’s meeting was at the golf club on Gainey Ranch, a development on which both Fehr’s parents and Selig have houses.