Canada’s Comments To Replacement Players: Keep Off The Grass!

The Canadian government said Friday that almost all replacement basebal players won’t be able to enter the country, and the American League said it was prepared to force Baltimore to play over the objections of owner Peter Angelos.

Mediator W.J. Usery spoke with acting commissioner Bud Selig and with union head Donald Fehr in New York but didn’t decide when negotiations will resume.

Meanwhile, baseball’s expansion committee recommended the leagues add two teams quickly - probably 1997 or 1998 - and two more teams after that. Phoenix and St. Petersburg, Fla., are the clear frontrunners.

The players’ association said its executive board will meet the week of Jan. 30, probably in Washington, and a top baseball official said the sport’s hierarchy was angered that the Toronto Blue Jays barred manager Cito Gaston and his staff from working with replacements.

The decision by the Canadian government poses the most problems for owners in their attempt to use replacements for striking major leaguers. No one except Canadian citizens and resident aliens could be used as strikebreakers.

The decision, unless changed, would force the Blue Jays and Montreal Expos to use American cities as their home bases. The Blue Jays said they would consider playing regular-season home games at Grant Field in Dunedin, Fla., their spring training base. The ballpark seats 6,218.

A.L. president Gene Budig said he was prepared to use his powers to force the Orioles to play over Angelos’ objections. The league maintains that if the Orioles refuse to play, it can fine the team $250,000 for each missed game, suspend Angelos or even take control of the franchise.