Excitement In Boston As Replacements Bail

The relative calm of the Boston Red Sox training camp in Fort Myers, Fla., was disturbed Tuesday when two pitchers were sent home and two other players refused to play against the New York Yankees.

Joe Ciccarella and Jason Satre were “on their own” after telling team officials they wouldn’t play in exhibition games, general manager Dan Duquette said.

“When they want to come back to work and work as we direct them, they can come back,” he said. “We spent a lot of time with these kids and held their hands and they understood completely in terms of what the organization’s perspective was.”

Both said they wouldn’t play after the union said minor-leaguers in major-league exhibition games would be considered strikebreakers. Team officials have talked with them and other players about their concerns.

“It’s all bull,” an aggravated Satre said. He was 6-7 at Rochester in Class AAA last year.

Ciccarella, who was 6-6 at Double A New Britain in 1994, could not be reached for comment.

Manager Kevin Kennedy said pitcher Wes Brooks also refused to play, then changed his mind and stayed with the team.

Second baseman Lou Merloni was taken out of the starting lineup at his request and shortstop Nick Ortiz said he wouldn’t play. Both had moved up from the minor-league camp to the major-league clubhouse for the first time Tuesday.

Replacement fans finally show

Replacement baseball finally drew some replacement fans, proving that a game between the Yankees and Red Sox will draw even when it’s Randy Brown vs. Jeff Yurtin instead of Don Mattingly vs. Mo Vaughn.

There were 4,287 fans in the stands at Fort Myers, Fla., to watch Boston beat New York 1-0, including fans who bought tickets the day of the game. There were lines to enter the stadium as late as the third inning.

But elsewhere, crowds remained sparse as players came, went and made scorecards mandatory.

Only 906 showed up to watch the Indians play the Royals in Haines City, Fla.

Take a chair, Tom

Adding to the strange quality of this spring training was a replacement manager, Tom Runnells of the Tigers, who has yet to use the chair in Sparky Anderson’s office.

“I have to confess, I did lean on it when I reached over to pick up the phone the other day,” said Runnells, who is managing the Tigers while Anderson is on an unpaid leave of absence for declining to handle replacement players.

Why the aversion to the chair?

“I don’t know why, to tell you the truth,” Runnells said. “Somewhat out of respect, I suspect.”

Ashburn among Hall honorees

Richie Ashburn, one of baseball’s best leadoff men, heads a list of four elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in Tampa, Fla.

Negro Leagues star Leon Day, National League founder William Hulbert and turn-of-the-century pitcher Vic Willis also were selected by the 17-member panel.

“I thought maybe it would happen someday,” Ashburn said. “But you don’t sit back and say, ‘This is going to be the year.”’

This year, voting rules were revised, allowing the panel to pick four instead of the usual two. In particular, the committee wanted to enhance the chances for Negro Leagues and 19th century players.

“I’m a little sick, but I’m feeling a little better now,” Day, 78, said from his hospital room in Baltimore, where he’s being treated for heart problems, diabetes and gout.

Talks update

Baseball strike negotiations could resume as early as next Monday, Colorado Rockies chairman Jerry McMorris said in Palm Beach, Fla.

Phoenix and Tampa Bay were recommended for major league franchises by baseball’s expansion committee, The Associated Press learned.

Baseball officials didn’t announce the decision, but two members of the committee, speaking on the condition they not be identified, confirmed the choices. Teams would begin play in 1998 if owners approve the recommendation.

Zimmer improves

The condition of Rockies coach Don Zimmer has improved, and he has been moved from intensive care to a private room.

Zimmer, 64, was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday night, experiencing a temporary loss of blood flow to the brain.

The metal plates in Zimmer’s skull from a beaning 42 years ago kept doctors from running certain tests.