Baseball Clashes With Its Umpires in Court

Baseball wound up in federal court again, suing umpires Thursday in an attempt to discipline union head John Hirschbeck.

In an eight-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the commissioner’s office said Hirschbeck told a member of his umpiring crew not to warn a pitcher for intentionally throwing at a batter. Management asked for a declaratory judgment that its attempt to discipline Hirschbeck was not subject to arbitration.

The commissioner’s office also asked for a permanent injunction preventing the union from taking the dispute to arbitration. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz.

Larry Gibson, a lawyer for the umpires’ union, countered that his side never attempted to arbitrate over discipline to Hirschbeck, who has headed the umpires in bargaining for the last two years. Instead, he said the suit really was about management’s reliance on a computerized evaluation system the union claims is inaccurate.

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The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, said to be having cash-flow problems earlier this year, were more than two weeks late before making nearly $1 million in deferred payments to Steve Trachsel and Gerald Williams, several baseball officials said.

Trachsel, now pitching for the New York Mets, was due $428,571.43 on June 30 under a contract he signed with Tampa Bay two years ago. But the Devil Rays did not direct deposit that amount until Wednesday, according to four management and player sources, who all spoke on the condition they not be identified.

Devil Ray owner Vince Naimoli denied there had been any problem with the payments. All 30 major league teams made their payrolls on Monday.

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Frank Robinson said he was quitting as Montreal Expo manager earlier this week, angry with his players, then changed his mind. Robinson tried to resign after Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to Philadelphia, then was talked out of it by the players. His attempted resignation was confirmed by a top major league team official who spoke on the condition he not be identified. Robinson denied trying to resign.