Wednesday, September 01, 1999Fate of 22 umps to be decided today
The Associated PressPHILADELPHIA — The court fight by baseball umpires to save 22 jobs will go down to the final day.
After seven hours of conferences in federal court, the hearing on the umpires' request for an injunction was put off until today by U.S. District Judge J. Curtis Joyner.
“Today was devoted to the judge asking both sides to consider some issues,” management lawyer Rob Manfred said Tuesday night as the sides left court. “We'll consider them overnight and come back in the morning.”
Union lawyer Susan Davis made a virtually identical statement, leading to speculation the judge asked them to refrain from substantive public comments. The umpires' usually loquacious union head, Richie Phillips, declined comment.
“He is using every last-ditch effort to get things settled and get the guys back,” AL ump Joe Brinkman, a leader of the anti-Phillips faction, said at Yankee Stadium, “This is a last-ditch effort for him, too. I don't think baseball will deal with him after the shenanigans he pulled and the position he put everybody in with this strategy.”
A group of umpires, many scheduled for termination as a result of the umpires' failed mass resignation strategy, spent the day pacing the eighth-floor hallway rather than patrol ling bases and working the plate.
Nearly two dozen lawyers were in a courtroom, ready for the hearing to start at 1:30p.m., but Joyner summoned the top lawyers for each side to his chambers, three floors below.
After meeting with the judge for 1 hour, 15 minutes, the umpires' lawyers met with their clients for about a half-hour, then went back for a meeting that lasted more than 21/2 hours. After a 45-minute break, the sides met with the judge for another 11/2 hours, then left for the night.
Umpires want Joyner to issue a court order preventing baseball from letting the 22 go. Baseball claims it accepted their resignations, but umpires now say they never really intended to quit, that the letters they sent to the American and National leagues last month were merely symbolic.
It appeared Joyner wanted to first try to help the sides settle their differences rather than start the hearing.
The union sued baseball in Philadelphia last month, then withdrew the case after Judge Edmund V. Ludwig refused to issue a temporary restraining order.
Umpires then filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board and asked it to obtain an injunction, but the agency has not yet made a ruling.
“I hope to have something tomorrow,” said Daniel Silverman, the NLRB's New York agency regional director.
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Fate of 22 umps to be decided today