Word: ravitch
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...turned the title "interim commissioner" into a seemingly lifetime appointment -- makes no secret of keeping the commissioner's job vacant to prevent an outsider from trying to impose labor peace. As their negotiator, the owners selected former New York City transit czar and failed mayoral candidate Richard Ravitch (he received 2% of the vote in the 1989 Democratic primary). The self-confident Ravitch believed he could pull off a near impossible double play: sell the players on a salary cap (thereby limiting their total income, as other professional sports leagues do) and work out a mechanism for wealthy teams...
...turned out, Ravitch's ambitious double-play pivot did not exactly match the grace of Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith. It took Ravitch 18 months to work out a limited revenue-sharing formula. And even then the wealthier teams made it contingent on the players' miraculously agreeing to a salary cap. And though the baseball contract officially expired at the end of 1993, Ravitch didn't put the owners' salary-cap proposal on the negotiating table until mid-June. This complex plan would limit total player salaries to 50% of overall major league revenues, although guaranteeing that overall salaries would...
...World War I, both owners and players became locked in unyielding stances that made protracted trench warfare inevitable. The few bargaining sessions that were held before the strike quickly degenerated into formulaic speeches and sarcastic byplay, all accentuated by the growing animosity between the voluble, chain-smoking Ravitch and the intense, almost humorless Fehr. "Did you see how unpleasant he is?" Ravitch asked rhetorically about Fehr before a joint TV appearance Friday. "It's never been like that in all the negotiations I've been involved in." If the season were to end without a contract, the owners would retain...
This is not to deny that the owners have valid fiscal complaints. Ravitch argues, with justice, that owners have trouble predicting their player costs from year to year. The prime culprit here is baseball's bizarre system of salary arbitration, which is designed to protect players with three to six years of major league service. (Veterans can negotiate their own contracts as free agents, while young players must accept what their team pays them as long as it meets the minimum salary.) A baseball arbitrator must choose between the team's offer and the player's demand...
Federal mediators have convinced baseball team owners to come to the table and resume talks with players next week. A five-man delegation of owners will go to the talks along with management negotiator Richard Ravitch...