Don Fehr

Donald Fehr, a fierce labor negotiator who built the Major League Baseball Players Assn. into the most powerful union in professional sports but whose legacy is clouded by the fallout from baseball's steroid era, announced Monday that he is stepping down after 25 years.

NEW YORK - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Assn. Executive Director Donald Fehr were poised to rejoin labor negotiations Thursday after moving aside to let their respective top lieutenants preside over the talks for two days. The change comes at a critical juncture in the discussions, which produced some movement on each side on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, left unresolved were key issues such as as the league's insistence on a five-year cap on contracts and a maximum 5% salary variance from year to year.

Baseball's collective bargaining talks, while failing to produce progress, had been conducted, at least, in an atmosphere of detente. Now even that seems to be eroding. "They bring in a new guy every year with the idea of conciliation and then they try to . . . the players," Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn. said Monday after another fruitless negotiating session that centered on management's revenue-sharing proposal.

Donald Fehr, a fierce labor negotiator who built the Major League Baseball Players Assn. into the most powerful union in professional sports but whose legacy is clouded by the fallout from baseball's steroid era, announced Monday that he is stepping down after 25 years.

If I were a major league baseball player, Don Fehr would worry me with his negative and alienating comments. His quote in The Times (Feb. 21), "I don't think American culture will collapse if baseball collapses," is hardly a positive and constructive attitude to bring to the bargaining table. Fehr is trying to drive a wedge between players and management and between baseball and its fans. We fans are rooting for baseball to be fun again. We hope it will survive Fehr and his "fearful" talk of collapse.

Don Fehr, the head of the baseball players' union, said today that negotiations turned into "a rerun of 1981" just hours before a deadline that would send the sport into its second mid-season strike in four years. A high-ranking baseball official, meanwhile, said prospects of avoiding a walkout "do not look good." The chief negotiators for the two sides, Lee MacPhail for the owners and Fehr for the players, met informally this morning for about 1 1/2 hours.

Two meetings between Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn., and baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent at Vincent's Greenwich, Conn., home during the weekend failed to produce any progress, Fehr said Sunday. "If the commissioner has views different from the owners, he can't express them," Fehr said.

Baseball union leader Don Fehr met with about 50 players in Los Angeles Thursday to update them on the status of the collective bargaining talks. The meeting served more as a chance for players to reaffirm their belief in the stance of the Major League Players Assn., in the wake of the recent lack of progress. "This was basically a reconfirmation on the strength of our union," said Steve Sax, of the New York Yankees.

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players' Assn., said in New York on Friday that as the sport heads toward another collective bargaining agreement deadline, the situation doesn't feel quite the way it did six years ago when baseball went through the longest work stoppage in the history of pro sports.

In response to a request from Major League Baseball via a letter sent last week to Don Fehr, executive director of the players union, Fehr is expected to reply by Friday that he is receptive to "constructive dialogue" on the industry's desire to strengthen the steroid testing program, a lawyer with connections to the union said Tuesday.

Contrary to the belief of many colleagues who enjoy needling me about my longevity on the baseball beat, I was not covering in 1920 when the Boston Red Sox sold the Bambino to the New York Yankees, bringing down the curse that they mercifully exorcised Wednesday night. I mean, do I look that old?

In response to a request from Major League Baseball via a letter sent last week to Don Fehr, executive director of the players union, Fehr is expected to reply by Friday that he is receptive to "constructive dialogue" on the industry's desire to strengthen the steroid testing program, a lawyer with connections to the union said Tuesday.

The Baltimore Orioles closed their clubhouse at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday and gathered around players' union head Don Fehr to hear his stark message: Stay away from ephedra. Fehr personally backed up a one-page memo sent to all major leaguers this week by his office, warning them to "be extremely reluctant to use any products containing ephedra."

Yes, Tim Salmon says, it is scary what happened to Steve Bechler, a 23-year-old Baltimore Oriole pitcher who died Monday at spring training. Yes, Kevin Appier says, it is worrisome that Bechler apparently was taking Xenadrine, a weight-loss product containing ephedra. No, David Eckstein says, he would never, ever take a drug or supplement unless it was prescribed by a doctor. His father is waiting for a liver transplant. Eckstein's family has been hounded by liver disease. So Eckstein gets it.

The head of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. suggested Thursday the sport's labor talks could soon grind to a halt because of Commissioner Bud Selig's legal battle over the future of the Montreal Expos.

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., reaffirmed the players' solidarity amid the owners' doomsday claims, saying Monday that "you can't scare these guys" after a closed-door meeting with the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Recent comments from Commissioner Bud Selig about two teams facing imminent cash-flow crises have not distracted players, whom Fehr is updating on the progress of collective bargaining talks scheduled to resume Thursday in New York.

The Major League Players Assn.'s executive board delayed a decision on whether to strike, but Executive Director Don Fehr said Thursday he is skeptical that the baseball season will be completed without a work stoppage. "I'm not confident we can do that, because history suggests it doesn't work that way," Fehr said. "The owners never take the players seriously.

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., reaffirmed the players' solidarity amid the owners' doomsday claims, saying Monday that "you can't scare these guys" after a closed-door meeting with the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Recent comments from Commissioner Bud Selig about two teams facing imminent cash-flow crises have not distracted players, whom Fehr is updating on the progress of collective bargaining talks scheduled to resume Thursday in New York.

Commissioner Bud Selig presented an extraordinary array of negative numbers to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday and said it was too bad that "union leader Fehr" couldn't be there so that they could have a "public dialogue on the compelling issues facing the game." In Irving, Texas, where he was wrapping up an executive board meeting, union leader Don Fehr said public dialogue is difficult when he and his staff have been threatened with legal action if they engage in one.

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players' Assn., said in New York on Friday that as the sport heads toward another collective bargaining agreement deadline, the situation doesn't feel quite the way it did six years ago when baseball went through the longest work stoppage in the history of pro sports.