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Players, Owners Announce Joint Press Conference
Aired August 30, 2002 - 11:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Josie Karp, our reporter who is there outside those meetings says that now, that the owners and players are walking out of the building. Is this a live shot? Here we have a live shot here that we have from outside the building where the talks are being held in New York.
There's Josie popping up in front of the camera -- Josie, I don't know if your microphone is on just yet. Josie, if you can hear us, we want to hear exactly what is going on. Can you hear me, Josie?
JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Can you hear me? I have got something to tell you.
HARRIS: Got you. Shoot. We got you.
KARP: One union source has said there is now going to be a joint press conference at 1:00. He said congratulations are in order, he said looks like it. So it looks like they got a deal done. A strike has been averted for the first time since this collective bargaining process began back in 1972. Every other time, there have been eight other times, they have had some sort of work stoppage. There were five strikes and three lockouts, but it looks like this time, they were able, after really the final hour, you saw those pictures from Boston, able to get a deal done. We are going to hear from both sides, their public statements, 1:00, a press conference is scheduled at a hotel just a couple blocks away from here, which is sort of a midpoint between the offices of Major League Baseball and the offices of the union.
I spoke just a few minutes ago, even before I spoke to the union source, to a player representative. He was talking about the fact that it was a very sensitive time. He couldn't go on the record and confirm anything, but it looks like, again, that a deal has been done.
HARRIS: All right, and it has apparently caused quite a flurry up there with the media there scrambling behind you, Josie. Boy, nice job, Josie.
WHITFIELD: That is right. Yes, good job. OK. So one more time, 1:00, a press conference involving both sides, and she mentioned that it is going to be sandwiched the location of that 1:00 is sandwiched in between the MLB and the union offices. So fair play all the way around.
HARRIS: There you go. Now, as a matter of fact, before we get to the press conference to hear from them, I believe that we have some sound right now, we have -- actually, I am sorry, we had some videotape. We are trying to get some tape of the spokesman from the Red Sox who may have had something to say about all this moments ago. But again, as you said, with them setting up this press conference site right in between...
WHITFIELD: Yes, and I guess any moment now, it also means that perhaps the buses that we saw outside of Fenway Park filled with the players will start making their way to Logan Airport so they can catch their chartered flight, and head on over to Cleveland to play the Indians.
HARRIS: All right. So Rob Weingarten, do you think that the owners are the winners on this one? What do the fans walk away with? If it comes down to this, we are maybe, what, two hours away or two and a half, three hours away from game time in Chicago, we're two hours away from game time in Cleveland. It comes down to two hours, 120 minutes before the game time, before a person out there, holding a ticket in their hand and holding a team in their heart, finds out for sure whether or not there will be baseball. What does that mean?
ROB WEINGARTEN, 790 THE ZONE: What it means is in Chicago, where they have been watching bad baseball teams play afternoon ball for years, they are going to go back out there this afternoon and watch more baseball. That is what it means.
HARRIS: All right.
WHITFIELD: All right. That is always a good thing.
HARRIS: Rob Weingarten, thanks much, appreciate it.
WEINGARTEN: Oh, my pleasure.
HARRIS: Thanks for sticking around.
WHITFIELD: Yes, thanks for sticking around. Good timing, huh?
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You made this happen.
HARRIS: Yes, what are you guys going to talk about this afternoon on The Zone?
WEINGARTEN: Our whole staff is in Athens, Georgia getting ready for football.
WHITFIELD: OK.
HARRIS: There you go. Welcome to the South. All right. Thanks, Rob.
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