Sox took a stand!

From MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston's Grapefruit League finale on Wednesday is being delayed because of an apparent misunderstanding over whether the coaching staff will receive stipends for making a trip to Tokyo, where the Red Sox and A's are to open the regular season next week.
The Red Sox are scheduled to depart for Japan following the exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The club said that Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was scheduled to pitch against Toronto, would instead pitch in a 1 p.m. ET Minor League game.

When the Red Sox officially agreed to go to Japan in November, manager Terry Francona and the players were both under the impression that all uniformed personnel would get a stipend of approximately $40,000 for the trip.

"What we want to do this morning is get excited about us playing a baseball game and what I did was spend the morning apologizing to the coaches and being humiliated," said Francona. "That's all I know."

During Tuesday's off-day -- the only one for Boston during Spring Training -- Francona became aware that he and the coaches were not receiving stipends.

The players were upset enough about the matter that they held a meeting among themselves prior to Wednesday morning's batting practice to discuss a proper course of action.

The Boston Globe and Boston Herald both reported that the players have considered boycotting Wednesday's exhibition game against the Blue Jays and the late-afternoon departure for Japan if the matter does not get resolved.

Sox player representative Kevin Youkilis spent time during the pre-game hours discussing the situation with Vernon Wells, who holds the same position for the Blue Jays.

"I guess, as of right now, I've heard that it's been talked about, the game possibly not being played," said Wells. "We're just waiting to hear word from those guys. They said we'll probably end up playing but obviously they're not happy with the situation right now."

Asked if the Red Sox would take the field for the noon game against Toronto, Red Sox right-hander Curt Schilling said, "I have no idea."

Officials are working behind the scenes trying to resolve the issue, but MLB had no comment.

Third baseman Mike Lowell indicated to the Boston Globe that the Red Sox won't leave for Japan unless or until the matter is resolved.

"It's not just the coaches, it's the staff, the trainers, a lot of people are affected by this," said Lowell. "I'm so super proud of this team. When we put it to a vote it was unanimous, we're all in agreement that we're not going to put up with this."

Schilling made it clear how important the issue is to the players.

"They're part of this team," said Schilling. "They're as important as the players in our mind."

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan was touched by the support from the players.

"To see how the players backed us and how they feel about the work that we do, that meant a lot," Magadan said. "It means a lot. Sometimes we feel like you can have a thankless job, but when things like that are done, you really appreciate and get a feeling for how the players feel about us."

When the players agreed to make the trip in the offseason, Schilling said he was under the assumption that Francona and the coaches would be compensated.

"We heard late yesterday [that wasn't the case]," Schilling said. "I think everyone was kind of caught off-guard because this was kind of the deal from the beginning. Then we found out for sure that the people that were supposed to be taken care of and compensated, the staff members, were not being ... again, the agreement was very clear and we were explicit about it. "

Was there any kind of written agreement?

"It was a verbal, on the phone conversation," said Schilling. "All the negotiations I was involved in on were on the phone."

The players were upset enough about the matter that they held a meeting among themselves prior to Wednesday morning's batting practice to discuss a proper course of action.

"The players have talked on their own," Francona said. "This is something that, again, this is a touchy situation for me. It's the last thing I want to deal with. I want to deal with us getting ready to play baseball. It's frustrating."

Francona said it was his understanding that the managers and coaching staffs of the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays received stipends for their season-opening trip to Tokyo in 2004.

To Francona, the matter was a lot more about the coaches than himself.

"For a coach, this is, in some cases, two-fifths of their salary for the year," Francona said. "This is a big deal. I don't agree that coaches are second-class citizens. That has never sat well with me, ever."

Francona was the bench coach for the A's in 2003 when they were scheduled to go to Japan, only to have that journey canceled because of the war in Iraq. In that instance, Francona said that the manager and all the coaches were set to get stipends.

Managers and coaches aren't members of the Players Association.

"The coaches never have leverage," said Schilling. "In all the years I've been in baseball, they're the guys usually taken advantage of in situations like this. In this locker room, they're as much a part of this team as the guys on the field."

$40,000...

Do you really need a $40,000 stipend to take a trip to Japan - it's not like they're paying for anything. It's a free vacation. Even if they had to pay would they really need $40,000?

I wonder who IS paying for the trip, MLB, Red Sox and A's, or the the players and coaches themselves???

If MLB is picking up the tab, then I feel the teams are not caring about the PR they will get, they just want to add to their riches!

If the players and coaches are picking up the tab, then I can see them complaining.

Game still delayed....estimated starting pitch time 1:10 EST.

"Do you really need a $40,000 stipend to take a trip to Japan - it's not like they're paying for anything. It's a free vacation. "

So when you are in the working world and your company sends you to another country to do your job, you'll do it for free?

But do they need 40,000 Dollars? I dunno! I never have been to Japan!

During the Pro Bowl [ i watched the end of it after the Pistons Game ended] last month, players paid for family and friends out of their pocket which is why they jokingly were saying[ on the sideline] how much the need the winners share of the purse.


However, It is hard for me to sympathize with players making millions, and coaches making 6 figure salaries, bitching about having to pony up some money for a publicity trip/ exhibition game

Most Money Al Kaline made in a season was 100,000.

You guys are missing the point, from what I'm understanding, the players are making a stand against the fact that the coaches are not getting anything and the players believe they should. I say good for them.

Hell; The players make so much money! The Red Sox had a 143 million dollar team payroll in 2007; The players could fly all the coaches and pick up their tab in Japan!

Probably could write it off in their taxes too!


As far as taking a stand goes! Muhammad Ali took a stand against the Vietnam War, losing his title and going to jail. The 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team took a stand against racial prejudice and the NCAA.

Losing their entire football program in the process!


Sorry, But what the Red Sox are doing pales by comparision!

Why even play exhibition or regular season games in Japan or China anyway?


All it does is cause problems one way or another!


Hope the Tigers never do!

gs78 wrote:

Hell; The players make so much money! The Red Sox had a 143 million dollar team payroll in 2007; The players could fly all the coaches and pick up their tab in Japan!

So? Those players are only worth what someone is willing to pay them.

gs78 wrote:

Probably could write it off in their taxes too!

Again.. so? You can be damn sure I write off everything I can, just because they make a shit load more than I do doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to.

gs78 wrote:

As far as taking a stand goes! Muhammad Ali took a stand against the Vietnam War, losing his title and going to jail. The 1951 University of San Francisco Dons football team took a stand against racial prejudice and the NCAA.

Losing their entire football program in the process!

This isn't even a comparison.

Those players felt like their coaching staff was getting dicked, so they stood up for them. Again, I say good for them.

gs78 wrote:

Sorry, But what the Red Sox are doing pales by comparision!

Nobody was comparing them. They felt they had to do something for their coaching staff and did. End of story. No one said it was this great stand off that will go down in history for the greater good of mankind.

Sorry I don't see it that way! Nor do I agree! In addition, Even if the Coaches have to pay, I am sure they will later be reinbursed fully by MLB!

Why raise an issue of something that might be a simple oversight by MLB!

The last thing Selig wants is negative publicity!

Got enough of that with the Mitchell Report and Steriods Mess!

As they should be. This wasn't their idea to go over there.

Why raise an issue? Because even if it WAS an oversight, it had to be dealt with.

I agree that Selig doesn't want negative publicity, but that man made his bed. I have not one good thing to say about that man, so I'll leave it at that.

The players stood together with their coaching staff as a team. I for one totally respect that. They could have said you guys, WE'RE getting paid. Who cares about you? But they didn't.

Selig needs to go! We need a strong Commisoner, not a lackey to the MLB owners!

It is amazing how strong MLB is in spite of Selig!

However!
I still say why even have games overseas!

All it seems to bring is hassle and negative ink! The League, The Players, Coaches and the Fans don't need the BS!


I hope the Tigers never go there to play an exhibtion or regular season game, especially a regular season game!

I agree with that, it's dumb.

Unless MLB decides to expand overseas! I don't see the purpose of playing games there!


To be fair; The NFL, NBA and NHL have done this too!


However; Same thing applies to them as well!

03/19/2008 4:54 PM ET
Red Sox stipend dispute resolved
Players sought payment for staff for Tokyo trip; will go to Japan
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox went to bat for manager Terry Francona and the coaching staff on Wednesday, and in the end, they got a result satisfactory enough to avoid boycotting their Grapefruit League finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

A misunderstanding over whether the Red Sox's coaching, training and clubhouse staffs would receive stipends for making a trip to Tokyo got resolved about 40 minutes after the scheduled start of the game.

"All the things I talked about prior to today about it being a quiet spring and just baseball, you can throw it right out the window," Francona said. "It was a long morning and a long day yesterday. We found out probably by accident that some of the communication was different than we anticipated. Because there's some parties that are in China, some are Japan, some are here, some are in New York, it was very difficult to communicate."

Thanks to the matter being resolved between the Red Sox, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, the team will depart for Tokyo as scheduled early Wednesday evening.

"Everyone connected with the trip will be fairly compensated," said Rich Levin, senior vice president of public relations for Major League Baseball.

"I want to make this real clear," Francona said. "This was not a case of players being greedy. This was a case of players uniting together. I think that's part of the reason we're good. There was no disrespect to baseball. We made sure the Blue Jays knew that. It was a very difficult position everybody felt we were in and it got resolved."

The game against the Blue Jays wound up starting at 1:11 p.m. ET, one hour and four minutes later than scheduled. Daisuke Matsuzaka -- Boston's Opening Day starter -- ended up pitching a Minor League game instead of facing Toronto.

It was a chaotic morning and early afternoon at City of Palms Park. The players became upset when they learned that Francona, the coaches and other uniformed members were not going to receive stipends -- worth approximately $40,000 -- for the upcoming trip to Tokyo. The players on both the Red Sox and A's are receiving that amount.

Until Tuesday, Francona and the coaches were under the assumption that they were getting the same stipends as the players.

When Francona informed the players that apparently was not the case, a players-only meeting was held in the clubhouse.

Shortly after that, the Red Sox got on the phone with Major League Baseball and the Players Association and said that unless or until the matter was resolved, they would not play Wednesday and also threatened not to board the flight for Tokyo later in the day.

"It was a misunderstanding," said Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell. "I don't know who to lay blame on, but there has to be a way to resolve it."

Red Sox player representative Kevin Youkilis and other players were in constant communication with Major League Baseball and the Players Association throughout the course of the morning until the matter was resolved.

Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino, general manager Theo Epstein and other club officials assisted the players on the matter, which Francona and Youkilis both said they appreciated.

Francona also spoke to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig twice via phone.

"He was justifiably concerned about playing the game, which I completely understand," Francona said. "I've known him since I sat the bench in Milwaukee. He was very kind to me, is actually the way I would interpret it. Knowing that he has a lot of responsibilities and a full plate, he was very kind."

Shortly before the regular scheduled start time, several Boston players came into the dugout, but there still wasn't a resolution.

"We have to be prepared to take care of what was ultimately promised to our staff and to everybody else that's on the trip," Red Sox catcher and captain Jason Varitek said before the issue was resolved. "This isn't about us; this isn't about anything besides [the fact] that there's other people involved that are being forgotten about."

Asked if the Red Sox would board the bus for the airport to leave for Japan on Wednesday without a resolution, Varitek said, "We will not."

Early in the morning, the situation had cast a pall over the team's Spring Training getaway day.

"What we want to do this morning is get excited about us playing a baseball game, and what I did was spend the morning apologizing to the coaches and being humiliated," Francona said. "That's all I know."

If the game had wound up being canceled, the Boston players said that they were prepared to sign autographs for all of the fans on both foul lines. It never came to that.

"These guys are outstanding guys, they're standup guys," Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills said of the players. "They do what's right. That's what makes them great ballplayers as well."

Even the Blue Jays were touched by the lengths the Red Sox went to fight for their staff.

"You don't expect to see that, but I was kind of glad it happened and I was kind of impressed with those guys," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Not only are they a very talented team, they've got something special over there. That's a team. They stuck their necks out for the coaching staff -- those guys they admire and stand by --- and that helps us all. There's only two teams that can get away with that: Boston and New York. That's good to see."

Youkilis spent time during the pregame hours discussing the situation with Vernon Wells, who is the player rep for Toronto. The Jays' players were understanding of the situation and didn't balk at the game starting later than scheduled.

Red Sox right-hander Curt Schilling had made it clear how important the issue is to the players.

"They're part of this team," Schilling said of Francona and the coaches. "They're as important as the players in our mind."

Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan was touched by the support from the players.

"To see how the players backed us and how they feel about the work that we do, that meant a lot," Magadan said. "It means a lot. Sometimes we feel like you can have a thankless job, but when things like that are done, you really appreciate and get a feeling for how the players feel about us."

Francona said it was his understanding that the managers and coaching staffs of the Yankees and Rays received stipends for their season-opening trip to Tokyo in 2004.

To Francona, the matter was a lot more about the coaches than himself.

"For a coach, this is, in some cases, two-fifths of their salary for the year," Francona said. "This is a big deal. I don't agree that coaches are second-class citizens. That has never sat well with me, ever."

Francona was the bench coach for the A's in 2003 when they were scheduled to go to Japan, only to have that journey canceled because of the war in Iraq. In that instance, Francona said that the manager and all the coaches were set to get stipends.

Managers and coaches aren't members of the Players Association.

"The coaches never have leverage," said Schilling. "In all the years I've been in baseball, they're the guys usually taken advantage of in situations like this. In this locker room, they're as much a part of this team as the guys on the field."

In this case, the Red Sox's players, to a man, made sure their coaches got taken care of.

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com.

Glad they resolved this! Should not have come to it, though! Even if it was an honest mistake, Selig and MLB should have took the bull by the horns on this!


This trip to Tokyo has been planned months ago. Seems Silly there was a snafu at the last minute, even if it was a misunderstanding.


Play Ball!

wow! look what I started!

laprimamirala wrote:

wow! look what I started!

Later I will move this to the Red Sox section, but for now, it can stay here.

I thought about that too...could've gone in a number of slots!

I didn't even notice it!

Mostly because it was happening as I was posting...

I've had times like that. We lmost need a MLB Breaking News section for important stuff, and then the info could be moved to proper tean area after.

I normally just look at what team is involved (in this case Boston), see if they have a section in "MLB Teams", If the section exists I put it there, If not I put it into "Other Teams."


We almost need a section there for breaking news, and one for each team nd one for MLB itself. Then as the breaking news has been there awhile, Brob could rhen move it to the correct team section.

Agreed on the MLB breaking news section! Hope we never have a strike like that in '94.

Yep, I thought of the MLB section due to things that come up that effects all teams, like the Mitchell Report.

laprimamirala wrote:

Agreed on the MLB breaking news section! Hope we never have a strike like that in '94.

we'd have to send all those marvelous Venezuelans back home!

laprimamirala wrote:

laprimamirala wrote:

Agreed on the MLB breaking news section! Hope we never have a strike like that in '94.

we'd have to send all those marvelous Venezuelans back home!

those yummy, buttery smooth Venezuelans....*sigh*

Another Strike [ like they had in 94] could kill MLB!

I was amazed that even happened. I wasn't into baseball that much at the time and was really put off by the incredible greed of it all.