In a gesture to one of its stellar members, the Major League Baseball Players Association has advised the Orioles' Cal Ripken that it might not object if he resumed his quest for baseball's all-time consecutive-games streak while other major-leaguers were on strike.
But Ripken flatly has refused to consider the possibility.
Mark Belanger, the former Orioles shortstop who is a special assistant to players union chief Donald Fehr, said he approached Ripken with the idea at a union meeting in New York last October.
"I pulled him aside and said, 'By the way, if you would like, we can talk to the players and see how they would feel if you decided you want to play. You're an unusual circumstance,' " Belanger said.
"But Cal said, 'Don't bother. I'm not going anywhere. I didn't get into the game for a streak, and I'm not going to cross any line.' "
Ripken could not be reached for comment yesterday. His Baltimore-based agent, Ron Shapiro, dismissed speculation about Ripken's playing for the Orioles during a strike as "a bogus story."
"Cal has stated all along that the streak will not stand in the way of his responsibility to the [players] association," Shapiro said. "He feels strongly about what the players in the past did for him and his obligation to them, as well as to the players of the future."
Belanger said union officials consider Ripken a special case because of the streak. He needs 122 games to break Lou Gehrig's all-time record of 2,130 straight games, a plateau Ripken would reach in August, assuming he remained healthy and the season started on time.
But the streak could be snuffed out if owners and players don't change the direction of their talks and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement by Opening Day.
Those prospects, which have seemed slim recently, dimmed further last week, when owners made good on their threat to implement their salary cap proposal.
Several owners have said they plan to open spring training camps on schedule and to begin the regular season with replacement players, if necessary. Ripken's streak would be a casualty of such a plan, which is opposed by several owners, including the Orioles' Peter Angelos. At a recent major-league meeting, Angelos told owners he'd resist their plans to start the season with replacement players.
Belanger said union officials think Ripken should have a voice in deciding what happens to the streak.
"We are talking history," Belanger said. "There is no question in our mind that this situation has been planned by the owners. It's mind-boggling to have something like this happen because these guys don't care. It's almost like they're saying to Cal, 'We don't care about anybody.' "
Belanger said he and Fehr talked about Ripken's situation and decided Ripken should be consulted. If Ripken had expressed interest in playing, the issue would have been brought up to other members of the players union.
But that never happened, Belanger said, because Ripken was vehement in rejecting any talk of playing during a strike. 'N Belanger said he has not had another conversation with Ripken about the issue since.
But Belanger added: "If Rip decided to [play], I would venture to say not one baseball player would ever say anything against it, because they know the significance of a record like this. God forbid he doesn't get hurt. He's going to break the record, and it will never be broken again. It shouldn't be stopped by selfish people."
Despite that, Shapiro said Ripken won't think twice about honoring the players strike.
"Cal has never viewed individual achievement as being something that subordinates his responsibility to teammates or others," Shapiro said.
Houston pitcher Todd Jones told the Houston Post this week that he didn't think players would object to Ripken's playing while other major-leaguers were on strike.
"This is no everyday record," Jones said. "This is a Halley's comet-type thing he's going after. It's safe to say that none of the union members would hold it against him."