No pay? Then we don’t play

Scribbled Notes: The forgotten story of why a minor league baseball team in 1989 staged a one-day walkout because they hadn’t been paid

Depending on your age, the year 1989 feels like a few years ago or a few centuries ago.

That was a transformative summer for me. I was 15 going on 16, in my third year of obsessively getting autographs with friends at A’s and Giants games, both teams were the best in baseball and we dreamed of a Bay Bridge World Series. I started working at a restaurant as a busboy, which meant I always had cash in my pocket, and I ended the summer with a drivers license and my own car.

Feels like a few years ago to me.

But a reminder of just how long ago 1989 was, here’s a story that could never happen nowadays: the Vancouver Canadians minor league baseball team refused to play a baseball game because they had not been paid.

It happened 35 years ago this week – on July 6, 1989 to be precise – and the walkout was staged in my current home of Albuquerque.

Let’s start with the obvious changes to employees getting paid by employers between 1989 and now: direct deposit did not exist for most people.

In 1989, the Vancouver Canadians were the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. [For those who are not aware, MLB teams supply the players, coaches and trainers to the minor league team. The Canadians players are employees of the White Sox and paid by the White Sox.]

Back then, checks were mailed to players and distributed on the road. The players were on their own to find a bank to cash the check or deposit the money into a account. Sometimes the home team would cash the checks for them. Checks were due on the 15^th and 30^th of each month.

In news stories at the time, the Canadians players said the White Sox were notorious for having checks arriving late. Outfielder Marlin McPhail said the players were rarely paid on time in 1988 and each of the two previous checks in 1989 were late too. (In one instance, the checks arrived in Calgary after that series ended and the team was already in Colorado Springs.)

Frustration was brewing and some of the veteran players started discussing a walkout the previous day.

On July 6, the checks still had not arrived. They were six days late. The 23 Canadians players arrived at Albuquerque Sports Stadium, worked out on the field pregame, then took a vote and decided to walk. An explanation was left in the clubhouse, apologizing to the Albuquerque Dukes and the fans, and signed by all players.

The Dukes took the field at 7:05 pm that night, as scheduled. The Canadians were already long gone. They were back at the team hotel. The umpires waited five minutes, then declared the game a 9-0 Dukes forfeit win. The Dukes players carried starting pitcher Dennis Burtt off the mound on their shoulders in mock celebration.

At the hotel – it was a Howard Johnson, back then – the players allowed the media into a conference room to explain their decision. Veteran catcher Marc Sullivan, a 30-year-old with parts of five years experience in the major leagues, was the de facto team spokesperson. Sullivan was also the son of former Red Sox general manager and part-owner Haywood Sullivan.

The Dukes promotion that night featured an appearance by Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller who ended up meeting with the players at the hotel. Feller told the media he’d have done the same thing and reminded everyone that in the major leagues if your check is late even one day, you’re immediately a free agent. Not in the minors.

Minor league players only recently became members of the Players Union.

The story made national news. White Sox management was furious. The White Sox claimed the problem was the post office was closed for Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day (July 4) holidays.

The next day, a representative from the Vancouver Canadians flew to Albuquerque with the paychecks. The walkout ended after one day. But the repercussions continued.

The Canadians players felt they were blackballed by White Sox management the rest of the season.

When rosters expanded on Sept. 1 from 25 to 40, the White Sox did not call up additional reinforcements. Even after the Canadians won the Pacific Coast League title – back in Albuquerque, interestingly enough -- only one player (reliever Jose Segura) was brought to the major leagues for the rest of the season.

"Scribbled notes on a cocktail napkin" is my weekly Sunday feature that's a tribute to the sports columnists I grew up reading who penned Herb Caen-inspired three dot columns. It's an excuse to shamelessly plug my other side projects, post my favorite Immaculate Grid from the week with a story about one of the players, link to stories I found interesting, and string together loose topics on my mind.

Tom Drees: King of the No-hitter

Vancouver Canadians left-hander Tom Drees did something that season nobody has ever done in professional baseball. Not Sandy Koufax, not Nolan Ryan, not Max Scherzer.

Drees pitched three no-hitters that season – yes, THREE no-hitters, including in back-to-back starts (the second was a seven-inning game, as part of a doubleheader) – and also pitched three no-hit innings in the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Only six major league pitchers have ever tossed two no-hitters in the same season. Nobody has ever fired three, except for Drees.

Yet, Drees was never promoted to the majors that season. It wasn’t until two years later, the end of the 1991 season, that Drees was called up for the only four appearances of his MLB career.

The knock on Drees was actually something that’s commonly held against pitchers now: he didn’t throw hard enough and didn’t strike out enough hitters. His overall numbers that season: in 26 starts, an 12-11 record, 3.37 ERA (the PCL average was 4.06), 142 hits allowed in 168 innings. He did walk more (72) than he struck out (66).

Regardless of how a team evaluates the future of its own minor league ballplayers, it’s astonishing that a guy can pitch three no-hitters in one season and the 69-92 White Sox didn’t think he was worthy of a spot on a 40-man roster in September. It’s hard not to connect the dots that it was punishment for the one-day lockout.

A couple years ago, Drees joined me for a podcast to discuss his no-hitters, the controversial one-day strike, and how that Vancouver team was ahead of its time life in pushing for better working conditions for minor leaguers.

A history of forfeited games

In the earliest days of Major League Baseball — we’re talking before 1900 — forfeits were commonplace.

A St. Louis team feared for its safety in Brooklyn in 1889 and didn’t show up. Teams in Brooklyn and Louisville forfeited games when they ran out of baseballs. A team in Baltimore forfeited a game because they had to leave early to catch a train.

In the 1900s, forfeits became less frequent. Before lights were introduced, teams might try to stall a game from ending before the curfew due to darkness.

That famously occurred in a 1937 game, when the trailing Phillies pitchers didn’t want to throw a strike (to extend the game) and the leading Cardinals players swung at everything (to end the game sooner). Eventually, after the Phillies kept making pitching changes that dragged on forever, the umpires called the game a forfeit loss for the Phillies.

Most forfeited games are because of unruly fans. The Washington Senators had to forfeit their final game at RFK Stadium in 1971 when angry fans stormed the field in the ninth inning. The team had recently announced a move to Arlington, Texas.

The most famous forfeited games are from Ten Cent Beer Night (Cleveland Indians, 1974) and Disco Demolition Night (Chicago White Sox, 1979).

The most recent forfeited MLB game was on August 10, 1995 at Dodger Stadium. Remember, this was about a year after the players strike in 1994 led to the cancellation of the World Series. It was tense across the country as fans reacted negatively to players.

The Dodgers gave away 15,000 souvenir baseballs that infamous night. For some reason baseballs were thrown onto the field in the seventh inning, causing a six-minute delay. Then in the ninth inning, with the Cardinals leading 2-1, the fans got very upset by some brutally horrible calls by home plate umpire Jim Quick and the ejections of multiple Dodgers players.

The field was pelted with baseballs. The umpires called the players off the field and declared it a forfeit loss for the Dodgers. The forfeit nearly cost the Dodgers a spot in the playoffs. They only won the division by one game.

Over the years, I’m sure MLB players might not have wanted to play a game. Chris Sale famously didn’t want the White Sox to play in throwback uniforms in 2016, so he slashed them to pieces with scissors.

But there’s never been an MLB game where the players refused to take the field because they hadn’t been paid. Except for the Vancouver Canadians in 1989.

This week’s not-so-random Immaculate Grid story: Daryl Boston

Daryl Boston was born in Cincinnati, drafted and made his debut in Chicago, also played for both New York teams, and in Denver. Boston never played for the Boston Red Sox, but did play 20 games as a visitor in Boston.

Diego Segui was born in Cuba, played in Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle, St.Louis and Boston. Diego never played for the San Diego Padres.

Eight different players with the first name of Francisco, and two with the last name of Francisco, have played Major League Baseball. None ever played for the San Francisco Giants. Francisco Liriano was signed by San Francisco, but the Giants traded him when he was still playing for Single-A San Jose.

Grover Cleveland Alexander never played for Cleveland Indians … or Spiders.

Al Alburquerque never played for the Albuquerque Isotopes, but did get three saves in one week in Albuquerque pitching for the Salt Lake Bees.

Huston Street never played for the Houston Astros. Nor did Tyler Houston or Houston Jimenez, Jesse Houston or Tick Houston.

Thank goodness Austin Nola once played for the New Orleans Zephyrs. He’s one of the few people who can claim the name on the front of the jersey was the same as the name on the back.