February 6, 1995 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
February 6, 1995 – Baseball Strike news this day. Ironically, February 6, 1995 would have been Baseball legend Babe Ruth‘s 100th birthday. But instead, one would have imagined him spinning in his grave, as it was the last day of negotiations before President Clinton sent in a Federal Mediator to settle the six-month old baseball strike. Player representative Donald Fehr was still hopeful that, the presence of the deadline which was rapidly approaching, would spur the owners to more meaningful negotiations and would be able to find a way to get it finally overwith. Federal Mediator Bill Usery said strking Major League baseball players and team owners were so far apart that he’d have to step in with a solution of his own. Shortly after, Usery had a long chat with President Clinton, who wanted him to give the two sides one more shot, until 5 o’clock Eastern time that afternoon. Also on hand for the Presidents pep talk was Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who said the President was very emphatic in expressing the desire of the fans to get on with settling the strike and to make sure that there was going to be a 1995 season. There wasn’t much doubt that Mediator Usery’s proposals would have to play a central role in any strike settlement. While the Players Union was willing to go along, there was also concern that there was no surer way to guarantee they wouldn’t be in the same position four or five years down the line, or how long the disagreement ended up being, than to have somebody else decide the matter and not have the players and management do it themselves. Both sides were reserving the right to say no if they couldn’t live with what Bill Usery was proposing.
There was other baseball news – Darryl Strawberry, the legendary right-fielder whose career has been a train-wreck, was facing prison time over not reporting some $ 1/2 Million in taxable income. Keeping that information, not only from the IRS but from his wife’s divorce attorney.
President Clinton was sending $1.6 Trillion budget proposal to Capitol Hill while Senate Republicans were working on a Balanced Budget amendment.
And that’s a small slice of what went on, this February 6, 1995 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
