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BLAKE: Amendment 55 a foul ball

Peter Blake

Published September 25, 2008 at 1:53 a.m.

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It's late afternoon on Sunday, May 31, 2009. The Colorado Rockies, having just been swept at home by the San Diego Padres, are packing up and heading for a four-game series in Houston.

Their record is now 18 wins and 32 losses. The season is slipping away and the bosses are unhappy. They need a scapegoat and they choose the usual suspect. It's the manager, Clint Hurdle.

General Manager Dan O'Dowd issues a press release. He is very sorry indeed about the situation. "Changing managers is always a difficult decision, and the Rockies greatly appreciate Clint's service for the past seven years," he writes. "But we feel the club has to move in a new direction." This entire quote, with blanks for the specifics, is stored on a save/get key of the computer in the front office of every baseball team in America.

More than a century of baseball tradition dictates the subsequent drill, and O'Dowd knows it. Hurdle, always the gentleman, will thank the team for the opportunity to manage, apologize for not having had a better season so far, wish the players luck and then go clean out his locker. After a month of travel, he'll try to land a job as a bench coach on another team. Coaching staffs are loaded with ex-managers just waiting for another ride on the merry-go-round's lead horse.

But in Colorado, in 2009, baseball tradition means nothing. Hurdle - who can read beyond the sports pages - knows that in November 2008 voters approved Amendment 55, an AFL-CIO-sponsored initiative that requires employers to have "just cause" before they can fire anyone.

Hurdle is mad. He'd led the Rockies to the World Series just two years earlier, thanks to the most phenomenal finish since the '51 Giants, and all management can ask is, "What have you done for us today?"

This year's record is not his fault, he tells himself. O'Dowd couldn't develop, or trade for, another decent starting pitcher or two. Todd Helton has re-injured his back and replacement Garrett Atkins was traded away for a sore-armed reliever. Other injuries have also plagued the team.

Instead of cleaning out his locker, he holds a press conference in the locker room, "Am I incompetent?" he asks, reading from the law. "Have I neglected my duties? Have I repeatedly violated club policies and procedures? Am I grossly insubordinate? Have I been convicted of moral turpitude? Is the club bankrupt and unable to afford me? The answer to all those questions is no."

He demands a written documentation of his failings, as the law requires.

O'Dowd, taken aback, says he hasn't prepared a such a list. "We're entitled to hire and fire any manager," he insists. "Besides, your contract runs through the end of the year and we're going to pay you in full."

But Hurdle is a proud man. "I don't believe in getting paid for not working," he replies. "Amendment 55 doesn't specify that a payout can satisfy termination. And being fired looks bad on my resume. I'm 51 and new jobs are hard to come by. Baseball isn't exempted from the law."

Hurdle goes to court right away, demanding reinstatement, damages and attorney's fees. He also asks for a temporary restraining order halting the dismissal. The judge, deeming that Hurdle's chances of success are good, grants it.

O'Dowd, who'd already hired Larry Bowa as Hurdle's replacement, groans as he watches Fox TV zoom in on the co-managers in the dugout, screaming at each other over pitching changes and pinch hitters. He decides to hire attorney Mark Grueskin, on grounds he wrote the new law and thus would know best how to get around it.

But O'Dowd's troubles have just begun. Outfielder Cory Sullivan, who'd just been optioned again to the Sky Sox because Willy Taveras was coming off the disabled list, was calling his own attorney. "Being sent back to the minors is like being fired," he said. "The law makes no exception for roster limits. Besides, a growing club is a winning club . . ."

Peter Blake is a former Rocky Mountain News political columnist. He can be reached at pblake0705@comcast.net.

Comments

  • September 25, 2008

    4:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    fatdog writes:

    Mr. Blake, as usual, makes some very good points. I hope thoughtful voters read this column.

  • September 25, 2008

    7:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There's nothing wrong with the present rules.

  • September 25, 2008

    9 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dmp2420 writes:

    What if -- as an alternative scenario to this far-fetched sports example -- the coach had a winning season and the reason he is being fired is he's getting old?

    It is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to win age discrimination suits in Colorado under "at will" employment contracts because an employer can fire employees for no reason at all.

    All this amendment would do is require them to state a reason. Sure they could still make one up, but it would make it harder to hide age and sex discrimination.

  • September 25, 2008

    10:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    tromiano writes:

    Once again, Colorado's ballot is filled with short-sighted, feel-good politics that happen to be well-funded by special interest groups. Amendment 55 is just the start; along with it, amendments 56 and 57 will hurt Colorado's economy by discouraging future investment and small business start-ups, and reduce the number of Colorado jobs. On the other hand, they will make it easier to sue, thereby lining the pockets of starving attornies, so that's something...

  • September 25, 2008

    12:08 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    spencerr writes:

    This amendment is simply meant to force 47 and 49 supporters to pull that amendment from the ballot. They are trying to hold labor busters hostage. Didn't work, so everything is going to the ballot.

    Vote no on 55.

    Vote yes on 47 and 49.

  • September 25, 2008

    2:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Faux_Noise writes:

    This amendment is stupid, but so is Blake's analogy.

    Baseball managers are under contract, and the team continues to pay them whether they manage or not.