They're kind of baseball's dirty little secret. Before this recent flame war between Arthur Rhodes and Corey Lidle, when was the last time you heard anything about them?

For those that don't know, the term "scab" is usually used when referencing people (or players, in sports) that cross a picket line during a labor dispute.

I got to wondering, how many scabs from the 1995 replacement player fiasco are still hanging on in the majors? If you've been following the Rhodes/Lidle situation you know that there still are some lingering bad feelings towards these players, and you have to wonder how that manifests itself in the clubhouse.

To this day, these scabs are not permitted as members of the MLB Players Association.

The only guy that I was aware of that was still active (before I knew Lidle was a scab) was Damian Miller of the Brewers. A little poking around yielded the following list of current MLB players that crossed the line back in 1995. One name in particular will stand out to Tiger fans.

Corey Lidle
Damian Miller
Brendan Donnelly
Frank Menechino
Kevin Millar
Jamie Walker
Matt Herges

I had always heard that Herges is trouble in the clubhouse, maybe this explains that a bit.

Those were the only current MLB players that I could confirm, but there were several other notable scabs that made rosters in the years following the labor dispute, such as:

Benny Agbayani
Brian Daubach
Kerry Ligtenberg
Lou Merloni (still in Indians system, played some MLB games earlier this season)
Shane Spencer
Chris Truby (former Tiger)

Are there other guys that I'm missing?

I found some more interesting information on this (at least it's interesting to me, I suppose it remains to be seen if anyone else here cares).


The 1994 strike set in motion a chain of events that Major League Baseball and its fans still feels to this day. One of them was the use of replacement players during Spring Training in 1995. These players, like them or not, crossed the proverbial picket line and became forever known as the replacements.

Each of the players below, according to the Players Association, are not allowed union membership. They each are given representation during arbitration or other matters, they all receive pension benefits, but they are not part of the actual union — which essentially means they do not receive any licensing monies and they cannot vote on union matters.

Each Major League team was permitted to carry thirty-two replacement players on their rosters for Opening Day and twenty-five could be used in any game. No waivers were going to be used, no disabled lists, and salaries were set at $115,000 (plus a $5,000 signing bonus, a $5,000 bonus for making the Opening Day roster, and up to three players could have a contract as high as $275,000).

When the strike finally came to an end, Major League players had a three week Spring Training and replacement players were either sent to the Minor Leagues, terminated, or in some cases given a team travel bag to load their belongings in before leaving to their homes. However, the following players have made it to "the show" and are considered non-union replacement players.

Fast Facts
The replacement players were entitled to their signing bonus and Spring Training expenses. Most of the Major League teams paid this and gave a severance ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per player. The St. Louis Cardinals, on the other hand, gave each replacement player $25,000 while the Montreal Expos gave each player a jersey. The Phillies, who probably did not want to be considered as cheap as the Expos, gave each player their jersey AND a ball signed by the entire team (the same team that they were playing on / with).

How do you feel about the replacement players? Should current / modern players still hold a grudge? Should the players listed above be allowed into the union? Share your opinion on Baseball Fever today, but keep in mind some of the situations each player was placed in during that particular time:

(*) Tim Kurkjian in ESPN The Magazine wrote, "Rick Reed knew. He was pitching for the Reds' Triple-A club, his 10th year of pro ball. He was told by the Reds to cross the line or he'd be released, then blackballed. Reed's mother was sick, he was paying her medical bills, and he couldn't stop working. So he played. Late in the 1995 season, he was recalled by the Reds because they badly needed pitching. General manager Jim Bowden called a team meeting to inform the players of what he was planning to do. One player stood up in the back of the clubhouse and screamed his opposition, claiming he would never be a teammate with a 'scab.' "

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/replacement_players.shtml

Doesn't surprise me about Walker at all. Dude is a honest to god Blue collar guy. Shut your mouth and do your job. Fuck a Unions.

Doesn't surprise me about Walker at all. Dude is a honest to god Blue collar guy. Shut your mouth and do your job. Fuck a Unions.
So you are saying that union members are dishonest, run their mouth, and don't do their jobs?

Not all of them, but I dont support unions.

Doesn't surprise me about Walker at all. Dude is a honest to god Blue collar guy. Shut your mouth and do your job. Fuck a Unions.

Actually, if Walker was an "honest to god blue collar guy" he'd most likely be very pro-union.

So people crossed the picketline huh?

[smilie=escape.gif]


i dont even know what blue collar is it just sounded right