Cubs’ Preliminary Hearing to Be July 23 or 24

U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon, responding to the Chicago Cubs’ bid for a preliminary injunction blocking their mandated move to the National League West, scheduled dates Wednesday for the submission of briefs and said she will rule immediately after a hearing on July 23 or 24, according to baseball’s deputy commissioner, Steve Greenberg.

Greenberg said the granting or denial of the preliminary injunction probably will determine the fate of realignment in 1993, considering that the Cubs’ suit--aimed at achieving a permanent injunction--might not go to trial for two years because of the often slow pace of the judicial process. “Whoever wins (the preliminary) will have scored a significant victory,� Greenberg said, meaning that it will determine 1993 alignment, with the Cubs either remaining in the East or moving to the West.

On Monday, Commissioner Fay Vincent, acting, he said, in the best interest of baseball, ordered the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to join the expansion Colorado Rockies in the West in 1993, with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves moving to the East with the expansion Florida Marlins.

The Cubs contend in their suit that Vincent exceeded his authority. They also contend that if Vincent is not restrained by July 20 from implementing the realignment plan, “it will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for the National League president to issue a schedule for the 1993 season in a timely fashion.�

Greenberg described that as a “red herring.� He said the players’ union, originally scheduled to receive the 1993 schedule on July 1, already has extended that deadline to Aug. 1 and is willing to extend it again. Greenberg said he received that assurance from union counsel Gene Orza on Wednesday. The final schedule does not have to be presented to the union for approval until Oct. 1, Greenberg said.