By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Baseball players set a strike date for Aug. 30, a senior member of the union's executive board said Friday, putting the sport on course for its ninth work stoppage since 1972.

AP Photo AP Photo Slideshow: Major League Baseball Labor Issues

The date was set by the board during a 90-minute conference call, the board member said on the condition he not be identified. He said the union office was to issue an announcement later Friday.

"The baseball owners and baseball players must understand if there is a work stoppage, a lot of fans are going to be furious, and I'm one of them," said President Bush ( news - web sites), the former Texas Rangers owner.

When the board met in Chicago on Monday, it deferred a decision, hoping to spur talks without a deadline. But the sides made little progress on the key economic issues during three days of negotiations, and players were angered by management's lack of movement.

Management's desire for a luxury tax that would restrain spending by high-payroll teams is the key issue blocking a settlement.

"We're trying to find a way to resolve the whole situation," Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa said. "They set a strike date because I think things have been tough. We have to do what we've got to do. I think that's the only way we can get something done."

There was no immediate response from commissioner Bud Selig, who has pressed for major economic changes. Selig has said for a decade that the major leagues cannot survive without concessions from players.

The last strike began Aug. 12, 1994, dragged on for 232 days, and wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. The walkout ended only after a federal judge issued an injunction restoring the rules of the expired labor contract.

Baseball has a perfect record in labor talks, with eight stoppages in eight negotiations, primarily caused by management's attempts to slow salaries in the free-agent era, which began in 1976.

The Aug. 30 strike date, the Friday of Labor Day weekend, means that if players walk out and the season is not completed, they would lose 16.9 percent of their base salaries. Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez stands to lose the most, $3,557,377.05 of his $21 million salary this year. A player at the $200,000 minimum would lose $33,879.78.

After meeting twice Thursday, the sides didn't even bother to schedule a bargaining session Friday, and people aligned with management and the union described the sides as far apart. Negotiators on both sides refused comment Thursday.

"It wasn't good today. They made another proposal that was fairly meaningless," Atlanta's Tom Glavine, the National League player representative, said Thursday. "I think we're basically sitting back waiting for them to give us a serious offer."

Owners originally proposed a 50 percent tax on the portions of payrolls over $98 million, then moved up their threshold last weekend to $100 million. Since Monday's meeting, management has moved up to $102 million, according to a player and two player agents who spoke on the condition they not be identified.

"I've gone from as optimistic as I can be to as pessimistic as I can be," Braves player representative Mike Remlinger said after the two sessions. "It's back to just a flat out refusal to move."

The union fears a luxury tax along those lines when combined with increased revenue sharing would act as a cap because it would drain large amounts of money from high-revenue teams. Players, not wanting a tax at all, reluctantly proposed one with a much higher threshold and a much lower rate.

"We made an offer to try to rein in the Yankees and maybe one or two others," Glavine said. "Instead, they want to affect six or seven others immediately, and maybe six or seven more on the periphery. That's a salary cap."

Players don't want to finish the season without a contract, convinced owners would lock them out or change work rules. The union prefers to have a late-season stoppage, when more of the owners' revenue is at stake, than a confrontation at the start of next season.

"It's no secret that we're running out of time," Arizona's Rick Helling said. "There's only a month-and-a-half left to go in the season. We're obviously getting to that point where time is becoming a major issue."

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