MOOSE JAW BIT TOO HARD TO STAY; NO PAYDAY FOR CAIN, YEOMANS.

Byline: Lee Barnathan / Daily News Staff Writer

The minor-league baseball season continues, but Steve Cain and Jesse Yeomans are home, soured by their experiences.

Cain, a 5-foot-8, 155-pounder who pitched at Montclair Prep and UC Santa Barbara, and Yeomans, an ex-Chatsworth High and Cal State Northridge pitcher, found themselves without a team late last month.

Their Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, club in the independent Prairie League folded July 26 after players were not paid for several weeks.

``It was discouraging,'' Yeomans said.

The Prairie League isn't affiliated with Major League Baseball. It isn't a member of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body for the minor leagues.

``They are not a National Association team, so we have no authority to require anything,'' said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive director of minor-league operations. ``You're on your own. People get hurt.''

Neither was drafted out of college, but Cain, 23, had a good season in 1996 with an independent team in Greenville, Miss. He went 4-1 with a 3.80 ERA and received offers from three independent leagues, including the Prairie.

``I chose the wrong one,'' he said.

Yeomans, 23, pitched on the 1997 Northridge team and went 3-1 with a 4.69 ERA and a team-best three saves. He struck out 33 in 40-1/3 innings but also gave up 57 hits.

The troubles started almost immediately. Yeomans said he thought he was receiving a standard contract for $750 a month, except that was in Canadian dollars, which he said translated into about $600.

Despite leading the league in attendance, Moose Jaw ran into financial problems. Its owner, Dick Richards, asked the league on July 15 to take over the team because he couldn't pay the bills.

``July 15, they were late,'' Cain said. ``It started to get fishy.''

League president Dave Ferguson took over the team and asked Murray Brace, the former Moose Jaw general manager now holding the same spot at Regina, 30 miles away, to run both teams. Former Moose Jaw GM Don Anderson objected, claiming a conflict of interest, and set off to find another owner.

Meanwhile, Richards disappeared, and the Moose Jaw Times-Herald later reported Richards was wanted on fraud charges under the name Richard Champlonne.

The players had been receiving partial paychecks for weeks, but the money stopped coming in mid-July. For Cain and Yeomans, it wasn't so bad because they were single and unattached and were living their dreams of playing professional baseball and getting many chances to pitch.

Still, not knowing if today was payday made it tough.

``I'd go out and pitch, and I'm really intense,'' Yeomans said. ``At the same time, once your teammates aren't in the right frame of mind, it brings you (down). I don't think I did my best.''

Team officials promised to pay the players their combined $8,000 in back pay by the end of a weeklong homestand that ended July 27. Yeomans said he received only about $400 Canadian.

When team officials promised the players their money would be available at the end of the next road trip, the players instead quit. Cain and Yeomans were the first two to ask for their release.

``It soured me,'' Cain said.

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