Baseball Fans' Discontent Rising

C H I C A G O, July 14 -- With all the subtlety of a high and inside pitch, baseball is being warned.

"This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back," said Ron Ewald, a fan from the Milwaukee area.

With the possibility of another strike looming, and word of little progress in negotiations, a lot of fans are saying they're fed up. Tom Filing, from Lake Mills, Wisc., is one of them.

"I think the players are being selfish once again, just like they were at their last strike, and most of us that are real baseball fans are really sick of it," he said.

"I think if they strike again they will lose me as a total fan once and for all," said Cleo Delahanty, a fan from Milwaukee.

Fan Resentment Of Players, Owners

With more than 25 players earning better than $10 million a year now, and the average major league salary being over $2 million annually, it's hard for fans to relate to the players' claims that they're not getting their due.

"They should go work in a factory today when it's 95 and humid, and make $10 an hour and see what it's all about," said Dave Myer, from Milwaukee.

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But if a strike does happen, the players won't be the only ones to blame. The owners say they would like to hold down their costs, but they're the ones responsible for inflating the players' pay.

Baseball's future seems at stake.

"I've heard that if they walk or there is a strike, the situation might take a year to resolve," said Harold Reynolds, a former player and an ESPN baseball analyst. "That cannot happen."

Since the last strike in 1994, the game has clawed its way back to acceptability. But according to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, "We were lucky the last time. We were really lucky the last time."

Fan Revolt

And like last time, if players and owners lock horns, and a strike does happen, the real victims will be the fans.

Don Wadewitz is one fan who's trying to give all fans a voice at the bargaining table. Wadewitz has built a Website campaign urging a boycott of specific games to give players a look at what may await them.