MLB Strike Will Strike Out With Fans
Aug. 15, 2002 -- If Major League Baseball players decide to go on strike once again, the sport will survive but not necessarily as the "national pastime" for its fed-up fans.
"Baseball will survive, but it will be hurt badly in a couple of ways," said Melvin Philip Lucas, a baseball historian at Cornell College in Iowa. "Several revenue streams may begin to dry up because the fans will be turned off. TV revenue will begin to dry up since some fans will be less likely to watch them. Some stations have been turning increasingly to other sports such as basketball. Advertising streams that would normally go to baseball will go elsewhere because the other revenue streams would have been stunted."
On Friday, the baseball players union could set a date for a strike — Aug. 30 according to a Washington Post report — which would mark the ninth work stoppage in Major League Baseball since 1972. On Monday, the baseball players union opted not to set a date. Donald Fehr, Major League Baseball Players Association executive director, told reporters that the players would let negotiations continue throughout this week before considering a strike as a last resort.
The last strike was in 1994, and was a symbolic strikeout to many fans who vowed never to follow baseball again. It led to the cancellation of 921 games as well as the World Series for the first time in modern baseball history. It also delayed the start of the following season.
‘I’ll Never Watch Baseball Again’
It took years — and a spectacular race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to break Roger Maris' then-single season homerun record in 1998 — for fans to forgive the players and the owners and to return to the stadiums. But another strike would be the last straw, especially for those who believe that both the players and owners are nothing but a bunch of greedy millionaires who care more about the money than the game and its fans.
"I think the baseball fans are at the point now, they're just sick and tired of it. They're fed up with it," said ABC Sports' Johnny Holliday. "And the fans can have a say. They can say 'OK, you guys go out, we're never coming back.'"
Some fans are already vowing not to forgive Major League Baseball. Some have a hard time empathizing with athletes who stand to make a minimum $300,000 a year and earn an average of $2.38 million a year.
"If they do this, I will never watch baseball again," said Capt. Adrian Rodriguez, 29, of the U.S. Army, a lifelong fan. "The last time they went on strike, I did the same thing and I began to come around around the time of the Subway Series between the Mets and the Yankees. Who can say no to that?"
"After 9/11, when I heard about the Mets giving up their salaries for that one game [in honor of the fallen firefighters and policemen], that renewed my faith in the game — that the owners and players aren't totally greedy," Rodriguez added. "And then they start this."
The key dispute between the owners and the players is a proposed luxury tax, where big-spending teams have to give money to smaller-market clubs. Many owners want the tax as a form of revenue sharing to restore competitive balance to the business of baseball.
But players — and owners from some big-market clubs — oppose a luxury tax. Players believe the move will lead to lower salaries while these owners, among them New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, do not believe they should be forced to subsidize other teams.
From a Child’s Game to a Wealthy Man’s Business
The players hope the fans understand their fight is a labor dispute, not so unlike those in other professions and that they do not want to go on strike.
"We hope that the fans understand that we want to keep playing baseball. And we don't want them to get stuck in the middle," said Atlanta Braves pitcher and players union representative Mike Remlinger. "But we also hope they understand that it's a business."
And that may be part of the problem. Long gone are the days of Willie, Mickey and the Duke. Fans understand all to well that baseball is a business — but that doesn't mean that they like it. They see baseball players earning salaries that are incomprehensible to the average Joe, have to shell out hundreds of dollars for tickets, snacks and souvenirs to see a game live at the ballparks, and they feel the players and owners give little back. Several elite baseball stars refuse to give autographs unless they are guaranteed a paid fee first; many spend as much time on the injured list as on the field.
Once there was a time when fans could name all the players on their home team year in and year out. Now, thanks to competitive salaries and free agency, sometimes it seems that baseball stars, championships, and the affections of baseball fans are for rent. No wonder many fans cannot sympathize with anyone: they can't distinguish between the spoiled millionaire players and the spoiled millionaire owners.
"Fans certainly see it that way," Lucas said. "It's almost impossible for them [players and owners] to shake that perception."
In Search of Baseball’s New Ambassador
Following the last strike, baseball had several goodwill ambassadors in Sosa, McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn who fan admired and flocked to see. Ripken and Gwynn both retired after last season after spending their entire careers with one club — the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, respectively — a rare feat in baseball today. McGwire also retired.
However, if another strike happens, those ambassadors will be more difficult to find. Derek Jeter is a baseball heartthrob who has been an All-Star for several years, but who can relate to a guy who dates actresses and beauty queens and has four World Series rings before he is 30? Besides, many fans outside New York dislike the Yankees because they see the Bronx Bombers as symbols of baseball excess.
"At least after 1994, baseball had Ripken, Sosa, McGwire and Gwynn to help sell the game, but now Ripken, McGwire, and Gwynn are all gone," said Lucas. "Sosa is an interesting personality but I'm not sure he can act as an ambassador. And Barry Bonds hasn't always had the greatest relationship with the media. He's a remarkable athlete, but he's not an outgoing personality. I don't think Barry Bonds has the character or is willing to be the ambassador Ripken and Gwynn were. … Baseball has really had a hard time selling itself over the years."
And another strike would continue to make baseball a hard sell. And younger 30-something fans who grew up watching the game will not yearn for the days of yore. They grew up jaded because they remember baseball strikes back in 1981 and 1994.
"I teach a class on baseball history and sometimes I get misty-eyed and my students wonder what's wrong with me," said Lucas. "The younger generation very seldom have a romantic view of baseball; they've seen the continuous labor dispute and strife. It's given them the assumption that the owners and players care only about their own greed and not the purity of the sport."
Maybe baseball fans would be better off watching the Little League World Series. At least those little All-Stars won't be worried about a labor dispute — for now.