My View: Baseball             
Copyright (c) 1994, Thomas Van Hook
All rights reserved


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As of this writing, Major League Baseball is poised on the edge of it's
most exciting "second-half" in quite some time.  The realignment that
took place during the winter has added to the excitement of the
potential division races.  Not one single team is running away with
their division at this point in the season. 

In the meantime, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas and Matt Williams have
very good chances of breaking Roger Maris' single-season home-run
record.  Frank Thomas also has a real chance to become the first
Triple-Crown winner in quite some time.  Attendance at most major league
parks is on pace to break last year's marks.  Yes indeed, MLB is looking
at a summer that could be talked about for years to come. 

Despite all the excitement of record-runs, increased attendance and
potential playoff races, baseball fans see the dark cloud of the
players' strike on the horizon for this season.  It's really nothing
new.  Strikes have been fairly common place since the late 70s within
baseball ('72, '73, '76, '80, '81, '85  and '90). 

The Players' Union, which has made quite a few advances in how players
have been treated since the inception of the game, has basically come to
"loggerheads" with the owners over the issue of a salary-cap. 

This salary cap is designed to keep to keep the owners within a set
level of spending concerning player's salaries.  If this is agreed to,
the current system of arbitration will be obsolete.  The players will no
longer be able to have their salaries raised to the astronomical levels
we have witnessed since the 1990 free agent signings. 

The basic point here is that the owners stand to lose very little under
this proposed system, while the players stand to lose billions of
potential dollars.  The game, however, stands to gain a lot through this
system. 

Under the newest round of expansion, the current talent pool of players
has been dilued even further.  The teams that can afford the "big" stars
are loading their teams up with such "gate-drawing" superstars.  Teams
located in the smaller markets can't gain these superstars to effect
their turnstile counts. 

Under the new system that is proposed by the owners, these smaller teams
will have a better chance to afford and obtain these stars for their
lineups.  This should provide boosts for their turnstile counts and for
their team's on-field play. 

A strike will hurt quite a few people.  For instance, some cities depend
heavily on the revenue and taxes that the stadiums bring into their
budgets.  Average citizens employed for the season by the stadiums as
vendors, merchandisers and the such, will see their pocketbooks
experience a drought in times where everyone is feeling the financial
"pinch."  

The owners will be slightly hurt since the revenue of their team won't
be coming in on a regular basis, but most of the owners are financially
independent through other means. The players are working from guarenteed
contracts, and will make most of their contractual monies where they
play or not.  

The young fans will experience a let-down as their idols (most notably
the three mentioned above that are chasing basbeball history) are sent
packing before the season draws to a close.  And lastly, MLB itself will
be hurt as scores of fans (most who remember the strikes of the past)
leave MLB for other sports such as Football and Basketball. 

Fans believe that they are powerless to influence players and owners in
such issues as salaries and the such.  But they are wrong.  Fans have a
lot of influence on the game.  Fans pay the sharply escalating prices of
tickets.  Fans are the ones that drop the dollar into the pockets' of
the players and owners.  In today's game of baseball, the ALMIGHTY
dollar speaks very loudly. 

If fans would refuse to pay the high prices at the games, the players
and owners might be able to see what ails baseball.  If the Owners and
the Players' Union can resolve their differences and avert a strike,
remains to be seen.  However, if a strike takes place, the long-term
effects on MLB could possibly be as devastating as the 1919 Black Sox
scandal. 

That scandal almost sunk baseball, except that a savior named Herman
"The Babe" Ruth arrived on the scene and brought back the excitement
missing from the game.  I'm not too sure that the greed of the players
and owners is going to find such a savior this time around. 



