I'm now convinced Baseball is going have a to strike (1 Viewer)

[gregstaten]

(And it isn't just because the Red Sox are rapidly falling out of playoff contention...)

After reading about the latest player proposal Saturday and how the owners basically took it as an insult, I'm convinced that we're going to have a strike and that the World Series isn't going to happen.

I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. It looks like the two sides are further apart than thought and it also appears that some of the owners are firm in their conviction that they won't take a compromised (in their opinion) deal.

Personally, if they strike then I'm hanging it up. I wasn't a huge baseball fan before moving to New England. (I went to the occasional minor league game growing up and the occasional Astros game while living in Houston.) I have plenty of other things to do during the summer and frankly, if they strike I doubt I'll pay much attention to baseball next year.

They're fools if they strike, in my opinion. But, I also believe they are proving themselves TO be fools.

-greg

 

[Carl Johnson]

I'm not a big baseball fan but just from what I've picked up on espnradio I don't think that there will be a strike. The players proposal that the owners rejected as a step in the wrong direction was called so because the players want to phase in changes over a period of years while the owners want it all at once. I'm sure that they can compromise on something as trivial as a timeline.
It sounds to me like both sides have pretty much agreed on a framework for a luxury tax and revenue sharing and they are getting a bit closer in terms of ironing out the numbers. Both sides are sticking to their guns for now but I don't think that they are really stupid enough to trample the goose while fighting over golden eggs.

 

[MikeAlletto]

I bet they'll go right down to the wire. Then at the last minute they'll announce they aren't going to strike. They'll be patting themselves on the back and consider themselves heroes. It'll all look really fake. I think damage is being done even with them just considering a strike.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

(cheerleaders)Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!(/cheerleaders)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hoping for something that other people love to be taken away from them... I'm surprised at you, Jeff.

Well, okay, no I'm not.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Jason, when pro sports have taken many things I love away from me, I have no sympathy

RIP Earth 2 and Space Above & Beyond killed by the NFL

RIP un-premempted fall programming because of emergency baseball/hockey/football/basketball games

I have a right to be bitter

 

[Bill Slack]

Despite all the posturing, they seem to be getting fairly close on things... So many of the folks involved seem spectacularly atrocious at PR, it's actually amusing, at times...
Jeff:
If they strike, the time I devote to baseball will be spent creating a pro-Super35 lobby. Be careful what you wish for, I tell you!

 

[Josh Lowe]

I hope the players go on strike and they're all fired. Then they can hire people that actually like to -play baseball-, and we can see how a bunch of crybabies do when they try to get real jobs.

I really think getting people who like to play and aren't a bunch of steroid-injecting, money grubbing primadonnas will be a big boost for the game's image and will hopefully restore some of its lost glory.

I bet they'll go right down to the wire. Then at the last minute they'll announce they aren't going to strike. They'll be patting themselves on the back and consider themselves heroes. It'll all look really fake. I think damage is being done even with them just considering a strike.

I bet this is exactly what will happen. And the sports "journalists" will fall right in line with the endless blurbs of self-congratulatory rhetoric.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Josh, too true. WAHHH!!! I'm only making 2.3 million dollars a year!
I'll play for 2!

If they strike, the time I devote to baseball will be spent creating a pro-Super35 lobby. Be careful what you wish for, I tell you!

Bring it on You can't win Darth Besides, you don't have to lobby, it's already amazingly prevalent

 

[Josh Lowe]

Josh, too true. WAHHH!!! I'm only making 2.3 million dollars a year!

Not even. Back during the last strike, the same old bullshit was being spewed by the big money players - "We're doing this to fight for the guys who aren't stars, who are struggling to make it and get paid." That was the biggest load of crap. The league minimum in MLB is $200,000 per year (going to $300,000 next season, if there is one)! If those "little guys" are struggling on $200,000 a year, they need to buy a copy of Quicken or something. I bet those "Little guys" are the LAST ones that want a strike. They're being used by the big name players and the MLBPA as human shields to protect their real motive - greed.

But the little guys are accomplices in their silence. If they don't speak out, then they may as well be helping it to happen. So, I can't wait to see what happens when these guys all try to go out and get real jobs. Imagine the stampede as they all try to get into leagues in Japan for peanuts. Bon voyage!

 

[Jed M]

They will strike.

Hoping for something that other people love to be taken away from them... I'm surprised at you, Jeff.
Well, okay, no I'm not.

Is Jeff really vindictive or something? What about what was taken away from 90% of baseball fans (everyone outside of NY and Boston)? Does that not count? I'm surprised, you don't seem to feel bad for us at all.
Well, okay, no I'm not.
4 Days till the rich get richer and we pay more in cable fees.

 

[Malcolm R]

And it isn't just because the Red Sox are rapidly falling out of playoff contention...

Actually, I would take that as a sign that there will be a settlement and the Red Sox will be allowed to complete their self-destruction and fail again, as usual.
Now, if the Sox were leading their division, that's the sign there would definitely be a strike.

 

[Clint B]

Do I think the players are idiots? Yes, I do. But I think the owners are even bigger idiots for letting it get to this point. I don't have a problem with someone trying to get all the money they can for what they do. I know that my job isn't worth anywhere close to a million bucks, but if my employer is stupid enough to pay it, do you think I'll turn it down? No way!
There certainly has to be a way for them to compromise on what they want so that both sides will be (mostly) satisfied. While I do think that the players are already paid quite handsomely, if the owners have a problem with this and other issues, they need to quit giving in!
I'm not sure if there will be a strike, but if there is one, I fear for the long term viability of baseball in the public eye. An awful lot of people still remember 1994.

 

[CharlesD]

I'm not a huge fan of baseball (was not born in the USA) but I do appreciate the game. To be honest the last strike diminished what interest I had in MLB, and have only been to one game since.

I hope they strike! Why? not because I want deprive the true fans of their enjoyment of the game, but because I think that the system is broken. Another strike will severely damage the status quo (after all they have not really fully recovered from the last strike) and maybe a more rational version of the pro game will emerge from the wreckage of the current system.

Anyone who watched any of the Little League World Series recently knows that the spirit of the game is alive and well, and those kids don't even get an extra $5 allowance to play (not to mention all the coaches, umpires etc. are volunteers.)

 

[Travis Olson]

Sure, just as soon as my Twinkies actually have a chance the bastards strike. If they do, I'm through with MLB for good.

 

[Jason Seaver]

What about what was taken away from 90% of baseball fans (everyone outside of NY and Boston)?

Oh, for crying out loud... Can we put an end to this propoganda? It's not true. Well-managed teams can compete quite well without emptying their checkbooks - check out Oakland and Minnesota in first place in their divisions - and if there are problems like the owners claim there are (though their word is basically no good), then their solutions will actually make things worse.

 

[Jed M]

Can we put an end to this propoganda? It's not true. Well-managed teams can compete quite well without emptying their checkbooks - check out Oakland and Minnesota in first place in their divisions

Let's see, how many world series have these teams won since 94? When you have 30 teams there will be 15 winners no matter how good the teams really are (or maybe a couple that end at .500). My point is that somebody needs to win those divisions and fill the 8 playoff spots. Get back to me when they actually win in the playoffs.

Our argument is just as valid as yours. Baseball has been taken away from most of America for a long time now. You should just consider yourself lucky that you aren't feeling the pinch and quit trying to invalidate everybody else's position on how baseball treats them by calling their concerns and angst propaganda.

 

[Ray Chuang]

I have this to say in regards to the MLB baseball strike:
AMERICA DOESN'T CARE. :p)
The reason is simple: the #1 sport in the USA is American football, whether college or the NFL. I mean, look at the passion of football fans--they care about their game way more than most baseball fans nowadays.
Besides, Americans have discovered the amazing success of NASCAR Winston Cup racing. These races have amazingly high TV ratings, and a demographic that is truly an advertiser's dream come true. I think NBC must be thanking its lucky stars they're carrying NASCAR and not the NFL.

 

[Jason Seaver]

quit trying to invalidate everybody else's position on how baseball treats them by calling their concerns and angst propaganda.

Actually, I'm calling the things that people are being told that are causing their concerns and angst propaganda. Which they would be even if they were true; Selig is pretty clearly trying to create a specific perception of MLB to further his efforts towards his goals. It's just that what's being repeated ad nauseum doesn't withstand close scrutiny - teams, by and large, aren't losing money (certainly not enough to cause their owners to unload them); while player compensation has risen, it hasn't risen at the same rate as team revenues (and is in fact a smaller percentage of team revenues than is the case in the NFL or NBA); and teams in "small markets" do not, in fact, leave spring training with no hope of competing. You can look it up, as they say.
However, people seem to believe the very opposite, partly because it seems intuitively correct and partly because the owners have done remarkably well in making sure that the party line stays out there (of course, it doesn't hurt that there's a $1M fine on owners if they discuss these issues with the press).

 

[Patrick_S]

One thing is for certain, if they do strike both sides will play the Sept 11th card by saying something to the effect, “considering the events of last year how could….”