Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9308010167
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The threat of a players' strike that seeped from the All-Star Game hoopla is real. The notion that no baseball may be played by the big leagues in 1994 isn't just a pessimist's pitch. However, a players' strike could beat the owners to their desire of a union-busting lockout before the end of this season.
In the ultimate irony, a strike could come on Labor Day.
Not long afterward, the players lose their leverage in the negotiations for a renewal of the Basic Agreement, which was reopened by the owners in December. The players have seen no proposals from the owners since they reopened, except for a new television venture that will dramatically reduce the clubs' revenue and the call for an additional tier of playoffs - which the players learned about after it was a done deal.
So, why should the players believe the owners when they say they want to work together "in the best interests of baseball," to borrow a phrase that's been abused more than an earned run average at Mile High Stadium? The last time the owners said they wanted to play in the same ballpark with the players, the result was collusion.
Richard Ravitch, the owners' labor negotiator, plans to propose increased revenue-sharing among clubs and a salary cap for players at the owners' Aug. 11-13 meetings. Then, Ravitch will take the proposal to union boss Don Fehr, who probably will chuckle at the notion that his employers should stop laughing their way to the bank.
A salary cap? The boys of summer would rather wear a cheap San Diego Padres cap.
It has taken a year for Ravitch and the owners to come up with a plan on revenue sharing. The contentiousness among owners isn't new, but the current fears are rooted in obvious numbers. Among the 28 clubs, local TV/radio revenues range from the New York Yankees' $47 million to Colorado's $3 million.
In revenue sharing, the rich get poorer. Add to that the new TV deal, with no guaranteed rights fees, in which each club's take will fall from more than $14 million this year to about half that annually, the owners say - although some economists say $10 million to $11 million is a more accurate ballpark figure.
The owners will be asking the players to give up arbitration, which has done more than free agency to drive the average annual player salary to nearly $1.1 million. The owners will be asking the players to accept a salary cap in exchange for free agency after three years of experience, down from six.
What's in it for the players, who, if they don't strike this season, will have to trust that the owners won't lock them out? Well, two more teams of union men are likely, and that will create three five-team divisions in each league. That's not just to adapt to the added divisional playoffs with a potential wild-card team, but also to appease Congress, which is considering overturning baseball's antitrust exemption of seven decades.
Why should the players strike this season? The owners are paid more than 75 percent of the CBS and ESPN telecast rights fees in early September. That's why. A strike would jeopardize the World Series, but compared to salaries, those Series shares are tip money.
A strike six weeks from now would be particularly damaging to the owners. Because more than half of the clubs reportedly will finish in the red this season, most owners wouldn't be hurt financially as much by a lockout next season, when TV revenue will have dropped and revenue-sharing will have begun.
Since 1972, six of the last seven labor negotiations in the national pastime have brought either a lockout by ownership (two) or a players' strikes (four). And afterward, the fans always have come back. Maybe this time, it would be different.
If the game is interrupted again - in particular during interest-grabbing pennant races and just as the NFL and college football seasons begin - baseball would be gambling so much it should name Pete Rose as commissioner.
Off the field, there are going to be a lot of hardballs fired in the coming months of negotiations. However, the last thing the sport needs is to have Nolan Ryan finish his career on a picket line.
by CNB