THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412180189
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Baseball fans have the hammer, but they won't swing it.
They own the loudest voice, but are content to squirm in the farthest reaches of the bleachers.
When baseball management insults their intelligence by proposing the use of replacement players, an alarming number of fans meekly go along.
We keep hearing that the fans are outraged by the posturing owners and preening players. But if they are, they are doing a good job of hiding their anger.
Though by no means a scientific poll, the InfoLine survey conducted by this paper hints at a discouraging, if not surprising, trend. Sixty-seven percent of the people who called say they will follow major league baseball this spring no matter how warped or perverted it is.
Perhaps one caller reflected the fans' mood when he said, ``The real major leaguers act like they're doing us a favor just by showing up.''
But what of the owners? The owners act like they would be doing us a favor by filling their big-league rosters with a lower species of ballplayer.
And people are buying this? Apparently so.
As always, the owners and players have one thing in common: utter contempt for the customer.
Can you blame them?
Even with no promise of genuine major league baseball, thousands of fans in big league cities have already mailed in their checks for season tickets.
A handful of teams promise season-ticket holders their money back if striking players are replaced by scabs.
But in the meantime, the ticket money is sitting in the bank earning interest for the owners. The teams are signing free agents and conducting business as usual, using the fans' money and the promise of more money.
A truly angry fandom would refuse to send the checks until a major league product is guaranteed. It would fight the temptation to buy single-game tickets.
No baseball. No money. Now that would send a message.
Of course, fans find themselves in an awkward position. What if the tickets they forgo are gobbled up by somebody else? What if they are then placed on a long waiting list?
Nobody ever said it was easy fighting the baseball establishment. But imagine the impact consumers could have on this labor dispute if they boycotted every aspect of the game. This includes refusing to purchase baseball merchandise.
In the final flurry of Christmas shopping, people continue to support the old order by spending money on hats, shirts, pennants, trash cans, baby bottles and nightlights carrying the Major League Baseball trademark.
The millions spent each year on licensed merchandise support the arrogance behind the strike.
Likewise, puffed-up players only get the wrong message when fans flock to card shows and pay $40 for a single autograph.
Card shows are built on the mistaken belief that memories can be bought and sold like cheap trinkets. This winter would be a good time to boycott these greedfests.
Could that happen? Will baseball fans do what is necessary to get the attention of the owners and players? Will they turn militant?
We already have our answer.
The owners and players have always counted on the fans to be there when baseball needed them. The public has never disappointed.
Fans have the ultimate power in this labor dispute, but they can't bring themselves to use it. by CNB