WASHINGTON — Sen. Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher, said Tuesday that baseball fans should boycott the game if labor negotiations between owners and players dissolve into a lockout or strike.

        “It's the love of my life, but I would never go back,” said Bunning, R-Ky.

        The senator said the federal government should appoint a baseball czar to intervene and force revenue sharing between owners. The czar also would enforce a salary cap and steroid testing for players to improve the game's finances and public image.

        Congress has had hearings on baseball's exemption from federal antitrust law, but legislation that would remove the exemption on issues relating to team contraction or relocation has stalled.

        During the 1994 baseball strike, lawmakers considered limiting the antitrust exemption for labor issues but never followed through with the threat. They also talked about, but took no final action on, legislation to impose binding arbitration on owners and players.

        Bunning said he doubted that lawmakers or President Bush, who used to own the Texas Rangers, would get involved in the latest dispute.

        “What is happening is criminal,” he said.

        Bunning said he follows the game as closely now as he did when he was a star right-handed pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also helped form the players' union and pension plan.

        He said he almost gave up on the game after the 1994 strike, which canceled the World Series for the first time in 90 years. Labor differences have caused eight work stoppages since 1972.

        Bunning, who pitched no-hitters in both the American and National leagues and once threw a perfect game, said steroid testing for players is necessary so fans can tell whether today's record-breaking performances are legitimate.

        “The fans deserve to know,” he said.

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