Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Players seem to realize that strike is scary option
By BOB WOJNOWSKI
The Detroit News
DETROIT — Maybe there's hope. Maybe, just this once, arrogance won't win out.
Baseball players, who hold all the power in their tiresome game of chicken with the owners, made a bold move Monday. They decided not to exercise their power, at least not yet, and backed down on setting a strike date.
On the scale of shocking baseball developments, this ranks up there with a four-run inning by the Detroit Tigers. This shows exactly how desperate the labor situation has gotten. Even the players recognize the danger.
“Setting a strike date was not something we take lightly,” Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine said. “We all understand the ramifications of that.”
Does everybody finally understand? This strike can't happen, even though I still think there's better than a 50-50 chance it will. The sides have made progress but remain apart on the issues of a luxury tax and revenue-sharing.
It's up to the players to fix the mess because owners are too stupid (and greedy and self-interested) to do it, and fans are too loyal (and starstruck) to demand it.
It's up to the players, and I think they realize it. I do believe Sept. 11 plays a role. The players would be guilty of astonishing hypocrisy if they struck anywhere near the one-year commemoration. Baseball became the symbol of America's return to normalcy, and players wrapped themselves in the sport-is-trivial perspective. To strike now would be to pull off the impossible — losing the public-relations game with the owners.
As annoying as arrogance is, I understand why the players' association carries it. Thirty years of entitlement, of average player salaries climbing from $51,500 to $2.38 million, of owners bickering among themselves, of fans making and breaking vows of abstinence, of commissioners acting as spineless pawns, have returned us to the same pitiful spot.
To avoid a ninth work stoppage since 1972, one that finally could inflict long-term damage, the players must use their power — just this once — to help the game, instead of using it to hammer the owners. It's easy to see why players are suspicious of owners' tales of woe. You still see the big contracts, and at times, you still see the fan passion.
I went to the Tigers game Sunday, and you know what struck me? The kids. They were everywhere. They lined up with their parents to ride the carousel. They lined up afterward, hundreds of them, eager to run the bases, one of baseball's best promotions.
As long as summers exist, and families have kids, and kids have dreams, baseball will make it. So from a business standpoint, players should be arrogant. My goodness, just last week New York Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday charged in court documents that Bud Selig and aides had manufactured “phantom losses.”
It's an unfair fight. Players are enriched, and with lengthy careers, a protracted layoff wouldn't destroy them financially. Owners, meanwhile, have huge debts on new stadiums, as well as lawsuits and the nasty allegations of cooked books and lies.
There's no leadership in baseball, no one who stands up for the game, no one except the families and kids. The game is in competitive and financial disarray. It needs fixing. Players, if they're honest, would admit it.
Hopefully, they just did.
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Players seem to realize that strike is scary option
