Prepare for the 2022 work stoppage by reading someone who was around for the last one!; we are going to need a theoretical physicist or two to figure out if Erik González is a center fielder or not; a VIP attends a ballgame
“Now I’m kind of wondering what’s next. I went to sleep with `Karate Kid’ and woke up to Peter Gammons, which was a little frightening.” –Doug Mientkiewicz, Twins infielder, on falling asleep in front of his TV Thursday August 29th
[Just after midnight Eastern time Friday morning, the Prospectus staff starts discussing the coming agreement]
Derek Zumsteg: It appears that if the owners gave in right now, just said “sure, we’ll take your last offer”, they’d have won more in this negotiation than in any previous one since free agency. Why did the players move so far? Are they that afraid of the NLRB and implementation? Do they believe that if they give in this time, they’ll be able to win it back in four years when it’s apparent none of this did any good for competitive balance?
I’m baffled.
In 1994, I never did believe there was going to be a strike. I was wrong, of course, and in the process of being wrong learned a lot about labor relations, economics, and how those things apply to baseball.
Lost in the chaos that surrounded the All-Star Game–and the spate of anti-marketing that followed it–was that the players did not set a strike date. They met, they authorized team votes on whether to walk, but no date was set, and none has yet been set.
I may be the only person in America cheering for a long, protracted labor battle that brings baseball to its knees.