Five weeks into the strike, baseball finds itself on the precipice

Sporting News, The, Sept 12, 1994 by Steve Marantz

Armageddon. Baseball is just a step away from a war to end all management/labor wars. The armies are in place, armed and dumbly obedient. The generals are fingering their sabres, poised at a final pregnant moment of brinkmanship.

With the strike moving into its fifth week, the clubs have set September 9 as the last day on which a settlement can salvage the rest of the 1994 season. If the World Series is not played for the first time since 1904, various scenarios are possible.

Some conjure an apocalyptic vision: the fields of America's dreams disappear under a mushroom cloud. When the haze clears next spring or beyond, the smoking ruins of a once-proud industry disfigure the sports landscape.

"We are almost to nuclear meltdown," says Tom Reich, a players agent. "If we lose the Series this year, the damage will be exponential. The sport will never be the same; it will become a second-tier sport. The value of everything and everybody associated with baseball will be damaged beyond repair."

If the World Series is lost, there is little reason to expect a settlement over the winter. If no settlement exists by next spring, the clubs have a choice. They can call off the 1995 season and continue to seek a settlement. Or they can open up their camps and invite in any player who is willing to play under the clubs' new rules. Each can pick the best 25 players, be they major, minor or recreational leaguers, and have a season.

The players also have a choice. They can wait out the owners. They can abandon the union and play for the clubs under the new rules. Or they can start their own league. There is an oft-cited 19th-century precedent for this, a players' league that lasted for one year. All the players need to do is find a few ballparks, print tickets and open the gates. If the beer is warm, fans can complain to Commissioner Fehr.

Mutated forms of new growth could sprout. These might include:

* A third major league. Opportunistic entrepreneurs in places such as Tampa-St. Petersburg, Phoenix, Mexico City, Tokyo, Charlotte, Buffalo, New Orleans, Memphis, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Omaha sign up the best available players. Omaha? Don't laugh; Warren Buffett lives there.

* A Large market League. George Steinbrenner, Peter O'Malley, Nelson Doubleday, Peter Angelos and other owners from large-revenue markets decide they have had enough of revenue sharing with San Diego, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. They form a league and bury the phrase "salary cap" in a deep hole.

* A Small Market League. Bud Selig, Carl Pohlad, Claude Brochu, the committee running the Pirates and other owners from small-revenue markets weary of taking revenue from large-market clubs. They form a league and sleep with a clear conscience.

There still is hope, however scant. By the end of last week, Rockies Owner Jerry McMorris was trying to move the clubs off their salary-cap ultimatum. No more than four or five clubs are believed to be supporting him. The players have evidenced no movement toward a new position.

Federal mediator John Calhoun Wells is trying to patch together an agreement. He told The Sporting News the baseball strike is his top priority and it is being monitored closely by President Clinton.

"This has been a very, very tough case," Wells says. "Extremely difficult. The fundamental reason is that both parties understand each other so well. They just have significant differences in their positions. Mediation is easiest when people are not communicating, but these people are doing a wonderful job of communicating. They have positions not easily bridged."