We will bring you the strike, and let you have a ball

Sporting News, The, August 22, 1994 by John Rawlings

Funny, this doesn't look like October. But if the baseball season is over, Columbus Day can't be too far on the horizon.

Well, it's not and it's not.

You are quite unlikely to get your dose of daily box scores by the end of this week, but people around baseball I talk to remain privately optimistic a settlement can be reached, despite the despair -- not to mention disparaging words -- heard in the first few days of strike rhetoric. The caterwauling over the weekend between Ravitch and Fehr could be matched only by that of Dole and Mitchell. The Senator from Maine is getting an excellent education just now for his job as Commissioner. What's worse: 44 surly Republicans or 28 baseball owners?

Regardless of the strike's duration, THE SPORTING NEWS will supply your baseball fix. Just as players walked off the job last week, you were reading in our magazine about the fervent adulation of fans in Hickory, N.C., for their Crawdads. We chose the headline "The Game goes on" because baseball exists on many levels, not just at Camden Yards or Mile High Stadium. Although keeping you informed on the issues that caused the strike and how it will be settled is a vital part of our mission, we won't let that overshadow your joy for the game.

Senior writers Steve Marantz and Michael Knisley, along with contributions from Peter Pascarelli and Bob Klapisch, will keep you abreast of developments and lay the groundwork for your understanding of the issues. You can read weekly reports in the magazine and, in addition, get daily updates on our 900 hotline (1-900-860-4400). But you'll want to read about baseball -- the stuff inside the lines -- and we're well-situated to provide that, as well. Naturally, the pipeline to the majors continues to be primed in cities from Yakima to Albany. We'll take you to those places, plus many more.

We will continue to offer the staple of THE SPORTING NEWS' coverage, team-by-team reports. They will remain focused on your favorite team's latest developments, not on entanglements like money or labor. Do not interpret our publishing this week complete team-by-team stats -- normally reserved for the end of the season -- as a sign of pessimism. But the reality remains that the season could be over, so if it is, you will have all the final numbers just as we have provided for 108 years.

That need not happen, though, and if this season has seen its last pitch, chalk that up to the worst kind of pigheadedness. Only two issues must be resolved before we get to see whether the Texas Rangers become the first team in history to win a pennant with a losing record.

The first difference that must be settled is among the 28 owners. The owners know, and have all along, the players will never accept a salary cap. The big-market teams will have to offer the small-market teams a larger portion of revenue sharing than is in the current agreement, as a way to offset the costs of operating without a salary cap. I believe the stage has been set to redefine the provisions of the revenue-sharing agreement.

Once that is done, the owners and players must agree on what it will take to negotiate out salary arbitration. The owners will demand and players will accede to salary regulation -- yes, it is a euphemism -- for first-, second-and third-year players. This will be the single, most quarrelsome task. You have to look only at two third-year players for the Angels to see the breadth of the problem: Joe Grahe gets $925,000 in '94; Julio Valera gets $175,000. The difference in the highs and lows for the first-and second-year players is stark but not that dramatic. Again take the Angels: Tim Salmon gets $600,000, for instance; Mike Butcher gets $150,000. Many players in their first year are at or near the minimum of $109,000, but some range as high as $150,000. Let's say the minimum for players in their first year is raised to $175,000; players in their second year go to $350,000 and those in their third to $450,000, which is right at the median salary in major league baseball now. Everyone is eligible for free-agency after three full years. Players have thoroughly discussed such a proposal and would accept it; owners would jump at the chance because it does allow every team to set a reasonable salary budget and stick to it.

The numbers will be more fun when we're back to predicting whether Frank Thomas or Albert Belle can win a Triple Crown.