Baseball Strike Date Set

[BioMechanic]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas...trike_date_ap/

If it happens, I will quit being a fan. I love baseball dearly, but this is too damn much.

[Despair]

Sorry man If I could only give a damn

Baseball is very boring to me. But I guess it will be sad for the fans.

[Werewolf]

Strikes for baseball players should only be over the plate

[dog$]

Whateva.
Football (NO NOT SOCCER GOD-DAMN IT) is in preseason now, Baseball can strike all they want.

[burgundy]

Originally posted by BioMechanic
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas...trike_date_ap/

If it happens, I will quit being a fan. I love baseball dearly, but this is too damn much.

I'm with you 100%. It's a damn shame, because I've always loved the game, but it's time we realize that professional baseball isn't a game anymore. The players and the owners really need to put their finger to the wind and realized that they both have a lot more to lose to a strike than to negotiations.

[Stone]

Ahh, well - it'll keep me from having to see the Red Sox miss the wild card. Eh. I'll keep watching baseball, but if they strike, MLB is going to be in serious trouble. They didn't get themselves a new fanbase in 1998 (with McGwire and Sosa), they just got back all the fans they lost in 1994- and it's not like any of us have forgotten the last strike.

[sggg]

I used to be a big baseball fan. Then 1994 happened. Then the Yankees bought how many chamioships now? It's not even their fault. It's MLB's fault. MLB is absurd when only 5-7 teams can compete.

I hope they blow up the whole damn thing this time. MLB is disgusting and dispicable and this is probably the only chance they have of saving the sport. If they don't get it right, screw them all. It's the last straw for me.

Originally posted by Stone
Ahh, well - it\'ll keep me from having to see the Red Sox miss the wild card. Eh. I\'ll keep watching baseball, but if they strike, MLB is going to be in serious trouble. They didn\'t get themselves a new fanbase in 1998 (with McGwire and Sosa), they just got back all the fans they lost in 1994- and it\'s not like any of us have forgotten the last strike.

They didn\'t even get back half of the fans the last time actually. It\'s just a few select cities where MLB has remained popular: NY, Seattle, St-Louis, Chicago, Boston, etc.

What about Montréal? The strike killed attendance there. Same thing in Minnesota and Kansas City and countless other places. That\'s the entire point of the conflict anyway, no-one can blame the fans in these cities from staying away when their home teams can\'t even compete.

MLB sucks and it needs major reform. If the players strike, good, they\'ll look like huge greedy arseholes to the public, considering the economy is in the toilet (in the US) and the WTC anniversary and whatnot. Let them stike, and then maybe the union will finally break. If they don\'t and the owners cave in again, the sport is toast for 75% of the teams. Will it happen? Doubtful. Even the owners are not united, they have conflict among themselves (because their idiots and the sport is run by a wig).

Yeesh. I like the sport of baseball, but I loathe MLB. It sickens me. I hope they save it in spite of themselves.. we\'ll see.

In conclusion, Go Expos.

[Rich]

Sggg, you have no idea what your talking about. The Yankees don't "buy" their championships, they just ain't cheap like most of the teams and for it they get good players. Take a team like the NY Mets for example, they suck, and are under .500 this year. They have the 3rd highest payroll in MLB. And Boston, right under the Yanks by very little, yet 6 games behind and have a chance at not making the Wild Card. Sure, the Yankees are one of the richest teams in sports, but that doesn't mean other teams can't afford the same payroll as the Yankees. So, the point I'm trying to make, is that you can't bash the Yankees for spending their money wisely instead of greedy owners keeping the money in their OWN pockets. And let's not forget Steinbrenner also has to dish out money on the NJ Nets, too. BTW, it's 4 in the last 6 years they won.. =) and 26 out of the last 100. Haha, Yanks kickass!

[burgundy]

The only concrete reason I want to see this season play out is to see how Minnesota does in the playoffs. Small market teams can compete (look at Oakland and Minneota) but they're at a serious disadvantage.

I get the biggest kick out of the players when every one of their arguments ends in "Well, that's a salary cap!" As if there's something inherently evil about one, and that's all they have to say.

If the owners are taking as much of a hit as they say they are, than there's no reason to think they'll back down. Other than Steinbrenner (say what you want about the man, and I loathe the Yanks, but the man cares about winning first, which is an anomaly), owners care only about the bottom line. The players, however, out of fear of a pay cut (hello - everyone's taking a pay cut this year!), maybe strongarming themselves out of a job.

[Reno]

Rich, it's not only because of payroll, it's also because the Yankees have enough money to keep *building* their team up. Stupid example here, but look at the Blue Jays. Shawn Green started in the Blue Jays' farm league, and then made the jump to the majors. What happened? He jumped to LA because Toronto couldn't afford to keep him. Same thing happened with guys like David Cone. Look at all the damn people that left Montreal: Larry Walker, Moises Alou, John Wetteland, etc, etc. They were all great players, but they walked because the team couldn't keep them. The Yankees on the other hand have extremely deep pockets, so they can afford to maintain the same team they've had for years now.