August 16, 2002 10:30 PM

And it's 1, 2, 3 strikes, you're out....

Earlier this week, I was cautiously optimistic. Today, I feel as if someone kicked my dog. Baseball has a way of doing that to it's fans. The player's union today set August 30th as a strike date. The theory seems to be that a strike date will light a fire under the Lords of Baseball, but the owners have taken intransigence to a whole new level.

The executive board of the players' association voted 57-0 for the deadline, just four days after raising hopes for a deal by delaying a decision.

Players were upset by management's lack of movement on the key issue of a luxury tax on high-payroll teams, but management accused the union of refusing to agree to more compromises.

"The baseball owners and baseball players must understand if there is a work stoppage, a lot of fans are going to be furious, and I'm one of them," said President Bush, former owner of the Texas Rangers.

The wealthy and greedy vs. the wealthier and greedier

Players are reluctant to have rules that would reduce salary increases and argue the luxury tax, when combined with additional revenue sharing, would act as a salary cap.

"Clearly, the luxury tax is a major obstacle that has to be resolved before we're going to get an agreement," union head Donald Fehr said. "I think an agreement can be reached."

Baseball has a perfect record in labor talks, with eight stoppages in eight negotiations since 1972. The disruptions were caused primarily by management's attempts to slow salaries in the free-agent era, which began in 1976.

I still don't know how I would react to a strike. I know that I love the game too much to simply give up on it, but I'm as angry as anyone else. Regardless of whatever else is going on, though, as long as there is still time, there is still hope.

On Tuesday, I'm going to a Diamondbacks-Reds game at Bank One Ballpark. I only hope that it won't be my last hurrah this season.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 16, 2002 10:30 PM.

If a man is willing to exploit his own family.... was the previous entry in this blog.

And they can't speak in complete sentences, either is the next entry in this blog.

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