OK, so Major League Baseball avoided a strike. Now what? The problems that existed didn't magically disappear in the afterglow of labor-management bliss on August 30th. Satan needs to realize that, as Commissioner, he is the one responsible for leading the effort to bring fans back to the game. Just because a strike was averted doesn't mean that people love Major League Baseball again. There is still a large group of disaffected fans who feel taken for granted, and you know, the just might have a point.
For all intents and purposes, there was a labor stoppage because a sizeable chunk of the baseball entertainment audience stopped caring because of the drone of labor talk that, since the commissioner is into the Beatles, sounded like months of playing "Revolution No. 9" ... backwards.
That they avoided a strike is important, although getting a deal done last summer -- as Paul Beeston tried to do -- and avoiding the tawdry contraction press conference two days after something really historic (a classic World Series) and the bitter winter of hardline rhetoric from the privileged classes would have been far, far more important. In a season in which Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Barry Bonds, the A's, Braves, Twins, Pedro Martinez Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, and so many others have given fans so much ... only to be drowned out by the sorrow of the labor dispute.
What was striking about the press conference is that not once did Selig mention the word "fans." To many fans, this could be taken as Selig essentially saying, "We've been telling you the players are greedy, mercenary and overrated for two years, and now we're putting millions more into the pockets of certain billionaires without asking them to invest in the game, but owners and players alike expect you to come back, bring your family of four to our games and spend the expected $150. I am the owners' commissioner and you're lucky."
Yes, Major League Baseball survived, despite playing Russian Roulette with five of six chambers full. To simply sit back with the attitude of "If we play, they will come" would be to miss the point. Baseball still has some fundamental problems, one of the biggest being that of competitive balance.
There isn't anyone -- OK, outside of George Steinbrenner -- who doesn't hope this agreement actually is historic, and that the billion dollars that are transferred from the large and well-run franchises to the small and poorly run franchises actually gives folks in what used to be great baseball towns like Pittsburgh and Kansas City hope. If the A's can now sign Miguel Tejada away from free agency at the end of next season, if the Marlins and Twins can keep most of their arbitration-eligible players, if the Royals sign Paul Byrd and invest, if the Blue Jays can sign a couple of $3 million starting pitchers, if the Reds can sign one or two pitchers, if the Indians can match Jim Thome's market value ... fine. Great. Baseball will be better, and even though the union has always cared far more for the $15 million players than the $700,000 rank and file, if all those teams spend on players and development and level the cost of going to games, everyone will be better off.
It would be nice to see teams like Minnesota, Kansas City, or Tampa Bay at least able to compete on a level field. It's no secret why the New York Yankees dominate: it begins with money, and lots of it. Look at the Yankees' payroll. Until now, the "have nots" (Minnesota, Kansas City, etc.) simply couldn't spend enough to hang with the "haves" (New York, Los Angeles, Boston, et. al.). It will be interesting to see if the new labor agreement will even things out. If not, we will be sentenced to watching the "have nots" serve as regular season fodder for the "haves", who will then go into the postseason and make even more obscene amounts of money.
This deal was done and Bud Selig could claim his "victory" because it was the players who didn't want to strike, understood the voices in the crowds and love the game. Selig ignored fans at his press conference; B.J. Surhoff said, "Players are fans, too." Tom Glavine told friends that in the end, he wants his legacy to have the game healthy, and Todd Zeile said, "This group of players wants its legacy to be the growth, health and development of the game."....
To those of us who love the game and hold deep respect for the skill and character of those who play it, the restoration is the single most important urgent task facing the people who claim the sport's power and authority, and it is far more complex and deep-rooted than a couple of quickie promos. Selig won his campaign against the players, at a cost, and what he needs to remember is that leaders who worry about their own perception rather than their actions are not leaders at all, just followers....
Perhaps it is time for the Lords of Baseball to consider a change at the top. Selecting Satan as their Commissioner was doomed from the start, and he has done little to disavow the notion among fans that the Commissioner's Office is a tool of management. The Commissioner traditionally, though paid by the owners, has acted as a buffer between players and owners. The idea was that the Commissioner was to act "in the best interests of the game". The loss of that concept has damaged the game immensely.
Because of the loss of confidence in the Commissioner and the game he is suppose to act in the best interests of, the perception of the game has eroded. The owners themselves are so heavily engaged in their own self-interest that fans have, rightly, been staying away from ballparks in force. Until the Commissioner's office is occupied by someone who can at least act in a neutral manner, Major League Baseball will have serious and perhaps long-term credibility problems.
On Wednesday night, Pedro Martinez was facing the Yankees at Fenway, a pleasant, 70ish night. As the game began, out on Yawkey Way tickets were being given away, because the scalpers got no action and were giving them away to the best-looking women they could find.
Pedro vs. Mussina, Red Sox vs. Yankees, Fenway, 300,000 college students back in town ... and they were giving away tickets. That is a cloud that signifies a storm that a cash agreement between billionaires and millionaires won't divert.
It will only be diverted when Selig and the owners realize that what is important is (1) the public -- the fans -- and their relationship with the players and 2) the owners' and players' responsibility to their fans and their communities. If our lives were on videotape, Selig could go back and re-open that press conference. In the absence of videotape, he can begin tomorrow refocusing baseball away from the lunatic fringe owners and to its audience.
Those who run Major League Baseball have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to restore the game to it's rightful place in the American consciousness. Fans, like myself, are waiting to see if the effort will be made to do what needs to be done. Personally, I'm not confident that it's going to happen, but I love the game too much to simply give up on it. I do wish that there was a minor league team I could go watch, though. At least minor league baseball recognizes the value of it's fan base.
