Still the American Game?
by: Bill "Homerun" Ahrens



It is now official. On Tuesday, April 25, after a long and bitter eight month hiatus, our beloved national pastime is scheduled to return. On that day, major league ballparks all across the United States will once again be filled with the familiar sounds and smells of the sacred game of baseball. A simple question, however, remains to be answered. Does anyone is his or her right mind really care?

If you love the game of baseball as much as I do, you have a right to be angry. The truly sad aspect concerning the gameÕs return is the fact that absolutely nothing has changed since the player's walked off the field on August 12. No agreement has been reached, and the relationship between the players and the owners remains strained.

The only thing that motivated the players to return was the possibility of opening day arriving with replacement players taking the field in their place. The issues which caused the demise of the 1994 season (a salary cap, arbitration, free agency) have not been resolved. Both sides realize that the way in which the game is structured must be radically altered, but it remains to be seen if any progress will be made. Negotiations during these next few months are crucial. Any further polarization of the two sides would undoubtedly cause future disputes.

Despite the lack of progress at the bargaining table, the Montreal Expos, arguably the best team in all of baseball during the 1994 season, appear to be leading the way towards a new era in baseball. As salaries increase seemingly without limit, the financially-strapped Expos have been forced to dismantle their team piece by piece. In an effort to slash the clubÕs relatively small $18 million payroll (The Detroit Tigers had the largest payroll in 1994 at over $42.7 million), Kevin Malone, general manager of the Expos, went to work almost immediately after the strike had been resolved, attempting to trade away most of the teamÕs highest salary players before last Friday's arbitration deadline. If center fielder Marquis Grissom and pitchers Ken Hill and John Wetteland had not been traded by that date, the Expos would have had to offer each player salary arbitration, risking that their salaries might be increased to a level which the team could no longer afford. In addition, the club chose not to pursue outfielder Larry Walker, one of its more valuable players who is eligible for free agency. The Kansas City Royals were also forced to trade 1994 American League Cy Young winner David Cone to the Toronto Blue Jays in order to rid themselves of his $5 million contract. General Manager Herk Robinson stressed that doing so was the only way that he could ensure the team could remain in Kansas City.

The strike did give us replacement ball. For several weeks, career minor leaguers and players from outside the professional ranks were given a legitimate chance to catch on with a major league ball club. The exhibition season came and went, and some of these players even went as far as traveling north with the clubs, believing that they would get the chance to finally prove themselves. Sadly, that time never came. Our superstars will return, and there is nothing we can do about it.

I wish that I could say that it is slowly becoming apparent to those who run the game that the only way to stop the rise of multi-million dollar salaries is to simply refuse to pay them, but this is simply not true. The perennial contenders continue to offer players outrageous contracts. In the future, it will become even more difficult for smaller market teams to compete without the revenue which larger market teams collect from television and greater attendance. Meanwhile, these teams must rely upon more youthful players who cannot demand a large salary, making it almost impossible for them to be contenders. The game of baseball needs to be regulated in some reasonable fashion, and the ownerÕs demands of revenue sharing and a salary cap, which are both present in other professional sports, seem very reasonable. It is becoming increasingly difficult to feel sorry for either side of the dispute after a trip to the ballpark reveals high ticket prices and a questionably boring game. Sadly, however, this is the future of baseball.