Shut Out
Another baseball labor dispute is becoming a real threat.
After staggering through the Covid-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons, baseball managed to jeopardise a much-needed return to “normality” with a bitter labor dispute, its first for nearly thirty years.
In the end, that MLB lockout lasted 99 days and, despite a delayed spring training and opening day, the 2022 season went ahead after a five-year collective bargaining agreement was reached between team owners and the powerful players’ union.
(That’s where I came in, starting this project as we left one period of uncertainty and headed into another; this time not just for the game, but for the country as a whole.)
Now, against a backdrop of what’s likely only greater political division across the nation, baseball’s labor agreement is poised to expire at the end of next season and talk is again building about the likelihood of another serious dispute – once more centered, of course, around money.
As the AP reports:
“Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.”
When Manfred was asked recently about a possible threat to the 2027 season, he said his “contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the ’27 season,” but the Commissioner also felt he had to downplay the reaction from the Phillies’ Bryce Harper in a recent confrontation over a possible salary cap.
MLBPA executive director Tony Clark believes the owners are starting to prepare for a lockout in pursuit of a cap – something he describes as “institutionalized collusion”.
“A cap is not about a partnership. A cap isn’t about growing the game. A cap is about franchise values and profits,” he said.
Mark Powell wrote at Fansided that a lockout is “less a looming possibility and more a reality we should get used to.”
“MLB owners were already pushing for a salary cap, something players would never agree to. Players surely have their own complaints as well, such as the arbitration system and international signings, but their multi-billion dollar bosses are louder than ever.”
Last week’s graphic representation of attendance figures is only part of a conversation about the broader economics of the game, including media revenues. Andrew Marchand at The Athletic reports that MLB is negotiating with a number of broadcasters for new rights deals. He says:
“The terms of the deals are expected to be for three years, as MLB’s goal is to have all its rights, including the World Series and the playoffs, open for bidding in the 2029 season. After 2028, Fox and TNT Sports’ deals with the league will conclude.
“With the World Series available, MLB hopes to reset its national market with its deals.”
David Schoenfield at ESPN wrote that the biggest losers in this year’s trade deadline were fans of the Minnesota Twins, after a fire sale of some key players. This past week, the Pohlad family decided to remain as principal owner of the Twins, after saying they had explored a potential sale of the team.
Twins fans weren’t happy, reflecting a wider disgruntlement among parts of MLB’s paying public.
Gabe Lacques at USA Today writes that the “Sell the Team” sentiment that surrounded the Oakland Athletics a couple of seasons ago has been spreading across baseball.
“A USA TODAY Sports analysis shows that [fans at] 12 MLB teams have engaged in the chant in varying degrees of organization the past three years, perhaps indicating fans have taken a cue from Oakland’s highly-publicized unrest to demand more from their ownership groups.
“The three-word plea can come spontaneously, or after significant planning, or sometimes to simply prove a grander point.”
Pittsburgh fans have been particularly vocal, while one team that recently did find itself with new owners before this turbulent season is the Baltimore Orioles, who this week announced changes to their ticketing policy which weren’t to everyone’s liking.
According to Kyle Goon at the Baltimore Banner, one long-time fan told him:
“In the midst of the most disappointing season I can remember in my 54 years on this planet, the team insists I spend more money with them or else risk losing my seats. That’s incredible when you think about it.”
It absolutely is, my friend.
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Batting Around
The player with the richest contract in baseball is the Mets’ Juan Soto. But the “generational talent” hasn’t been able to stop the team’s recent 2-13 slide which has left them six games back of the division-leading Phillies. It’s likely little consolation that their crosstown rivals also hit a skid and slipped to third in the AL East.
Another team that has also slumped from leading their division have been the Chicago Cubs, who are now eight-and-a-half games games back of the surging Milwaukee Brewers, owners of the best record in baseball, powered by manager Pat Murphy’s snacking habits.
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Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer faced off at Dodger Stadium last weekend in a battle of two 3K strikeout masters headed for the Hall of Fame.
Jack Harris wrote at the LA Times:
“They’ve each played 18 respective big-league seasons. They’ve combined for nearly 6,500 strikeouts and 436 career wins. They each have two World Series titles, and three Cy Young Awards. And one day, they’ll each have plaques in Cooperstown, future first-ballot Hall of Famers who defined their generation of pitching.”
“Indeed, the first time Kershaw and Scherzer crossed paths was on this same field almost two decades prior. On Sept. 7, 2008, Kershaw filled in for one future Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux. Scherzer did the same for another, Randy Johnson, while playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks.”
On this latest occasion, Kershaw won a great pitchers’ duel – giving up just one run as Scherzer surrendered two – as the Dodgers beat Toronto 5-1.
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Talking of Cooperstown, my friend Prof Chris Lamb is appearing at the Hall next Thursday (August 21) to discuss his recent book about the 1955 Little League World Series. (You can stream the session live from that link).
See Also my Q&A with Chris, with more details about his work:
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An umpire at a Little League game in San Bernadino, CA stepped in recently when he saw a young pitcher struggling with the heat.
Sadly, this is going to be a recurring theme across the game at every level as summer heat continues to intensify. Last month, a youth sports umpire passed away after suffering from heat stroke and passing out during a softball tournament in South Carolina.
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I’m Willing To Die To Make Sure You Get Home
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Talking of umpires, Jen Pawol’s history-making appearance behind the plate last weekend was the subject of a great piece at The Athletic by Brittany Ghirol. She writes:
“[B]aseball badly needed Pawol. A sport that boasts itself as the national pastime, one that is so rich in history, can sometimes be suffocated by it. It’s been more than a decade since the NBA and NFL introduced female officials and every other woman before Pawol who tried to get promoted to Major League Baseball was run out of the game…
“Pawol, who initially thought her gender precluded her from being an MLB umpire, is a visible sign of progress, her dream a significant step forward for the sport. Maybe someday, female umpires will be normal. Until then, Pawol will keep pushing the ball forward, working and waiting for another chance at the big leagues.”
One Reddit user posted a scorecard for Pawol’s debut outing and it shows that she’s human.
There’s a quote – attributed to broadcaster Pat Hughes – “umpire is the only job where you’re expected to be perfect on day one and improve from there.”
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Finally, from one trailblazer to another, Astronaut Jim Lovell, who commanded the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, passed away at the age of 97. He lived an amazing inspiring life and is one more of a rare breed gone.
Lovell was of course immortalized through his portrayal by Tom Hanks in the 1995 movie named for the mission. But he became part of cultural lore by being misquoted.
Lovell would sign baseballs with his actual words to Mission Control.
Cartoonist and writer Jack Ohman wrote a really nice piece about Lovell for the San Francisco Chronicle. He concludes:
“Men like Lovell and his crew are increasingly no longer in vogue in America. Most Americans now alive have a firmer grasp of the Star Wars plotline than any actual space mission this country launched. Science is now routinely questioned and viewed as elitist by uneducated clowns.
“Many Americans now go for the quick hit, the short cut, the hot take, the easy answer—not a gargantuan ten year effort that the Apollo program represented. Lovell and company were the antithesis of a TikTok-famous influencer.
“In a superficial world, Jim Lovell now looks quaint.
“It’s too bad, because Lovell and people like him really did make America great.”
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As always, thanks for reading. I aim to write a baseball-related post midweek and then a politics wrap at weekends.
Usually one is substantially more sane than the other, particularly in our current chaotic moment.
I was traveling this week – a lovely trip to Edinburgh for the wonderful Fringe festival – so apologies for being a couple of days late with this post.
I’ll write this week’s politics wrap tomorrow, and when I write another baseball post next Wednesday, I’ll also have some news to share about what’s happening with the project.
You can find a full States of Play archive here.
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