What was the reason for the 1994 baseball strike?

Question

Why did it happen, was every player involved, and was that what started the MLBPA?

Answer 1

It was a strike over salaries and benefits.
Money is the root of all evil.

Answer 2

Sorry for the length, but...

"The MLBPA was created in 1965.
It was not the first attempt to unionize baseball players. Earlier attempts

* Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players - 1885 (founded by John Montgomery Ward)
* Players' Protective Association - 1900
* Fraternity of Professional Baseball Players of America - 1912
* American Baseball Guild - 1946" <<< preceeding edited in after original answer was sent.

Historically, owners of baseball teams have been ruthless, stingy tyrants. Until the age of free-agency, players were like cows on a farm -- it's really the best analogy I can think of. The owners could do whatever they wanted with each player. It was quite a horrible situation; players families often went hungry, while owners forced players to do things like buy their own equipment and pay for their own food and lodging (Shoeless Joe Jackson played barefoot when he first joined the White Sox because he couldn't afford cleats -- he had to wait until payday to purchase that which Comisky firmly refused to supply! You should know that the "Black Sox" incident in the early 1900's had everything to do with Comisky's tyrannical greed and nothing to do with the players other than them attempting to provide basic necessities for their families. This kind of unfathomable behavior continued until Curt Flood and the free agency era. Yet, even after free agency began, owners did things like engaging in collusion (all owners secretly agreed to never pay more than a very low amount for any free-agent, no matter how good he was. Eventually, this was discovered by the players and other interested parties. The owners were then taken to court and forced to stop doing this, which they eventually did -- obviously.) Anyway, to answer your question, in 1994, the labor agreement that had been in place for a good long while expired. Every expiration period, the players would attempt to increase the amount of money (their percentage) given to them from things like concessions and advertising dollars. This time, the owners were having none of it; they felt that the players were getting a little too big for their britches. The hostile negotiators that the players paid to try and get them a bigger piece of the pie incited the owners to draw a line in the sand, saying "we're not going to give you more than this." The player's representatives said much the same thing, and were equally stubborn. The players wanted to play, but they fel that if the owners won it would be a step back to the old days. The players held their ground, the owners held theirs, and a settlement was not reached for a long time. it was only through ticky-tack negotiations the following year -- each side was given a victory that they could hold up as what mattered to them all along -- that they finally hashed it out. "Replacement players" consisting largely of non-union players did cross the picket lines for a time, but the results were abysmal.
Some names you might recognize that are included in this group:
Brendan Donnelly
Matt Herges
Cory Lidle (rip)
Tom Martin
Frank Menechino
Lou Merloni
Kevin Millar
Damian Miller
Alex Ramirez

The MLBPA was created in 1965.

PS - Don't believe everything you read... but the Jackalope is real!

Answer 3

money and greed. not every player was involved. For example, the late cory lidle was technically a replacement player. He was looked down on by some for playing.

Answer 4

Not sure, I was 10-ish so i didn't follow it (I was stupid and oblivious) but we do have an official MLB stuffed bear for "the game that never happened"... so I have always wondered.

Answer 5

Money, greed, and power...

much like what is wrong in baseball every season since...

Answer 6

in it's most simplistic form, MONEY

players - millionares wanting to become billionaires

owners - billionaires wanting to become trillionaires

who suffers, us, the fans.

Answer 7

Same reason as always, "not enough money"

Answer 8

ALL THAT INFO IS LOCATED ON WIKIPEDIA.

Answer 9

me m3