last night i was wondering....why was Baseball on strike in 1994?..?

Question

i am a baseball fan...so while i was laying down...i just thougth of this event..even though it happen more than 10 years ago.

Answer 1

It was a players' strike, but to be certain, it was the last option the owners left them to use.

This gets overlooked a lot, but THE PLAYERS WERE SATISFIED WITH THE CURRENT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT. Simply renewing it, with tweaks, would have been acceptable. The OWNERS were the ones trying to enact significant changes, mainly in the form of hard salary restraints (basically, a cap), and these changes were not in the players' interests to accept.

The players offered not to strike in exchange for a pledge in good faith from the owners not to hold a lockout of spring training camps in 1995. The owners refused to extend this pledge.

At loggerheads and unable to reach a deal, the players went on strike. The 1994 season ended on August 11; the remainder of the season was officially cancelled in mid-September by majority agreement of the 28 owners (it was 26-2, with votes against cast by Reds owner Marge Schott and Orioles owner Peter Angelos). Various legal wranglings went on through the winter, and play resumed after both sides reached agreement to (a) play the 1995 season under the terms of the previous CBA and (b) continue negotiation in good faith. The '95 season was shortened by three weeks, and a new CBA was finally reached, which included payroll taxes, which did help drag salaries for a while. And there have been variations on this tax since then.

For more background and details than you probably want, refer to the first link below, a huge FAQ compiled by David Grabiner contemporarily with the strike and aftermath. I helped contribute a little bit to it, and despite that, it is an amazingly useful and comprehensive document. Note, however, it addresses the issues involved, and is not much of a chronology. For that, see Wikipedia.

1994 Strike FAQ: http://remarque.org/~grabiner/strikefaq.html

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_baseball_strike

Answer 2

Dan E Good had part of his answer correct. Salary cap issues were a huge part of the despute between the union and the owners. However, please do not refer to Wikipedia's version of the story as Mr. Good suggests. Reinsdorf and Selig were not the leaders in the collusion days of the mid to late eighties, Peter Ueberoth himself helped instigate collusion. The union was not too sure about Selig in 1994 at this point due to the fact that he was only acting commisioner at the time as well as an owner himself. He didn't give up his ownership in Milwaukee for a few years after the '94 strike. Please also remember that the Commisioner is hired by and paid by the OWNERS. The players nor the players union have any choice in who the Commisioner is or who it will be and yet they have to "trust" that he will make a fair and unbiased decision in matters. This is a big reason the players union don't always agree with the Commisioner and when Selig is wearing the hat of a Commisioner and an owner, you can understand why the MLBPA was leary of this too.

I know it looks as if the players want more and more during contract negotiations but did anyone stop to think who is offering all of this money to them? That's right, it's the owners gang. The owners have a slight problem that the players do not have when these labor negotiations take place, the owners are not united. They never have been and quite possibly, never will be. The players almost always win during these times because they stand united and make legal and financial sense when they make their arguements. Blame the players all you want but the owners are just as "greedy" or "selfish" as a lot of you proclaim the players to be.

Answer 3

Salary Cap which the players didn't want, so now we pay $15 to park and pay $8 for a $1 beer. I used to go to a LOT more games than I do now because it turns into a $100 day so the players can earn $10 million / year.

I still like baseball and watch it on TV but if they ever go to Pay per view like football is doing, I'll go do something else, like take a walk.

If you want the details of the strike, click on the link below.

Answer 4

Watch out for their families? I guess 3 million isn't enough, so why not strike so that the 3 million can translate into 5 millions per year. Sounds like Sprewell talking. A guy making the league minimum for 10 years should be able to have enough money to be set for a very long time.

Saint-get those panties out of your butt. Even making the league minimum if you are smart, you can save for your children as well. You probably blow all you money though and don't grasp the concept of saving. My parents were able to save for me and they were making probably 2% of what the average pro was making in 1994. For the majority of these players their yearly salary, even back then, was like for the common folk, winning the lottery every year. You are a moron.

Answer 5

I was angry too. I was 13 at the time. But now I understand it. And it's not greed. Baseball was generating so much more revenue and a bigger cut needs to go to the players instead of the owners. You get what you can. A lot of players are looking out for their families. They do this to set their families up for life. Who can fault them for that? I don't understand why people get jealous because they don't play pro ball and make as much money as these athletes. If you are jealous then why do you even bother watching sports?

And Frank P - It's setting up their children. That's what I am talking about. You are not bright. It's about wealth over rich. I would love the opportunity to set up my children, my children's children, et cetera. These guys have the opportunity to create family wealth. You obviously are just bitter. I don't have millions like them but I'm not bitter like you. But I'm not even going to explain myself because a lot of people in life live it based on jealousy. It has happened since the beginning of time. YOU WANT MORE IN LIFE AND PEOPLE CALL IT GREED. I CALL IT BEING INTELLIGENT!

Answer 6

Because they are greedy people who wanted even more money than what the rest of us normal people are getting. I got so frustrated with them because they should've been thankful for what they HAD been getting paid. Same thing happened with Hockey not too long ago and they cancelled pretty much a whole season of hockey over "money woes".

Answer 7

salary cap and Revenue sharing the owners wanted it the players didn't.

Answer 8

Greedy owners and even greedier players

Answer 9

Greed by the players. Nuff said.

Answer 10

the players wanted moer money to play