Baseball’s Sides Orchestrated Sour Notes

1994’s top story

Baseball has always been like a symphony, with a defined beginning on opening day in April, a recognizable middle at the All-Star game in July, the crescendo of the pennant races in September and the climax of the World Series in October.

In 1994, the music stopped.

For the first time in 90 years, baseball’s summer ended abruptly. The players went on strike Aug. 12 to protest a salary cap proposed by management to control costs. On Sept. 14, after 34 days of limited negotiations, acting commissioner Bud Selig canceled the remainder of the season, including the playoffs and the World Series.

There would be no crescendo and no climax this year.

Last week, as the strike stretched one day longer than the 131-day season had, last-ditch talks broke off and the owners imposed the salary cap, a move certain to carry the dispute well into 1995.

In a tumultuous sports year full of twists and turns - almost as many off the field as there were on it - the sudden and dramatic end to a baseball tradition was voted story of the year by The Associated Press.

Member newspapers and broadcast stations were asked to vote for the top 10 stories, with a first place vote worth 10 points, a second place worth nine, etc.

The baseball strike and World Series cancellation received 765 points, followed by the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan figure skating soap opera, which was second with 531. The arrest and trial of O.J. Simpson on two counts of murder finished third with 483 points, ahead of George Foreman winning the IBF and WBA heavyweight championships (429) and the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup after 54 years (324).

Completing the top ten stories were the NHL lockout (268); Jimmy Johnson quitting as coach of the Dallas Cowboys (263); Dan Jansen’s Olympic gold medal (240); Michael Jordan’s move into baseball (226); and the Dallas Cowboys winning a second straight Super Bowl (189).

Baseball’s troubles began to develop last January. With their collectivebargaining agreement expired, the owners agreed to a new revenue-sharing arrangement that would be contingent on players accepting a cap on salaries.

The formal salary cap proposal came on June 14, with management offering a 50-50 split on revenue, less than the 58 percent owners claimed the players get. In exchange, the owners guaranteed that each team would maintain a payroll between 84 and 110 percent of the industry average.

In addition, the owners wanted to eliminate salary arbitration in exchange for reducing free-agent eligibility from six years to four, with the provision that a player’s former club could match any offer until the sixth year.

On July 18, the players rejected the salary cap proposal and asked owners to lower the threshold for arbitration from three years to two, and eliminate the restriction on repeat free agency within five years. They also asked for a raise in the minimum salary from $109,000 to between $175,000 and $200,000.

Instead of moving closer, the two sides moved farther apart.

The owners rejected the union’s proposals on July 27 and the next day, the players set Aug. 12 as a strike deadline.

On Aug. 1, the owners turned up the heat, failing to make a scheduled $7.8 million contribution to the players’ pension and benefit plan. That nearly touched off an immediate strike by the players and later was found to be illegal by the NLRB staff, which issued a formal complaint against the owners. Union leadership talked the players into continuing to play until the deadline. On Aug. 12, however, the strike hit and baseball experienced its eighth work stoppage since 1972.

The strike canceled the final 52 days and 669 games of the season and cut about $600 million in revenue from the teams. The players lost about $250 million.

Just more than a month after the players walked out, following only intermittent talks, Selig called off the remainder of the season and the World Series.

As the end of the year approached, the symphony remained unfinished.