1994-1995 MLB Strike

Baseball in the U.S. is one of the most recognized as America’s favorite pastime. But there was one instance where there was no professionally played game until 1995. But this has been going on and off since the 70’s and 80’s seasons. However, after the owners of teams were found guilty of collusion, salaries of MLB players began to escalate and the emerging disparity between Large and small market teams to compete financially for top free agent talent led to a stratification in the league. Though it came to light, many players were fed up with the way owners were only slicing off some of the salaries for them that would pay them which resulted in the strike which lasted a year. The players though had plenty of reason to feel that way, given the history of labor relations in the sport. Seven times before, MLB had gone through a work stoppage seven times prior to 1994 with five of them occurring in spring training.

             Major League Baseball survived the 232- day strike of 1994-1995. It also canceled the World Series for the first time in 90 years, which cost players millions of dollars and management about $1 billion. For a short story, when Seattle’s Randy Johnson struck out Oakland’s Ernie Young on August 11, 1994, the players walked off the field for what turned into the longest work stoppage in Professional Baseball. However, the strike had become problematic, due to it being dependent on a prolonged labor-management peace of the monthly labor review for the U.S. Government printing office, explains that one might suppose that there is a clear need for a critical review of the bargaining process. As such, many fans were not to happy with how there was no games being played and it caused many of said fans to launch a counter strike of their own. Attendance plunged 20 percent the following year from 31,612 in 1994 to 25,260 in 1995.

            In an inarguable impact of the strike was positive. It ushered on a new era of labor peace. With the owners failed again to bust the union, the players disabused the notion that the owner’s incapable of presenting a united front and both sides were worried about the lasting damage another major work stoppage. As a result, they negotiated and implemented basic agreements without a strike for potential future problems 

Cartoon of Chicago's opinion of the strike, August 12, 2014. Image courtesy of Today in Baseball History, Chicago Team

incapable of presenting a united front and both sides were worried about the lasting damage another major work stoppage. As a result, they negotiated and implemented basic agreements without a strike for potential future problems.
          

Young Baseball fans in Oakland just a day before the strike. August 12, 2019. image courtesy of An Oral history of the 1994 MLB strike, ESPN.

        This ties in with this line of Gaudium et spies. In which man can direct himself toward goodness, but it is usually used in a way that it is abused and in doing so, it only benefits them even if it bad for others. However, in the player’s mind, it is a freedom to put a divine image of himself, considering it is Major League Baseball and the struggle to get to the big leagues. For the players, it was the greed of the players that allowed for this strike to happen and as a result, the entire 1994- mid 1995 baseball season was cancelled.
                

Former pitcher Charlie Hough of the Seattle Mariners on the mound. August 11, 2014. Image courtesy of Neil Seiler, USA Today Sports.