Troubled MLB must reach a cooperative agreement
How bad are things getting
for baseball?
Pretty bad.
The players’ union is
setting a strike date, Commissioner
Bud Selig foresees several teams
going bankrupt, the owners are
planning to relocate and eliminate
some teams, and a recent retiree is
writing a controversial “tell-all”
book about his experiences behind
the scenes.
The biggest problem is the po
larization of the haves and have
nots in the game. The attendance
in cities such as Kansas City and
Montreal have been pitiful. The
Royals drew 40,605 on Opening
Day against the Minnesota Twins
but have only averaged 15,400
since.
Since an Opening Day crowd of
34,351, the Expos, who were
close to extinction last fall, have
only had one game with an atten
dance of more than 20,000, and it
took $5 tickets and $1 hot dogs to
do it. Excluding those two games,
Montreal is averaging only 6,600
fans per game.
A third team that is suffering
even worse is the Anaheim An
gels. Since April 24, the Angels
have been one of the hottest teams
in baseball, yet during that time,
Anaheim has had an average home
attendance of 23,200. The average
seems high compared to the Roy
als and Expos but is pretty sad con
sidering more than 12 million peo
ple live in Los Angeles and Orange
County — and the ballpark’s ca
pacity is more than 45.000.
The fact is that people are
turned off by the disparity of
team salaries in baseball. The
more a team spends, the more
fans it puts into a stadium. All
the teams with top-10 salaries
draw more than 29,000 fans a
game. This is led by Arizona, San
Francisco and Seattle, who all av
erage more than 39,000.
The Cubs, Cardinals and Ori
oles average more than 32,000
fans a game because of tradition
and years of fan appreciation.
Unfortunately, they are excep
tions to the rule.
The disparity is not only be
tween teams, but players as well.
This year, the top 4 percent of the
league’s money-makers will earn
more than 20 percent of the play
ers’ salary money. This is led by
such team-hoppers as Yankees first
baseman Jason Giambi (a former
Athletic) and Rangers shortstop
Alex Rodriguez (a former
Mariner).
These disparities are causing
economic problems, and negotia
tions between owners and players
aren’t going well.
Guest Commentary
Peter
Martini
Nobody wants a repeat of the
devastation of 1994, when the
World Series was wiped out by an
ugly strike. There are no easy an
swers, but one might end up being
a salary cap. I’ve always been
against a salary cap for baseball
and so has the players’ union for
obvious reasons.
But as Selig so generously point
ed out a few weeks ago, as if we
didn’t already know, six to eight
teams could go bankrupt within
the next two years if nothing
changes in the economic system.
Last fall, owners tried to help the
economic situation by eliminating
the Expos and the Twins. But a
judge ordered that the Twins had a
legal obligation to play in the
Metrodome this season, thus tem
porarily halting the contraction.
By filling just 42 percent of the
stands on average, the Minnesota
fans aren’t making a strong case to
keep the team. However, I believe
the team can be saved.
The Expos, on the other hand,
are most likely done in Montreal
after this year. Odds are they’ll ei
ther be contracted or relocated.
Washington, D.C., has lobbied
heavily for the franchise and
seems to be a front-runner if the
owners decide to relocate.
In short, baseball expanded too
much, too quickly during the
1990s, so contraction wouldn’t be
all bad if the right teams are cho
sen — I vote for the Expos and
Devil Rays. Then I would move the
Marlins to the nation’s capital.
Another problem just revealed
is that former player Jose Canseco
is going to write a book describ
ing the behavior of players. As
you can imagine, this has stirred
up many emotions by players and
former players who don’t want
the book published.
Barry Bonds said he doesn’t
think finger-pointing will do the
game any good. Former Padres All
star Tony Gwynn said he believes
Canseco is “worthy of considera
tion” for the Hall of Fame, howev
er, if Canseco writes his book,
Gwynn would change his mind.
Canseco wasn’t the most moral
or fan-friendly player in the game,
but one thing I’ve always admired
about him is his Charles Barkley
like frankness and honesty. I don’t
think he would lie in his book, but
he might exaggerate some things.
It has been reported that
Canseco said 85 percent of base
ball players use steroids, but I find
that very difficult to believe. Do I
think the report is true? Yes. Do I
think Canseco was honest? Yes.
I think Canseco is honest about
what he has seen in his career, but
I don’t think his experiences repre
sent baseball as a whole.
However, people already think
baseball players are overpaid, and
if this book gets published, then
they could view players as over
paid druggies.
Canseco’s book could also put a
negative stigma on the perform
ance and accomplishments of
baseball players. Whenever a
player hits a home run, fans will
wonder if he or steroids did it. As
it is, former player Ken Caminiti
recently announced that he used
steroids during his 1996 MVP
season with the Padres.
Either way, baseball needs to
change its economic system and
public perception. That goes for
both owners and players. It can
start this summer by having the
two sides come together to set an
agreement that can last for more
than just eight years.
If they don’t, and another strike
happens, the sport could lose its
fans forever.
Peter Martini is a freelance reporter for the
Emerald. His views do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
bporiS brief
Asian rivals present
united front for World Cup
Thirty years after Ping-Pong
diplomacy thawed hostilities be
tween the United States and Chi
na, soccer diplomacy might prove
to be a turning point in the rela
tionship between three unfriend
ly neighbors.
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Korea and Japan, which have co
existed in disharmony for cen
turies, are co-hosts of the World
Cup, and determined to present a
smiling, united front as the globe
peers in on Asia for the four weeks
of the tournament.
Isolated and poverty-stricken
North Korea, still technically at
war with South Korea and on bel
ligerent terms with Japan, is hop
ing the World Cup will lead to aid
and some token of acceptance
from nations that regard it as a
Cold War throwback.
“There is considerable friction in
the entire area,” said June Teufel
Dreyer, chair of the University of
Miami political science depart
ment. “Koreans like to describe
their country as the nut caught be
tween nut-crackers Japan and Chi
na. Japan has a history of conquer
ing Korea. The World Cup is meant
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as a confidence-building measure.
If they can have a successful soccer
tournament together, they might
like each other better.”
The rivalries are acute off and on
the field. South Korea, a five-time
World Cup dud, is hoping to ad
vance to the second round on home
soil. Japan, proud of how its domes
tic league has surpassed Korea’s in
terms of talent, is also looking to
make a worldwide impression.
“Japan is looking nervously over
its shoulder because its economy
has been in the doldrums since
1990,” Teufel Dreyer said. “Koreans
are very astute and hard-working.
Japan sees a scrappy little rival.”
Japan has periodically invaded
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Korea since the 13th century. Dur
ing Japan’s annexation of Korea
from 1909 to 1945, Korean children
were educated in the Japanese lan
guage, Koreans were forced to
adopt Japanese names and many
Koreans were forcibly taken to
Japan to do menial work or serve in
the Japanese army.
After Japan was defeated in
World War II, Korea was split in
two by the United States and the
Soviet Union. In 1950, North Korea
invaded South Korea, and the Ko
rean War raged for three years. The
demilitarized zone still divides the
peninsula.
— Linda Robertson
Knight Ridder Newspapers
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