August 16. New Strike date Looks like a strike is inevitable. Monday, July 29 Players could strike Aug. 16 at the earliest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services Barring a surge of progress in labor talks this week, the executive board of the Major League Baseball Players' Association could confer by telephone by Friday to set a strike date, the earliest of which could be Aug. 16, the Los Angeles Times has reported. There are several possible dates on which the players would strike, but Aug. 16 appears to be the front-runner, with Sept. 1 as the other likely choice, sources told ESPN. In the latest negotiating session between the union and management, which lasted for just an hour Friday, the sides said they would be available for meetings every day next week, when union head Donald Fehr hopes to pretty much conclude his tour of baseball's 30 teams. The sides met for five hours Thursday and management negotiators expressed optimism. Players, fearful that owners will change work rules or lock them out following the postseason, are threatening to call the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972. Pittsburgh players unanimously voted Friday to authorize the union's executive council to set a strike date. "Something has to be done to press the issue and maybe this will help things along,'' Pirates player representative Kevin Young said. "Nobody on either side wants to see baseball come to a stop." Fehr met Friday with the New York Mets. "We have to continue to do what's right for the future of the game," Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn said after his team met with Fehr. "We know that if it comes down to it, we know what we've got to do." Fehr is expected to meet Tuesday with the Houston Astros in New York, then go to Texas for meetings with the Rangers, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He has yet to schedule a meeting with the Chicago Cubs. "Hopefully, the strike won't happen,'' Cincinnati outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. said. "We don't want to have to deal with this." Owners, wanting to redirect money from the big-spending teams, have proposed increasing the amount of shared locally generated revenue from 20 percent to 50 percent. Management also wants a 50 percent luxury tax on the portions of payrolls above $98 million to slow the rise in player salaries, which averaged $2.38 million on Opening Day this year. Players don't want to drain too much money from the high-revenue teams, who would otherwise spend it on players. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
If I were the owners, I would sue the greedy sh!ts for lost playoff revenues. They are under contract to play the entire season, as far as I know. Then I would get replacement players for next season. Players that are all too happy to play baseball for millions of dollars. The players can all go get real jobs then, like the rest of us, if they don't want to play under the new system. We'll see how many of them would prefer to haul garbage, bag groceries, or whatever else they can do without an education. You just end up looking like an idiot when you are making millions and you complain about your salary.
Yea!! My arm may be wasted, but I can still play catcher. And I would do it for far less than the players want. Only about 500K would make me happy.
I'd rather watch a game with scabs at this point. It's higher scoring and more error prone. It might pervert what some purists call the essense of baseball, but I call that entertainment and probably 20 bucks cheaper too...
I would love to see baseball go out and just get replacement players and keep the season going, regardless of the "legitimacy" of the games. There are tons of college players out there who would LOVE to play in front of even 10,000 or 20,000 fans.
I've got a wicked knuckle-curve and have been working on a knuckle-screw. I can't throw much harder than 80mph, but I'd be willing to suit up for 162 games if they paid me $50,000. With scrubs playing maybe it would force the concession prices down and you could get a drink and a meal for under $10. Wouldn't it be nice to have $5 tickets and sold out stadiums every night. If only the owners and players weren't so greedy .
