Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary since Major League
Baseball players went on strike. Columns and pieces marking the
anniversary began to fill sports sections this morning. The
strike is called "the longest and most destructive work stoppage
in professional sports history," by writer Tim Wendel in the
current BASEBALL WEEKLY. Wendel examines the state of the sport,
and writes for all its troubles, "baseball is expected to make
headlines for all the right reasons" in September including Cal
Ripken chasing Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak. Wendel:
"Whether this sweet period will be remembered as the beginning of
a new era or simply the calm before another divisive storm could
depend upon what another professional league, the National
Basketball Association -- does about its labor unrest in the
coming weeks." In terms of an agreement, both sides in the labor
dispute continue to meet in small groups, but little progress has
been made. MLBPA's Associate Gen Counsel Eugene Orza: "The
current state of baseball? I think it's somewhere near
Kentucky." Expos President Claude Brochu doesn't expect a
baseball agreement this winter, saying "the economic pie will
continue to shrink and that 'a lot of players are operating under
the assumption, and the mistaken one at that, that the free-
agency rules will be eased up this winter. Nothing is carved in
stone yet'" (BASEBALL WEEKLY, 8/15 issue).
THE SHELVES ARE STAYING FULL: Retailers and dealers of
baseball merchandise are still feeling the effects of the strike.
The card industry, "which provides the bulk of the players
union's $75 million in annual revenues, expects a decline of
about 40% this year," according to Dennis Tuttle. Even two new
expansion teams have not helped sales of licensed merchandise.
Sales of Devil Rays and Diamondbacks have "tailed off," and Logo
Athletic "reports sales of just over 300,000 T-shirts for the two
teams." Overall, MLB Properties revenue is expected to fall to
about $2B, a "significant drop" from $2.5B in '93 (USA TODAY
BASEBALL WEEKLY, 8/15 issue).
