Major League Baseball

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Maybe it was just the latest ugly gasp of labor negotiations leaking into the public forum.

Maybe it was a sign that the incessant hissing contest between Major League Baseball players and owners is about to end.

Maybe it is an overreaction to believe that the course of the 2020 baseball season will be worse than the direction of the mangled 1981 and 1994 seasons.

But that has not been the mood around baseball on the day after Captain Dour, Commissioner Rob Manfred, did his jarring about face and backed away from his promise that there would be baseball this season.

Nobody does a better job of bashing baseball than baseball. For all the competition from football, basketball and other forms of entertainment, baseball has excelled at undercutting itself. It rarely stops, driving away generations.

For years, the owners have exulted in their public push to paint the players as greedy. The players have pushed back just as effectively, pounding at their point that the owners are cheap.

Kids can be so sweet sometimes.

And the fans, at least the increasingly smaller number of us who are left?

We want the shouting to end and the games to begin. We just want baseball.

Somebody send these guys to their rooms and tell them nobody comes out until there is a deal.

But until then all we have is a steaming pot of hostility.

Take a look at Twitter.

There is Mike Trout, the game’s best player, pounding home the talking point that the players have adopted. Expect to see this message everywhere.

There is CBSSports, suggesting that 20 percent of the game’s 30 owners want to punt the entire season. Nothing. A total wipeout. Lovely.

There is Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, writing that the owners have gone strangely silent. A public relations masterpiece.

There is Jim Palmer, the epic Hall of Fame pitcher, urging the two sides figure this out. Listen to Palmer. He's 74 years old and still in love with a kid's game.

There is Ken Rosenthal, one of the most respected writers in the business, saying the heat is on Mr. Commissioner. He seems legitimately angry. Good for him.

There is Phil Hughes, the former big-league pitcher, insisting that the owners are about to fold. I hope he's right.

There is ESPN, reminding us how long it’s been since the lights were turned on. Not as juicy as the DiMaggio 56-game hitting streak stat.

There is Tim Anderson, the energetic White Sox shortstop, echoing the message of his fellow players. Anderson has passion.

There is Thomas Boswell, one of my favorite baseball writers, throwing high and tight to the owners. Boswell also has passion.

And, there is Joe Rivera of The Sporting News, reminding everybody that it’s a difficult time being a baseball fan. Rivera said it well. 

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