Fans love to see players hustling and diving into first base like Pete did but it is very rare that you see those aspects of the game today.
In the year 2002, there was speculation that there would be a strike. In Christopher Thomas"s article "Baseball"s Cold War" he says .
A CNN/SI.com poll asks the question: Will there .
be a strike this year? It stands at 51% yes, 49% no. More disturbing, for baseball anyway, is the flagging .
attendance this year. It is down 5% from this time last year. Cite the cold weather, the sluggish economy, .
whatever. What cant" be argued is the fact that baseball is slipping further and further away from the fans. It is hard to be a fan when your team is out of the race before it ever starts. (Christopher 2) .
Today's players want millions of dollars or else they threaten to go on strike and not play. David Nemec and Saul Wisnia talk about how the players want millions of dollars in their book 100 Years of Major League Baseball:.
Since the origin in 1871 of the National Association, the first professional league, baseball people have always had an unequivocal champion to fete at the end of each season. That unbroken string came to an abrupt halt in 1994 after 123 years. At midnight on August 12, action ceased at the major-league level when the players" union stubbornly refused to accept a salary cap proposed by an equally intransigent bloc of owners. (Nemec and Saul 482-483).
The players not wanting a salary cap is what started the strike of 1994. Players think that they can control the game of baseball because they are baseball stars. The players are becoming increasingly greedy each year. The league sets a salary cap because they think it could solve some problems for the league but the players are greedy and think that will take away from their revenues. Why cannot the players just play for the fun and the fans? The game of baseball is about having fun, competing, and playing for the fans.