Anyone have any opinions about the possible baseball strike? If they strike, would you go to the games upon the end of the strike? For me, this would about close the door on baseball. Seems to me they (both players and owners) are paid more than enough. If the owners did not pay the players so much, they would not have to worry about a luxury tax at all.

Both sides are much to greedy here. Neither one cares about the fans. If they do go on strike, I hope the fans are smart enough to never go back. (It took quite awhile after the last strike for the fans to return to the ballpark, but eventually they did return.)

My ball game watching is limited to the t.v., but I seem to have lost interest in that this year with the constant talk about the possibility of a strike. Whatever happened to playing the game for the game?

Hi June - Could make a joke about three strikes and your out - this is the second isn't it? What's it about this time (here in the UK we don't get the details!)

Hi Quizcall, In my opinion, both sides have more than three strikes against them conisdering the number of strikes that we (the fans) have had to suffer through. I believe (and the exact number may not be right) they have had 8 strikes since 1972.

It seems that the sticking point right now is something called a "luxury tax." The way I understand it is that at this point the owners want the players to pay 50% of anything earned over $102 million per year per player. The players union will accept a figure of 15% of anything earned over a lower amount (can't remember what that figure was, just a whole lot lower than what the owners want). I believe that the money paid for this tax would be used to help out the "poorer" teams. The players see this as a salary cap.

For example, if the owner's plan were approved, poor Alex Rodriguez who currently earns $21 million per year would only wind up getting $19 million per year. Now ask me how most of the fans feel about that! The minimum wage for a beginning player is $300,000 per year (heard these figures on the news - take it for what it's worth )

At the Ranger's Ballpark the cheapest ticket in the nosebleed section is $12, without any discounts. Figure on a family of four, hot dogs, drinks, etc., easily over $50 just for an evening out with the family. And we have a better chance of losing than winning! It is my understanding that this is not the highest charge in the major league.

It's all really frustrating for a baseball fan. Could be I might have to learn more about basketball and football. By the way, it was reported last year in the newspaper that ice hockey is the highest average cost per ticket in sports in the US.

I'm sure there are other FunTrivialites out there that could probably explain it much better.

Two points - If the players are earning that sort of money as a straight salary (not including win bonuses etc) then they should be grateful. A salary cap at 20 million can't be bad!!
The owners of the teams draw up the player contracts - They agree to pay the sums of money.

What will happen if the TV companies pull out of their agreements as has happened with soccer in the UK. No sponsorship- no money! No games no fee! I'm in full sympathy with the fans.

Ahh yes baseball, 15 minutes of action jam packed into a 4 hour stretch.