The 1994 Baseball Strike | 68
History of the 90s
Kathy Kenzora
4.7 • 609 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2022
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The World Series has been a reliable tradition since 1904. It’s been played during both World Wars, the Depression, after 9-11 and more recently during the COVID pandemic. But there was one time that the Fall Classic was cancelled in what is considered to be Major League Baseball’s most catastrophic and embarrassing moment. On this episode of History of the 90s, host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the 1994-95 MLB player’s strike.
Thanks to Erica Vella, host of Global News' podcast What Happened To…? for sharing the interview she did with former Montreal Expos Pitcher Jeff Fassero.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to History of the 90s |
| 0:04.7 | early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime. Before we get started, I just want to mention |
| 0:11.5 | that I'll be making an exciting announcement for History of the 90s fans at the end of this episode. |
| 0:17.7 | So please stick around and tell the credits. Okay, on with the show. |
| 0:23.1 | Each fall, the winners of baseball's American League and National League face off in a |
| 0:28.3 | best of seven series to determine who takes home the commissioner's trophy. Time seems to stop |
| 0:34.7 | and distractions fall away as fans cheer on their favorite team. |
| 0:39.4 | The World Series has been a reliable tradition since 1904. |
| 0:45.2 | World Wars, the Depression, 9-11, and not even the COVID pandemic could stop the quest for the ultimate champion of America's national pastime. |
| 0:56.0 | But there was one time that the Fall Classic was cancelled in what is considered to be |
| 1:01.1 | Major League Baseball's most catastrophic and embarrassing moment. |
| 1:06.2 | I'm Kathy Kinsora, and this is History of the 90s, a podcast about a decade that changed the world. |
| 1:13.0 | On this episode, we look back at the 1994-95 MLB player strike. |
| 1:23.3 | Before 1994, there had been seven labor disruptions in Major League Baseball, three lockouts by the owners and four-player strikes. |
| 1:32.6 | The longest was in 1981 and lasted 50 days. |
| 1:37.0 | But the majority lasted less than two weeks and took place during spring training, so there were no missed games. |
| 1:46.3 | And in each case, the owners caved into player demands and the season was saved. All of that changed, though, in 1994, |
| 1:52.9 | because owners were prepared to dig in their heels over the thorny issue of a salary cap. |
| 1:59.1 | Since the mid-70s, owners had been looking for ways to limit how much they paid players. |
| 2:04.4 | They argued that escalating salaries created an uneven playing field between teams in big and small markets. |
| 2:11.7 | The smaller teams would never be able to compete because they couldn't afford more expensive players. |
| 2:17.5 | In fact, they warned that most MLB teams were losing money and that baseball would go bankrupt |
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