THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040015
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
So real big-leaguers are going to start playing major-league baseball on April 26. Hip! Hip! Who cares?
Are fans expected to swoon with gratitude and excitement?
Fans realize the players could strike later in the season, maybe out of habit. And club owners can be counted on to harm the game every year, one stupid way or another.
Meanwhile, fans are supposed to renew their love for the boys of summer.
Acting Commissioner Bub Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, said Sunday, ``We hope our fans never again have to go through the heartache we've endured the last eight months.''
As usual, the acting commissioner was unclear. When he said, ``We've endured,'' whom did he mean by ``we''? Surely he was not aligning himself with the fans. He was ready to fill major-league rosters with fifth-rate players, if the strike continued. Fans would never sink that low, because fans respect the game.
So Mr. Selig shouldn't become overly concerned about fans' heartaches. There will be no more heartaches unless we fans are so stupid as to refire our love for a game that has so often spurned us. We'd sooner remarry the same spouse for the fifth time.
Already this season is partly meaningless, because it has been shortened by 18 games. Short-season statistics cannot be compared meaningfully with full-season statistics, and comparing stats is half the fun of baseball.
Tell you what, Mr. Selig, you give us five years of strike-free, lockout-free quality baseball, with ticket prices a working man or woman can afford and statistics that mean something, and then you worry about our hearts. And as penance for your shameful greedy ways, lower the hot dog prices to a nickel.
We'll watch minor-league baseball. We'll go see children play for the love of the great game.
But when our love for major-league baseball exceeds the love of the people who own and play the game, it is time to quote Tammy Faye Bakker, ``Enough is enough.''
And by the way, stop charging children for putting the names of major-league teams on their uniforms. by CNB