Retiring MLB commissioner Selig says he’s proudest of achieving labor peace

By Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014 | 2:08 p.m.

To this day, it still irks Bud Selig when people write or say that he canceled the 1994 World Series.

“That’s absurd,” said the commissioner of baseball. “The players were out on strike. How were we going to play?”

Of course, there are two sides to every story, and the players felt there was no choice but to strike or watch owners try to unilaterally impose their desired economic system that winter when the union had no leverage.

As devastating as it was to have baseball’s premier event fall victim to yet another labor war, it makes it all the more remarkable to look at what has transpired in the game in the 20 years since. As Selig prepares to attend his last World Series as commissioner this week, even he is amazed at what two decades of labor peace have meant to the game.

“It has exceeded my wildest dreams,” said Selig, who has overseen a period of meteoric growth in the game since those dark days in ’94. “Labor peace and changing the game’s economics created hope and faith for all teams. Those two go hand in hand. Everybody understands that now.”

When Selig looks back at the events of 20 years ago, the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers firmly believes an ugly showdown between management and the union was inevitable. Small-market teams such as his Brewers were drowning in debt with little hope of competing on a yearly basis with well-to-do teams.

The union stood firmly against anything resembling a salary cap, however, and there was no middle ground to be found. When players walked off the job on Aug. 12 of that season, it was just a matter of time before Selig would have to step to a podium at County Stadium and call off the World Series for the first time since 1904.

Only two years into his job as then-interim commissioner, Selig fully understood the gravity of the situation.

“We had to tell people,” said Selig, who made the announcement Sept. 14, five days after his announced deadline to do so. “We had cities, stadiums, ticketing, television, sponsors to consider. We had to let them know.

“We had been headed that way for years. It was a fractured relationship (between owners and the union). I’ll never forget that night. I came home and after dinner I went upstairs and replayed every World Series from 1944 to the present. I was just heartbroken.”

The situation became so desperate that owners opened spring training in 1995 with replacement players, a plan that could have scarred the game permanently had it continued. Days before the season was scheduled to open, a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor ended the owners’ attempt to impose their own economic system and allowed major-league players to report to camp for what would be a shortened season.

Lasting labor peace had not yet been achieved, however. Desperate to avoid another work stoppage, the sides cobbled together a new agreement in November of ’95 but many owners still were angry over their financial plight. With baseball economics in continued turmoil, there seemed to be little hope of reaching a collective bargaining agreement next time around without another war.

As baseball went into 2002 without a new contract, an impasse in negotiations threatened another ugly showdown. The sides had operated for months without a CBA, and players again feared owners would unilaterally impose their system after the season if they didn’t force a deal.

On Aug. 12, the eight-year anniversary of the strike that led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, the union established Aug. 30 as the deadline for reaching a deal or walking out again.

Selig knew another work stoppage would prove devastating to the game and further alienate a fan base still smarting from the previous conflict. But, only days before the deadline, talks started to fall apart in New York.

Owners not only wanted increased revenue sharing and a luxury tax on payrolls exceeding a certain limit, they refused to take mandatory steroid testing off the table. The union made it clear that was a deal-breaker, and another work stoppage appeared inevitable on the eve of the deadline.

“It was very tense,” recalled Selig. “At about 3:30 a.m., they said, ‘Why don’t you go get some rest?’ So, I went back to my hotel but the phone was ringing when I got to my room and they told me to come back.

“At 6:30 a.m., I was sitting, talking to people. (Atlanta pitcher) Tommy Glavine was there as a player rep and we talked a lot. I kept saying to myself, ‘We can’t have another work stoppage.’ I knew how hard it was bringing the sport back from ’94.”

Selig’s negotiating team, led by Rob Manfred, told him the union accepted the requested economic changes but put its foot down on mandatory drug testing with penalties. The most the players would agree to was “survey” testing in 2003 that would lead to mandatory testing the following year if 3-5 percent of players tested positive. (Little did players know it would be an irreversible first step toward testing with penalties in the future.)

As badly as Selig wanted mandatory drug testing, he realized it wasn’t worth shutting down the game again.

“It was a tough call,” said Selig, who won in the end when drug testing later became part of the CBA. “Remember, the sport never had a testing program. I finally made the judgment that if we have another work stoppage, I’m not sure the game could come back. It would have been a crusher.

“I told Rob that if we had everything else buttoned up, we’ll do it. It was difficult, but we had broken the string. And when you look back at it, in ’06 and ’11, we did (new contracts) quickly. I think we improved it with each negotiation.

“The thing we never comprehended — everybody on both sides — this fight every two or three years really hurt us. People got tired of reading about Bowie Kuhn and Marvin Miller, then Bud Selig and Don Fehr. I’ve always said when you can concentrate on the game on the field, that’s when it’s the best.”

Now, 20 years later, it is evident that without the prolonged period of labor peace, none of the major gains the game has experienced would have been possible. Fans bought in, with the seven biggest attendance totals coming over the last 10 years.

The improved economic system has created an unprecedented era of competitive balance. The New York Yankees no longer win it all — or come close — every year, as they did in the period before the 2002 labor breakthrough.

When Selig became interim commissioner in 1992, MLB revenues were $1.2 billion. This year, they will approach $9 billion. He won’t be around for the next CBA negotiation in 2016 but believes both sides now understand that labor peace is paramount to the game’s success.

“I hope labor peace continues,” said Selig, who will retire as commissioner Jan. 24. “There are things the sport needs. I’m sure the next negotiation will involve that.

“Labor peace has led to a recovery that nobody could have predicted. I think lessons were learned on both sides. The relationship (between owners and the union) has changed significantly. I think we’ll be OK.”