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ENJOY BASEBALL WHILE YOU CAN.


Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Get a good look at the greatest hitters and pitchers in the world, goes the implied come-on for the baseball All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games  tonight. No telling how much longer you'll be able to watch these guys.

It's kind of a ``must-see TV'' campaign.

Or Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr. (born July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the team owner and administrator of the Milwaukee Brewers.  TV.

While the players are in midseason form, the labor negotiators are just getting warmed up, preparing to push the teams off the field sometime this summer, raising the specter of the 1994 calamity in which bargaining for a new basic agreement broke down and parts of two seasons and a World Series were canceled.

So, get your baseball right here.

While supplies last.

Let's talk about what's important as billionaire club owners roll out their poor-mouth propaganda and millionaire players set in motion the mechanism to strike.

Despite what we keep reading, the real problem is not that if another baseball season is interrupted, the sport will be ruined because a lot of fans will be offended and never come back to the ballpark. It didn't happen in the 1980s. It didn't happen in the 1990s. It won't happen in the 2000s.

The fans will come back, because they love baseball more than they hate a particular group of players and owners.

The real problem is that if another baseball season is interrupted, the sport's continuity will be corrupted and those diehard fans, the ones who show up for batting practice to catch five ounces of history, will be rewarded with mitts full of air.

The fans will come back, but the canceled games won't, the unhit home runs won't, the unthrown no-hitters won't, the unbroken records won't, the unwon pennants won't, the unspent moments in the bleachers In The Bleachers is a podcast and website that focuses on Division I-A college football. It is recorded and aired weekly during college football season and features college football experts from the Big Ten, Big East, SEC, ACC, Pac 10, and Big 12 conferences.  with a father or son won't.

Thus it's hard to watch the All-Star Game, and it's hard to watch this dramatically unfolding season, without thinking of what will be lost if baseball can't keep its boardroom problems off the field.

Baseball banks on the promise that division titles are won honestly, and players can be compared fairly over time, because seasons and careers are allowed to run their course.

It's why real baseball fans cared in 1961 that the first round of major-league expansion and the addition of eight games to teams' schedules helped Roger Maris
    Roger Eugene Maris (September 10 1934 – December 14 1985) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1961, a record that would stand for 37 years.
     to break Babe Ruth's home run record.

    It's why real baseball fans cared last week that pinpointing Ted Williams' place among the game's all-time greats was complicated by the fact he lost all or parts of five seasons to military action.

    It's why real baseball fans cared in 1994 that the advent of interleague play Interleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in 1997. Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season.  coincided with the introduction of playoff wild cards Symbols used to represent any value when selecting specific files. In DOS, Windows and Unix, the asterisk (*) represents any collection of characters, and the question mark (?) represents one single character. In SQL, the percent sign (%) and underscore (_) are used for matching text. , creating the inherent inequity of teams facing unequal opposition while competing for the same prize.

    It's why real baseball fans cared in 1998 that the availability of performance-enhancing substances raised questions about whether Mark McGwire
      Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963 in Pomona, California) is a former professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the Oakland Athletics before finishing his final years with the St. Louis Cardinals.
       and Sammy Sosa Samuel Sosa Peralta (born November 12 1968 in San Pedro de MacorĂ­s, Dominican Republic) is a designated hitter for the Texas Rangers of the American League. His Major League career began when he broke in with the Texas Rangers in 1989.  were breaking home run records with assistance that their predecessors didn't have.

      It's why real baseball fans cared, as the 1994 strike dragged into '95, that we would never know how far Matt Williams Matt Williams can refer to different people:
      • Matt Williams: a Major League Baseball player
      • Matt Williams: a Rugby Union coach
      • Matt Williams, a television show producer of shows like Roseanne and Home Improvement.
       (on pace for a home run record in '94), Tony Gwynn
        This article is about the former San Diego Padres player and Baseball Hall of Famer. For his son who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers, see Tony Gwynn, Jr..
      Anthony Keith Gwynn
       (threatening .400 in '94), the Dodgers (in first place in '94) and the Angels (a game out of the playoffs in '95) might have gone if given a full shot.

      Nobody's closing in on a 74-home run or .400 season in 2002, but look no farther used elliptically for) go no farther; say no more, etc.

      See also: Farther
       than the All-Star Game on TV from Milwaukee this evening to realize how much depends on cooler heads prevailing this summer.

      Do Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds continue to close in on Hank Aaron? Does this season wind up the way it's heading, in another Dodgers-Yankees World Series? Does Eric Gagne go from nowhere to the greatest season ever by a bullpen ace? Do the Montreal Expos, in what might be their last chance, get the pennant shot that got away in '94? Do the St. Louis Cardinals For the National Football League team that played in St. Louis from 1960 to 1987, see .
      The St. Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards" or "the Redbirds") are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri.
       fight through tragedy to stage the human triumph of the sports year?

      None of these chapters will be finished unless the season is.

      The fans will come back.

      The games won't.

      If the people running baseball really love it, that should be reason enough to get a deal done.

      CAPTION(S):

      4 photos, 3 boxes

      Photo:

      (1) ANDERSON

      (2) GREEN

      (3) PEREZ

      (4) GAGNE

      Box:

      (1) LINEUPS

      (2) PAST RESULTS

      (3) PAST MVPs
      COPYRIGHT 2002 Daily News
      No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
      Copyright 2002, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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      Article Details
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      Title Annotation:Sports
      Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
      Date:Jul 9, 2002
      Words:736
      Previous Article:NO STRIKE DEADLINE IS SET FEHR TO ASK PLAYERS TO AUTHORIZE DATE BY END OF MONTH.
      Next Article:SCHOOL CLOSING FEARED CASTLEMONT ELEMENTARY FACING FINANCE, LEASE CRISES.



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