STRIKES, GREED NOT WHAT ILL MLB NEEDS.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

The clock said it was midafternoon, and before sitting down to rail Major League Baseball and the players association about getting an agreement done soon so there wouldn't be a strike, it was time for a quick search of the Internet.

Having not had access to a radio or television for a few hours, the stunning news of Darryl Kile's death jumped off the computer monitor and straight to the gut. The feeling still hasn't left.

It's been a hell of a week for baseball, a hell of a week for the St. Louis Cardinals. Like we need some kinda strike at this point.

Jack Buck, a national treasure that brought generations together through the games of baseball and football, and through one conversation made you feel like a lifelong buddy, died Tuesday.

Kile, a 33-year-old pitcher who was supposed to pitch for St. Louis today against the Chicago Cubs, died in his Chicago hotel room. He left behind a wife and three kids, and a grieving city now must find even more strength to emerge from a tragedy.

Yet, next week and the week after that and the month after that, we will be reminded of contraction again, or economic woes. Some players, such as Boston's John Burkett, said they wouldn't play in the All-Star Game on July 9 in Milwaukee because of ownership. Ya' know, the All-Star Game? A game for the fans.

In fact, the day before the All-Star Game the players association will meet and possibly set a strike date. That's what people want to hear for nine innings while they watch the All-Star Game. In Minnesota, they're trying to get a new ballpark. In St. Louis, they are trying to come to grips with losing two revered citizens who touched so many more than just the people who live within the city limits.

We will hear about steroid use. Commissioner Bud Selig will put up this front to make everyone think baseball actually cares about a player's health more than his home run and RBI production. The players association will talk about its constitutional rights, and how drug testing violates many of those rights.

In other cities such as Miami and St. Petersburg, Fla., some local politician will try to use his power to influence voters by siding with, or against, a team constantly talking about needing a new stadium.

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, on the commissioner's negotiating committee after being a hardliner in opposition of baseball during the 1994 strike, will try to block baseball from returning to Washington, D.C., because it violates his protected area. In other words, he will lose money.

Most likely, though, baseball will give Angelos a huge cash deposit to keep his lips sealed while Montreal moves into Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia, all in the name of bigger bucks for everyone.

These are the issues baseball wants fans to care about.

It's not Luis Castillo's hitting streak, or Minnesota's building of an organization from the minors up that makes them competitive despite a payroll that is a mere percentage of most of the annual contenders.

And here's how concerned the players are about it. San Francisco's Barry Bonds told a reporter from the Washington Post that even if baseball had another work stoppage, fans would come back.

``If you have kids who might (grow up to) be Major League Baseball players, we're fighting for your kids, possibly,'' Bonds said. ``If I work for your newspaper and you're in the union fighting for your equality and rights, sure I would strike, and so would you.''

And it also would be expected that the readers would find another paper, and perhaps never come back to the one that went on strike.