MLB Lockout: A Brief History of MLB’s Strikes and Network Lockouts as Baseball Enters Its First Outage in 26 Years

As feared, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) governing the 2017 to 2021 seasons has expired without a new CBA agreement. That caused the owner to lock the player on Thursday. While some will see this as a move to speed up discussions, it is an attempt by group owners to put pressure on the union and force them to agree to any proposal. their most recent. Whether that works or not – this is the sport’s first lockdown, so who knows – the fact that Major League Baseball is currently going through First labor stoppage since the 1994-95 players’ strike.

The current lockdown marks the ninth job stoppage in modern times MLB labor history – that is, since Marvin Miller became head of the Players’ Association in the late 1960s and turned it into a de facto active union. Under Miller’s leadership, the alliance reworked the game’s economic structure, but the owners struggled every step of the way. At this point, recent events are worth looking back at the layoffs before the current event. We’ll do so through a “walking tour” and even the long view will show you that it’s always about money and how it’s split between players and owners. Stopping work is of two types – door lock, where the owner shuts down the industry from top to bottom, and strike, where the player does the same through calculated refusal to work. As you are about to see, we have a lot going on. Onward.

1972 strike

How long it lasts: April 1-13, 1972

What it’s been through: The players’ three-year pension agreement with the owner expired and the teams failed to withstand even a modest increase in benefits. When the owners refused to referee the matter, as suggested by Miller, the players attacked. After 13 days, the owners invested and agreed to the previous pension proposal that the players had made. In total, 86 regular-season games were lost, and they were not folded. This plays an important role in the AL East race. NS Many tigers took the crown with an 86-70 record even though they only finished half the game first Red Sox. The two teams are even in the losing streak.

Why is it important?: It was the first goal of any player in MLB history. Player representatives voted 47-0 in favor of the strike (with one abstention), which speaks to the unity Miller has been able to build within their ranks.

Lockdown of 1973

How long it lasts: February 8-25, 1973

What it’s been through: Spring training, which delays the opening of camp but does not affect the regular season, is conducted in the absence of a new CBA. That new CBA, most notably, salary arbitration was established, over the years accumulated great interests of the players.

Why is it important?: This is the first owner lockout in MLB history.

Lockdown in 1976

How long it lasts: March 1-17, 1976

What it’s been through: In one of the great tectonic shifts in league history, Miller and the league were able to win free representation when, in December 1975, independent referee Peter Seitz ruled. favor the position of the players in their dispute with the owner. In that case, pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally became the “test case” that changed the reserve clause, which has a long history in baseball binding a player to a team. until that team trades or releases him.

Curt Flood pioneered the legal assault on the reserve clause with his 1972 Supreme Court case, but it wasn’t until Seitz’s ruling about three years later that the player won the right to become a freelance agent. In response to Seitz’s Decision, the owner locked the player. During the shutdown, however, a federal appeals court upheld Seitz’s ruling and set Messersmith and McNally free. With writing on the wall, commissioner Bowie Kuhn requested the opening of spring camps. Players and owners have agreed to start the season without the CBA. The two sides eventually agreed to a four-year deal in July – one that establishes the rights and framework of free agency.

Why is it important?: It was a desperate measure by the owners signaling that the game had changed forever.

1980’s strike

How long it lasts: April 1-8, 1980

What it’s been through: CBA negotiations led to this brief strike. Players gather late for spring training, but the season usually starts on time after both sides agree to continue negotiations throughout the season. In May, players and owners agreed in principle to a new CBA, but critically, they also agreed to revisit the free agent issue next season.

Why is it important?: The 1980 strike led to the formation of a new CBA, thereby setting the stage for the most damaging labor war to date.

Strike of 1981

How long it lasts: June 12 – July 31, 1981

What it’s been through: After a 50-day strike that led to the cancellation of 712 matches and forced the abbreviated season to be split into two halves, the two sides finally agreed on the issue of compensation for free agents (ie. How will teams that lose their free agents be compensated). In the end, teams that lost their freelance staff were compensated with a combination of a handful of unprotected pro players picked from the league-wide pool and draft picks. The original owners insisted on a compensation structure that would provide the losing team with free draft picks from the signing pool and selected players from the signing pool’s roster. The unions, in turn, see this as an unacceptable drag on the free agency market.

Why is it important?: It has proven that labor count can become an all-out battle between players and owners – a fight that affects the integrity of a season. In ’81, the division’s winners from the first and second halves of the season advanced to the post-season opener phase once. This leads to the unintentional absurdity of Red were eliminated from the knockout stages despite having the best record in all of baseball (66-42) because they didn’t finish first in both innings.

Strike of 1985

How long it lasts: August 6-7, 1985

What it’s been through: This brief strike was caused by a dispute over the owner’s pension contribution and the owner’s desire to limit the income from the players’ referee salaries.

Why is it important?: It proved that even seasonal labor shutdowns didn’t do so much damage, since all the strikes lost were made up. However, it also laid the groundwork for owners to collude with each other to crack down on the free agency market for three consecutive waves. That collusion would ultimately cost the owners more than $400 million in damages to the players.

Lockdown in 1990

How long it lasts: February 15 – March 18, 1990

What it’s been through: That collusion noted above? This account lockout is in essence an owner rage at the arbitrators’ ruling against them for rigging the free agency market. Spring training camps are open late, but the regular season is unaffected beyond pushing back Opening Day by a week. Essentially, disagreements over free agency and wage arbitration caused the lockdown.

Why is it important?: During the strike, commissioner Fay Vincent held a press conference in which he proposed ending the strike in exchange for a “no strike” pledge from the union. However, Vincent made a bold offer without the consent of the owners. That plus Vincent’s general anti-lockdown tendencies helped lead to his being debunked. He was replaced by Bud Selig, who as owner had completely transformed the principal role of commissioner into serving the interests of the team owner.

1994-95 . strike

How long it lasts: August 12, 1994 – March 31, 1995

What it’s been through: The 1994 season started without a labor agreement, but the owner’s insistence on a salary cap forced the players to retire at the end of the season. Just a month later, Selig announced the cancellation of the World Series. During the 232-day strike, the owner’s chief negotiator resigned, a federal mediator tried and failed to bring the two sides together, owners imposed a salary cap , the union declared all non-contracted players to be free agents, and Selig and his fellow owners attempted to list players/substitutes. Only a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board and an order from future Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor led the owners to accept and end the strike. Aside from the entire 1994 post-season, 938 regular-season games were lost during the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Why is it important?: It’s still the nuclear war of MLB labor outages, and it has ruined the game for years to come. However, the harm done in some way hastened years of crop disruption to come (“peaceful labor” is too strong a phrase for what comes next).

Course 2021

How long it lasts: December 2 – TBD

What it’s been through: Owners and players cannot come to terms on a new contract agreement by the time the current agreement expires. In an attempt to break the union and prevent a players strike during the off-season, the owner locked the players. A series of economic conflict points must be resolved before a new agreement can be reached, and the lockdown will not end until a new collective agreement is temporarily agreed.

Why is it important: The 2021 lockdown marks the first MLB outage in nearly three decades.