Viking_Yearbook_95

Baseball Strike T he 1994 baseball season ended not with a home run or a strikeout, but with a conference call and a fax. On the 34th day of the major league strike, the team owners canceled the rest of the season, including the playoffs and the World Series. "This is a sad day," said acting commissioner Bud Seil in a fax distributed to the news media. He got no argument. Not from Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres, who lost his chance to bat .400. Not from Matt Williams of the San Francisco Giants, who lost his shot at Roger Maris' home run record. Not from superstars Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr., who lost more salary in a day than most Americans earn in a year. And certainly not from the fans, who suffered through a Fall without a World Series for the first time since 1904. The season floun­ dered on the owners' insistence on capping player salaries. The players refused to go along, went on strike, and in a little more than a month the season was history. Courtesy ofAssociated Press 30 Courtesy ofAssociated Press A.