We own this game. Bud, your cronies are merely renting it

While a strike waffles between being likely and unlikely by the hour, the owners are still manipulating the profit and loss ledgers, claiming a collective loss between $220 million and $450 million, with only two profitable franchises. This gamesmanship may cause the strike to happen.

While other writers have called for fans to boycott baseball or fear that fans will stay away in droves after the resolution of a strike until something manages to capture their fancy, I propose a fundamental change in the way fans treat baseball during the strike.

Go to the ballparks during the strike.

If a game is scheduled for your home park, show up. Demand to be let in (even if you didn't have a ticket). Show up with signs. Demand the players to perform for you.

Could you imagine 10,000 fans showing up to an empty field? Think of the media play on that one! Perhaps that could bring perspective to both sides of the negotating table. Make them hungry to perform.

File last modified May 15, 2011