MLB History: The Day Baseball Went Silent

We could have been treated to numerous wonders during the 1994 season in the MLB. Instead, the season ended on this day as the players went on strike.

The 1994 MLB season had the potential to be special. Seemingly everywhere one looked, there was a storyline worth watching. The Montreal Expos were the best team in baseball, and looked like a possible World Series squad. Tony Gwynn was chasing Ted Williams and his quest to hit .400. Matt Williams was on pace to break break Roger Maris‘ single season home run record. Yes, 1994 was set up to be a season to remember.

And it was a season to remember, albeit for the wrong reasons. While those historic quests were ongoing, the looming spectre of a strike was lingering in the background. As labor peace continued to be elusive, that shadow grew larger and larger, until, on this day, the the players went on strike.

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The timing could not have been worse. Instead of a season that could have engrossed even the casual fans, the season was over. The World Series, for the first time in 90 years, was cancelled. Instead of helping to ignite the fires of fandom, the Expos were left for dead, selling off all their talent before being moved to Washington DC a decade later. Those historical chases became a footnote in the annuls of MLB history.

This labor stoppage almost killed baseball as we know it. As it was, the damage can still be felt, as the MLB has not been able to regain its title of the most popular sport in America. It took years before the fans came back, fueled by Cal Ripken breaking the consecutive games record and the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Fortunately, baseball has been in an unprecedented run of labor peace since that time. Those painful lessons from 1994 have been learned, as the Player’s Union and the owners have been working together. Hopefully, that does not change.

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The 1994 MLB season went down in history, although for the wrong reasons. Maybe they have truly learned their lessons, and this labor peace will last. We can only hope that is the case.