After '94, I didn't come back full time until 2019. Only now, the 2025 & 2026 seasons do I know all of the players and reserves on every team like I used to in the 80s and early 90s. The game itself really is great, but competing for people's time & entertainment dollars is more competitive and more challenging than ever. This need for power and control really does stop growth in any endeavor, and if the owners take a hardline on a salary cap, the fans, team employees, stadium employees, and ancillary employees around the stadium and games as well as the mid-to lower level players are going to be the ones punished.
If we lose the entire '27 season, then you will have something to compare it to. I love your passion for the game as well as many of the Red Sox twitter content creators, those who create here on substack, those with podcasts, and more. However, when your spirits are crushed, you learn the hard way that there are more important things in life than consuming your time, efforts, and energy with baseball. Also, I was 23 in '94 and that was when my window of opportunity to get into Professional Baseball as a player had just closed. I was on the outside looking in despite lots of good accomplishments and impressions. I just didn't perform well enough over a long enough period of time to impress the right scouts. I didn't run a 6.4 60 yd dash, I didn't throw 90 from the OF. I didn't hit 25 balls in a row over the fence in BP. There are thousands like me who fall just short, not necessarily b/c of ability, but due to other factors - So, I had to go forge a life for myself and while I was attempting to do that, baseball took a back seat. For me personally, it was a perfect storm. I didn't know I had resentments toward the game itself and about losing my dream... all stuff you learn as an adult that you have no idea about as a young person. Who the heck pauses long enough to think about suppressed resentments? We're guys! We are just living life! (When I say young person, I am pointing at about 30 years old all the way down to the beginning of awareness around 7 years old when I fell in love with the game.) In my 40s, someone pointed out to me that I had a passion for baseball which she had noticed just from the way I talked. She told me that I wasn't addressing my own passion and needed to be honest with myself. Her suggestion brought me to twitter and made me determined to develop a baseball community, which I have now done. It's made a big difference for me to come back and be honest with myself about what I am passionate about. I love the game in all its wonderousness and all its imperfections. I pray cooler heads can prevail when negotiating this next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Great read, couldn’t agree more. And not to mention that we’re coming off of one of the most exciting World Series ever played. It really would be a huge disappointment if any of the ‘27 season is impacted by a work stoppage.
It took years for the league to recover after the '94 strike and some fans never returned. The owners would be foolish to forget that.
It’s really not worth losing all of this momentum
After '94, I didn't come back full time until 2019. Only now, the 2025 & 2026 seasons do I know all of the players and reserves on every team like I used to in the 80s and early 90s. The game itself really is great, but competing for people's time & entertainment dollars is more competitive and more challenging than ever. This need for power and control really does stop growth in any endeavor, and if the owners take a hardline on a salary cap, the fans, team employees, stadium employees, and ancillary employees around the stadium and games as well as the mid-to lower level players are going to be the ones punished.
It’s interesting to hear people talk about the 94 strike because that was just before my time. I don’t have anything to compare it to
If we lose the entire '27 season, then you will have something to compare it to. I love your passion for the game as well as many of the Red Sox twitter content creators, those who create here on substack, those with podcasts, and more. However, when your spirits are crushed, you learn the hard way that there are more important things in life than consuming your time, efforts, and energy with baseball. Also, I was 23 in '94 and that was when my window of opportunity to get into Professional Baseball as a player had just closed. I was on the outside looking in despite lots of good accomplishments and impressions. I just didn't perform well enough over a long enough period of time to impress the right scouts. I didn't run a 6.4 60 yd dash, I didn't throw 90 from the OF. I didn't hit 25 balls in a row over the fence in BP. There are thousands like me who fall just short, not necessarily b/c of ability, but due to other factors - So, I had to go forge a life for myself and while I was attempting to do that, baseball took a back seat. For me personally, it was a perfect storm. I didn't know I had resentments toward the game itself and about losing my dream... all stuff you learn as an adult that you have no idea about as a young person. Who the heck pauses long enough to think about suppressed resentments? We're guys! We are just living life! (When I say young person, I am pointing at about 30 years old all the way down to the beginning of awareness around 7 years old when I fell in love with the game.) In my 40s, someone pointed out to me that I had a passion for baseball which she had noticed just from the way I talked. She told me that I wasn't addressing my own passion and needed to be honest with myself. Her suggestion brought me to twitter and made me determined to develop a baseball community, which I have now done. It's made a big difference for me to come back and be honest with myself about what I am passionate about. I love the game in all its wonderousness and all its imperfections. I pray cooler heads can prevail when negotiating this next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Great read, couldn’t agree more. And not to mention that we’re coming off of one of the most exciting World Series ever played. It really would be a huge disappointment if any of the ‘27 season is impacted by a work stoppage.
Thanks for reading!! That World Series was terrific! Just keep building off of the momentum.