30 years ago today (August 12, 1994), MLB players went on strike

[TMC]

And consequently, we wouldn't get a World Series for the first time in 90 years.

30 years ago, the disastrous 1994 strike began. Home run chases were ended. Pennant hopes for Montreal, Chicago, New York and Cleveland were dashed. And maybe the Steroid Era could have been avoided.

A players' strike ended the Major League Baseball season early on Aug. 11, 1994. News Source 13 spoke to disappointed fans in Rochester for their reaction to the news.

Two World Wars didn't cancel MLB's World Series, but in 1994, a labor dispute between owners and players over a potential salary cap killed the Fall Classic – and a pretty compelling season. With the entire future of the pro game in limbo, Congress, the President, and a whole bunch of lawyers tried to find a deal in time to save the 1995 season.

[MrCleveland]

WJW, which was transitioning as Cleveland's FOX affiliate reenacted the rest of the 1994 season on a video game.

I forgot how it ended.

[TMC]

September 15, 1994: The Baseball Season Is Canceled

September 15, 1994, 30 years ago: A date which lives in infamy. There is no joy in Mudville, or anywhere else.

Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig, a walking conflict-of-interest as the Acting Commissioner of Major League Baseball, cancels the remainder of the regular season, and the postseason, including the World Series, following a vote of the team owners. No Commissioner, in any of the "big four" North American sports, had ever done that before.

The vote is 26-2. Oddly, the 2 who voted to go on with the season and not betray the fans were 2 of the most hated team owners of the era: Peter Angelos of the Baltimore Orioles and Marge Schott of the Cincinnati Reds.

That strike, lasting from August 12, 1994 to April 25, 1995, was rough. Although President Clinton got the Crime Bill passed, his health care initiative failed, the Republican Party won control of both houses of Congress, and began passing bills slashing social services, which Clinton had to veto. A ferry carrying passengers from Estonia to Sweden sank, killing over 800 people. The Taliban was founded. A religious cult unleashed a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and putting 5,000 in the hospital. Singer Selena (Quintanilla-Perez, not Gomez) was murdered. And, just before baseball started play again, a domestic terrorist blew up the federal government office building in Oklahoma City.

It wasn't all bad. A totalitarian government in Haiti fell. The Channel Tunnel opened, finally linking Britain with the European Continent by road. Sony released the first PlayStation. George Foreman regained the Heavyweight Championship of the World, 20 years after he lost it to Muhammad Ali, by knocking Michael Moorer out, making himself the oldest Heavyweight Champion ever, age 45.

Billy Wright, and Wilma Rudolph, and Howard Cosell died. Halsey, and Carlos Correa, and Giannis Antetokounmpo were born.

[TMC]

I think we can all agree that if a team finishes the season 10 games under .500, they were not a good team. Normally, we expect a team of that caliber to be one of the worst in their division, but what if I told you that there was one occasion where a club 10 games under finished in first place? It happened, and this is the story of the worst division winner in MLB history.

[TMC]

April 25, 1995: Baseball Resumes After Its Longest Strike

April 25, 1995, 30 years ago: For the 1st time since August 11, 1994 -- 247 days -- a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played.

The Strike of '94 began the preceding August 12. When the MLB team owners threatened to use "replacement players" -- essentially, strikebreakers, or "scabs" -- a federal Judge ruled that this was in violation of their contract. With nothing else they can do, the owners settled, and the players "won" the strike. The judge was Sonia Sotomayor, a Yankee Fan from The Bronx. In 2009, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama.

This was each MLB team's 1st game back:

* April 25: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins, 8-7 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Marlin pitcher John Burkett restarted the proceedings by getting Delino DeShields to fly out to center fielder Chuck Carr. Raúl Mondesi hit 2 home runs, including the 1st one in restarted baseball, while Terry Pendleton and Jeff Conine homered for the Marlins. The Marlins trailed 8-2 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, and a comeback fell just short.

On April 26:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 8-6 at Yankee Stadium. I was there, setting near the back of the Main Level, behind home plate. Joe DiMaggio threw out a ceremonial first ball. Danny Tartabull and Bernie Williams hit home runs in support of Jimmy Key.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 11-9 in the 1st-ever game at Coors Field in Denver. The Mets got home runs from Rico Brogna and Todd Hundley. They trailed 5-1 going into the top of the 6th, then took leads of 7-6 into the top of the 9th, 8-7 in the top of the 13th, and 9-8 into the top of the 14th. But the Rockies just kept on coming, until Dante Bichette hit a 3-run homer off Mike Remlinger to win it for the Rockies in the bottom of the 14th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Aaron Sele allowed just 1 hit over 5 innings, and 4 relievers helped complete a 2-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves went on to win the National League Pennant.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 13-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Officially, since there was no World Series the year before, the Jays were now beginning their 3rd straight season as defending World Champions.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In spite of the strike, the consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken Jr. was officially still going. He would break Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 straight games on September 6.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 10-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

On April 27:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Rangers, 11-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Indians went on to win the American League Pennant, but the Braves beat them in the World Series.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Tigers, 3-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Randy Johnson allowed 3 hits over 6 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 3-hit shutout.

[TMC]

Between 1994 and 1995, MLB was almost burned to the ground and the real reasons behind the labor strike is much dumber, pettier and catastrophic than you remember.

[TMC]

In the summer of 1994, as the pennant races started heating up, labour discord in Major League Baseball was already approaching a boiling point.

The league's collective bargaining agreement had expired months prior, and a new one wasn’t close to being ratified.

Baseball’s owners were determined to implement a salary cap.

Baseball’s players were adamant that they would not accept one.

An unstoppable force was careening towards an immovable object.

And, eventually, the players said “enough," initiating what proved to be the longest, most consequential strike in the history of North American professional sports.

[Dude111]

I remember when they went on strike!