Since I've been thinking a lot about 1972, it's worth noting that April will mark the 40th anniversary of the first baseball strike, which cost most teams around eight games that spring.
I'm afraid I'll have to go all old guy on this one: it's just bizarre for me to realize that there's a whole generation of baseball fans who have no experience of work stoppages. I definitely remember the 1972 strike...and of course the two big ones in 1981 and 1994, and there was a one game stoppage in 1985. If I recall correctly...oh, I might as well look it up. Yup., 1985. Plus others, which cost spring training games some years, or not. Overall, as the chart shows, it was just a constant threat thing every few years until the 1994-1995 disaster.
But I suppose if you were born in 1990 or later, you have no experience of that at all. Just strange to me.
What I have no memory of, on the other hand, is what it was like for work stoppages to be a new and unexpected thing. To me, it was just the way baseball had always been...I was a fan before 1972, but not long enough before that to appreciate it as a new and unusual thing (although I do believe I experienced the designated hitter as a new and unusual thing when it was introduced.
Friday, March 30, 2012
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I was born in 84 and I don't remember the 94 stoppage. Though I think it only must have been another year or two after that when I started to follow the Braves.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic. But Brian Kenny is hosting a show on MLB Network called Clubhouse Confidential. It's a show centered around using stats. And Brian does a good job of using some advanced metrics but making it so that the lay person can follow. Check it out if you can.