My View: Baseball Copyright (c) 1994, Thomas Van Hook All rights reserved [Each month, a reader/writer is offered the opportunity to give his or her viewpoint on a particular topic dear to them. If you'd like the chance to air *Your* views in this forum, please contact Joe DeRouen via one of the many ways listed in CONTACT POINTS elsewhere in this issue] It Ain't Over Till It's Over And It's Over Now by Thomas Van Hook I can vaguely remember the first time I saw a Major League Baseball game. At Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati, Ohio), I got to watch a double-header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos. It was the first time that Tony Perez would play against his former teammates on the Reds. On that sunny July afternoon in 1978, I got to see some of the greatest players in the game. Cincinnati had the great Johnny Bench playing catcher, the infamous Pete Rose playing third base, and a young superstar-in-the-making in Ken Griffey Sr. in the outfield. Montreal had Gary Carter behind the plate, and Tony Perez on first base. Of these players, only Pete Rose will not make the Baseball Hall-Of-Fame, and not because he wasn't one of the greatest players the game ever saw. It was a very special time in the life of a 13-year old kid. My eyes were wide open with the awe of the "greats." There were no "work-stoppages" looming over the horizon, no "collective bargaining agreements" to ratify. But the times did change. Now, instead of watching Major League Baseball players with a reverent awe, I stare at them with a wide-eyed look of shock. While the fans have clung to baseball as a cherished part of their lives, the players dismiss it as nothing more than "a job." The fans have watched game after game, knowing that they are watching history-in-the-making that they can pass down to their kids by word of mouth. The players look at each game as "another day at the office." There is no excitement and love for the game of baseball in the spirit of the players. Instead, the spirit of the players is driven by a greedy desire of money. That greed has forced the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in ninety years. Major League Baseball is rotting away from the inside. The question that is frequently asked of me is: "What will become of baseball?" I am not sure. A prolonged strike by the players will result in some of the most devastating financial situations for the owners since the advent of the "Brotherhood War" in the early 1900s. Several teams look poised for a collapse. There could be as few as three teams bankrupt at the end of a prolonged strike. There is also the possibility that the next elected Congress will break the Anti-Trust exemption that was awarded to Major League Baseball by the Supreme Court. If this does happen, then there will be a potential for the creation of a new "Player's League." Saddly, the times are mirroring the attitudes and events in the Brotherhood War. The loser in that fiasco was ALL of baseball. I just wonder how much longer the fans are going to put up with the nonsense they are being fed by the both sides in this "Baseball War." There is one thing that is certain. Baseball will never be the same once the dust from this fight settles. Goodnight baseball, you will be missed.