The 2022 MLB Lockout: Thoughts from a Die-Hard Fan

Major League Baseball and the MLBPA remain in a heated lockout that appears far from over.

March 6, 2022

Source: Google Images

Here we go again. This past Monday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced what we had all been dreading: the 2022 Major League Baseball season has officially been postponed. Opening Day, always a bright spot on the sports calendar, has been wiped away just like that. Maybe the worst part? You may have been angry, upset, confused, or indifferent about the news. But were you surprised? Because at least to me, it seems like baseball always finds a way to shoot itself in the foot recently. With this news, baseball finds itself in what might just be the most dangerous position to be in: irrelevant.

Manfred, who after this latest debacle has pretty much solidified himself as the worst current commissioner in sports (and believe me, there is some stiff competition), has found another way to piss off baseball purists and die hards. Just this past December, Manfred called the lockout "Good for the game". Before his press conference on Monday, he was seen practicing his golf swing and even had the audacity to LAUGH in the middle of the press conference. When asked why meetings only took place for ten days instead of the three months they had, Manfred said that they had "met for the past ten days". Someone save this clown from himself. The lockout is just the latest of poor decisions supported by Manfred such as seven inning games, the extra runner on second to start extras rule, and the theory that baseball has tampered with the baseballs in recent years via deadening and juicing the baseball. This theory was likely proven with the offensive outbursts of two of the most watched baseball games in 2021 featuring Yankees-Mets on Sunday Night Baseball for the 20th Anniversary 9/11 game and the Yankees-White Sox Field of Dreams game in Dyersville.

I, like the majority of fans, am pissed about the lockout as it is billionaires (the owners) fighting millionaires (the players). This feeling has been highlighted by how late this week, four teams voted against increasing the luxury tax. One of these owners was the Angels owner, a team that plays in Los Angeles and has maybe the two most marketable players in the game regarding Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. As a fan making thousands of dollars versus millions or billions, MLB is testing my patience. The owners have proven that all they care about is money while the players have done the same. Can MLB themselves afford the lost revenue that the lockout is and will continue to bring following a Mickey Mouse shortened 2020 season and a 2021 season that saw most stadiums across the country only start to be max capacity in June and beyond?

MLB will continue to raise prices for tickets, concessions, and merchandise when they do come back; however they are being very shortsighted as they push away their die hard fans that they can not afford to lose. Let's face it. American consumers have more entertainment options than ever. This is not like 1994 where following the cancellation of that World Series, the country grew obsessed with the Sosa-McGuire Steroid home run race and Cal Ripken Jrs. attempt to break Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak. Americans have access to things that weren't around in 1994 such as streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock Plus. The NFL and NBA continue to dominate ratings and the public's attention. The NHL is in the midst of one of the more exciting seasons in awhile as warm weather markets such as Florida and Vegas are seeing huge success due to the performance of their teams. For fans that lived through the 1994 lockout and stayed, will they accept dealing with another potential 1994 situation?

A sport that was once great has become priority #2 and beyond for many once diehard baseball fans. While die hards like myself may still come back whenever the season does resume, it will be due to one reason and one reason alone: I love my New York Yankees. However, that is easy for me to say. The Yankees are on the field competing for World Series Championships almost every year. At the very least, they are in thick of the playoff race on an annual basis. How do the Cincinatti Reds fans feel? Especially in a city that has become captivated and taken over by Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals after their Super Bowl run this year. Or Seattle Mariners fans, whose team hasn't made the playoffs in over 20 years (2001)? My point is that for these fanbases 'throwing the key to the lock away' to returning to supporting the MLB in any capacity almost makes all too much sense at this point. Why stick around if your team sucks and the league has (again) disgustingly shown its true colors.

It is in the best interests of everyone for the MLB season to return ASAP. Otherwise, MLB is only signing its own will as more fans are lost for good and the games death accelerates. When our country's pastime does finally come back I will only be coming back because of my love for the game itself. MLB has shown once again how far they will go to get whatever it is they want, even at the expense of their loyal fans. This entire situation is such a shame and another reminder of how far this great game has fallen.