It has been over a month since the sports world collectively shut down due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For Major League Baseball, that meant canceling all remaining Spring Training games and Opening Day initially being pushed back to April 9.
The start of the regular season has since been delayed a second time in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending that large gatherings of 50 or more people be postponed until the middle of May.
For some MLB executives, the ongoing shutdown has brought back bad memories of other instances in which the sport was placed on the back burner for a long period of time.
Los Angeles Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten recalled the infamous 1994-1995 strike, but opined that it doesn’t compare to the current situation, via the “Petros And Money” show on 570 AM L.A. Sports:
“I’ve never been through anything like this. Nobody has. I’ve been through difficult times, but this has a dimension that involves my business and my team, but also my personal life, just like it does for everyone. And it does involve everyone. The enormity of this is something I can’t define or articulate.
“The worst thing I ever went through in my professional career was I was on the negotiating team during the ’94 strike. That was awful, that cancelled two months of the season and we lost the World Series. I remember how sickening it was. Every day was sickening. That is nothing compared to what we’re going through now. This is truly unimaginable.”
The 1994-95 work stoppage resulted in the final six weeks of the 1994 regular season being canceled, as well as the ensuing postseason and World Series. The strike was ultimately lifted on April 2, 1995, ending the longest work stoppage in MLB history (232 days).
The current shutdown isn’t expected to come close to that mark, as MLB is already evaluating its options with regard to starting the regular season as soon as May.
Two potential ideas rose to the forefront over recent weeks. Both include utilizing Spring Training facilities, with one scenario calling for division realignment.
Though, Kasten cautioned that nothing is set in stone and many different proposals are under consideration.
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