1994 Baseball strike

BBCgalaxee · Jul 17, 2014

It's coming up on 20 years ago that baseball took a major major blow when it went on strike.

What do you remember about it and how did you react to it sport and hobby wise?

I don't remember it really bothering me except that the Yanks were having a really good season, probably heading to post season the first time since 1981.

During a time when no one bought baseball cards because of it,
I might have been one of a few collectors who actually RETURNED to the hobby during the strike (I left for a few years).

Nate Colbert 17 · Jul 17, 2014

Tony Gwynn had a shot at hitting .400.

olerud363 · Jul 17, 2014

I think few teams' fans were as disappointed as Expos fans. That team was post-season bound and one of the best (if not THE best) squads in franchise history.

michaelstepper · Jul 17, 2014

I remember the expos team as well because the braves were chasing them hardcore. (I followed the braves the entire 90's)
Seems griffey had a shot at the season HR record as well

BunchOBull · Jul 17, 2014

Frank Thomas was a serious Triple Crown contender...as a Thomas collector, what could have been is painful.

shanks25 · Jul 17, 2014

michaelstepper said:
I remember the expos team as well because the braves were chasing them hardcore. (I followed the braves the entire 90's)
Seems griffey had a shot at the season HR record as well

I believe Matt Williams had the biggest shot to break the HR record that year.

Matt with 47 and jr. With 40. Pretty big difference there......

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

matfanofold · Jul 17, 2014

I remember Bagwell putting together one of the finest offensive seasons in recent memory.

Brewer Andy · Jul 17, 2014

Yep, just remember the Expos dominating and Matt Williams teeing off. Remember a sick feeling of "what if it's not back next year?"
Also remember not feeling much sympathy for the players union. I was ready to support league minimum scabs whole heartedly

Nate Colbert 17 · Jul 17, 2014

olerud363 said:
I think few teams' fans were as disappointed as Expos fans. That team was post-season bound and one of the best (if not THE best) squads in franchise history.

I forgot all about the Expos.

michaelstepper · Jul 17, 2014

shanks25 said:
I believe Matt Williams had the biggest shot to break the HR record that year.

Matt with 47 and jr. With 40. Pretty big difference there......

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

I knew there was someone else. My baseball world was the braves and griffey. I do remember Matt now

KLARNOLD · Jul 17, 2014

I remember seeing a magazine/newspaper article showing an older man burning his 1952 Topps Mickey Mantles along with all his other vintage cards and I thought "What an A-hole...Mantle didn't do anything to cause the strike...you are just burning money!"

inceptus · Jul 17, 2014

I recall Topps claiming that the print run for the 1995 issue was the lowest since 1967...

MansGame · Jul 17, 2014

I remember it happening on or around my birthday, August 12. I remember Tony Gwynn on his way to batting 400. I remember the Indians having a pretty good season. I remember being heart broken.

That's all.

DaClyde · Jul 17, 2014

I remember being pissed about Matt Williams season getting cut short, and then basically abandoning collecting cards for a good 8 years. Granted, just then I'd gotten out of HS, was starting college and a work and had absolutely no money to spare. It figures, as a Yankees fan from 1987-1994, I'd completely give up on baseball just before their big post season tear.

Austin · Jul 17, 2014

shanks25 said:
I believe Matt Williams had the biggest shot to break the HR record that year.
Matt with 47 and jr. With 40. Pretty big difference there......

Wiiliams had 43 homers, not 47.

IndyKMB · Jul 17, 2014

I remember how dominant Montreal was.
I remember thinking how could the Phillies go from being world beaters in '93 to awful in '94.
I remember that Milwaukee was an AL team an Houston was an NL team.

ronfromfresno · Jul 18, 2014

I remember the Giants starting to put it together and looking like a post-season team with Daryl Strawberry tearing it up in RF and batting behind Matt Williams.

I also remember the next spring training with all the scab players in the games, I rooted hard for all of them. To this day I still have a VHS recording of the last spring game with all of the Giants replacement players vs the A's replacement players. They were all set to be Major League players in the next couple of days and then the strike and lockout was ended.

BBCgalaxee · Jul 18, 2014

Never knew this.

In 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, certain players who were part of World Series-winning teams were not permitted to have their names or likenesses on commemorative merchandise because they had been declared replacement players for having participated in the 1995 spring training.

The players were Shane Spencer of the 1998, 1999 and 2000 New York Yankees, Damian Miller of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, Brendan Donnelly of the 2002 Anaheim Angels and Kevin Millar of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

The names or likenesses of replacement players, since they are not permitted to join the MLBPA, are also in some cases not included in merchandise which derives its license from the MLBPA, such as video and tabletop games.

Many games nevertheless include them, with blank or fictional names and different appearances.

Austin · Jul 18, 2014

^ That's really interesting about Millar being shut out by the MLBPA, since he's such a big part of the MLB Network now.
It's too bad since he's so popular around the league and players never seemed to have any problems or grudges that he was a replacement player.

I had forgotten about replacement players. I can't believe it's been 20 years.

BBCgalaxee · Jul 18, 2014

Also pretty sure that anyone associated as a replacement player only had topps cards (at the time) since topps signed their players individually.

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