European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 2,1990 the stars  stripes a a Page 23 lockout claims games by Dave o Hara Winter Haven Fla. Apr the freshly painted scats sparkle in the Sun. The grass in the infield  Outfield is finely manicured As Green As a four Leaf Clover. The seats though arc empty. There Are no Spike Marks in the grass. There Are no ballplayers on the Fields. No crack of the Bat Memling a Ball. The silence is eerie like that in an old graveyard. Like the mighty Casey major league baseball has struck out. For the second time in 15 years Spring training has been put on hold by a labor dispute Between club owners  the players Union. Normally. March i Marks the opening of the exhibition season. Players Are eager to get going. Snowbirds from the North get baseball fever Only games will temper. This year ballparks housing 18 major league teams in Florida  eight in Arizona Are off limits to players. The owners have imposed a lockout until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached. With no settlement in sight clubs Are cancelling games at least through March the exhibition season had been scheduled to begin on thursday with the Oakland athletics Host to the san Francisco chants in Phoenix at night in a rematch of the 1989 world series opponents for the Benefit of earthquake victims. In Florida three scheduled openers were cancelled. They were the Baltimore orioles  the Chicago White sox in Sarasota the University of Georgia  the Atlanta braves at West Palm Beach  Edison College versus the Texas rangers at fort Myers. Other major league clubs had planned to swing into the exhibition season on Friday. At Many major league training Sites such As Chain of lakes Park the Spring Home of the Boston red sox there Are no padlocks. The Gates Are open  fans Are Welcome to visit the 4,000-scat stadium. The silent Spring 1 my Mem \ \ \ a a. W n Vij Uny Molster has plenty of time to finish this Job in Clearwater Fla., As the opening of the exhibition schedule is now March 10. A Concession stand is open. So is a single window at the Box office. Neither is doing much business. The Box office expects to get busier though As refunds Are made with the cancellation of games. A i was third in line when the ticket window opened for the Sale of $6 reserved seats the other Day a said Frank Ryan a red sox fan from Haverhill mass. A i bought two tickets for each of the 14 Home games  left. No one was behind me at the  the sign at the red sox players Gate says a do not Block  a few feet away there a a sign on the clubhouse door a authorized personnel  the signs Are not needed. The clubhouse is empty the door locked. The Only people around Are members of the ground Crew. Red sox general manager Lou Gorman spends most of the Day on the phone still looking to make a Deal for a starting Pitcher  talking to agents about a few unsigned players such As Center fielder Ellis Burks shortstop Jody Reed  right hander John Dopson. A a we re not sitting around there a work for us to do a said Gormanos assistant Ann Marie Starzyk. A without baseball though there a a strange atmosphere m the entire  a handful of minor leagues work out daily at the red sox a farm Complex adjacent to the main Field. About a mile away several members of the Boston training roster practice on their own under the leadership of Veteran Catcher Rich gedman. They include Dennis lamp rookies Scott Cooper Mickey Pina  Tim Nash eng  right hander Oil can Boyd who left Boston to sign As a free agent with the Montreal expos during the Winter. Fans should make baseball sweat about 15 Miles away in Lakeland visitors Are Welcome at joker Marchant stadium Home of the Detroit tigers. Players Are barred. A few tigers were working out at an old Field nearby but on wednesday the players Union told them to disband because the group practices were sending the wrong message to owners during negotiations. A it gives the owners the false impression that we can to wait to get started a Pitcher Frank Tanana said. A personally in a disappointed it was perceived that the workouts meant we weren to unified. We just saw it As an Opportunity to stay in shape. But if that was what the owners were thinking then Well take that out of their  that a some Point Isnit helping baseball hungry fans though. Neither is it helping half filled motels  thousands of people who depend on Revenue generated by Spring training. For once. By John Maher t Austin american statesman Don t you miss Spring training me neither. Just like i done to miss Reading about preseason foot by pcs or sparring sessions. I  care less a snout the Cactus league which does no to mean As much As one regular season hockey game. The funny thing is if More fans Felt that Way their a vol to teams would be playing Ball in Arizona  Norida right now  getting ready for opening Day. If of Sabaii s fans treated it like just another sport a instead of a. Religion a the players  the owners would t be Bible to take turns bilking them. The now baseball fans Are moaning about a lockout. I be owners  players Are squabbling again  no one knows just when  be Able to Settle their Petty differ the a us by a to slice up baseball s huge financial pie. I be Only thing that s a Given is that As soon As the two parties come to an agreement a any agreement a the ians will Rush to the Park to Moon Over a Bunch of multimillionaire who charge to sign autographs. K u  labor disputes did no to shake the Faith of baseball fans. When the 1981 season became a strike shortened joke baseball fans never carried through on it nyals 10 Boycott a season that had been shut Down for 50 Days  714  soaring salaries done to sour baseball s devoted. In 1976, before free Agency started a never ending inflationary spiral the average player made a Workmanlike $50,000 a year. There a been a ten fold increase since then. And players still Arentt sated. They charge for just signing their names at autograph shows. So fans stand meekly in line to pay for something that used to be freely Given. No doubt some baseball writer will soon Wax eloquent on what a great experience buying an autograph is. Other sports have scribes baseball has poet laureates for fans who believe that life imitates the world series or that time really does begin on opening Day. For baseball fans . Means after Doubleday. Wednesday i tried to fathom some of that Blind Faith by thumbing through a collection of baseball stones  artwork a diamonds Are  got As far As an excerpt from a John Updike work when he tossed out a reference to Kierkegaard like he was ahead in the count  wasting one Low  outside. But by then id just about seen  read it All. A painting with a baseball in the most famous scene from the sistine Chapel. Paeans to the Grain in a wooden Bat the Way a curve Ball Breaks  the distance be tween the bases. Baseball was depicted As a perfectly ordered universe the ultimate Union of Man  nature. If that a True what a that giant hefty bag doing posing As an Outfield Fence in Minnesota a metrodome9 How come the Sun does no to Shine there or in the other domed Parks  Why does baseball have a strike a lockout or some other threat every few years because owners  players know that nothing they do will alienate baseball fans they know baseball fans wont just forget about Spring training  enjoy the March madness of the Mcaa basketball tournament. They know baseball fans wont get caught up in the Aba playoffs which will provide thrills right up to july. Baseball fans have always taken Pride in the fact that baseball has t a it one Neavy on playoffs the Way other sports have. They truly believe that All 162 games  even Spring training mean something everything. 6 that kind of loyalty is admirable. But if you treat a sport like a religion you eventually wind up with the equivalent of Jim  Tammy Faye Bakker in charge. Some say the owners Are to blame for baseball a mess. Others Point their fingers at the players. But really its the fans no Are to blame. As Long As they keep asking for it  keep getting it from the players  the owners