Money talks, and it is speaking louder every year. The Orioles now own the dubious distinction of fielding the most expensive team in baseball history, and the gap between the richest and poorest clubs is wider than ever.
What does all this mean?
It means that -- for the most part -- the same teams are going to be in the postseason year after year, and, more ominously, it means that the next labor dispute between the owners and players could be as bitter as the last.
If anyone thought that the 60-day players strike and the cancellation of the 1994 World Series was the war to end all labor wars, think again. There is a new set of high-profile owners that is going to fall into the same trap that nearly consumed the sport during the three-year labor standoff in the early 1990s.
Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo, or someone like him, is going to pull a bunch of influential owners together and convince them that the game's economic crisis has reached critical mass. The result will be another hardball attempt by the owners to knock some economic sense into the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Will it work? History says no. The union has rebuffed every attempt by ownership to put real constraints on rising payrolls, but there again will be a call for some kind of salary cap and there again will be a major showdown.
Somebody's going to point out that if the owners had just stuck to their guns after they implemented new working conditions during the last labor dispute, they would have succeeded in putting the brakes on the game's deteriorating financial condition.
Lest anyone forget, the three-judge panel of the National Labor Relations Board told the owners after they had withdrawn the implementation that it probably would have withstood a legal challenge from the union. How long is it going to take to convince a pack of disgruntled small- and middle-market owners to try it again?
Not very long, especially when influential owners such as interim commissioner Bud Selig see that the rapid growth of payrolls is swallowing up much of the revenue gain that some middle-market teams hoped to realize with the opening of several new stadiums at the turn of the century.
The luxury tax has done nothing to bridge the gap between the majors' richest and poorest teams. In fact, that gap is decidedly wider than it was the day that the enhanced revenue-sharing arrangement went into effect.
Where will it be in three years, when the time comes to hammer out a new labor agreement? Perhaps beyond repair, which does not bode well for baseball in the 21st century.
Bullpen shuffle
Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove contended for much of the spring that former Orioles right-hander Jose Mesa would open the season as the club's full-time closer, but it didn't happen that way.
Mesa blew his three save opportunities of the spring, and Hargrove turned the closer role over to veteran Mike Jackson, who got the save in the club's Opening Day victory over the Seattle Mariners.
If Mesa was put off by the demotion to setup relief, it didn't show. He came into that game in the seventh inning, retired seven straight batters and ended up getting the victory.
"I've got to go with the flow," said Mesa. "They told me they gave the job to Mike because he pitched better than me in spring training. I've got no problem with that. I didn't think I was pitching for a job in spring training, but I'll do whatever I can to help the team win."
Sorry, right number
Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter had enough to worry about on Opening Night without the dugout phone ringing off the hook, but someone in the club suites at Bank One Ballpark got hold of the number and called several times during the game.
"They called eight or 10 times," Showalter said. "Once it was, 'Tell Travis [Lee] nice hit.' "
Showalter should have been used to that sort of thing after working for George Steinbrenner.
Tough start
The Diamondbacks had hoped to get off to a better start, but Showalter never said it was going to be easy. He still is uneasy with questions about what the club can accomplish in its first season.
"The emotion I have is uncertainty," he said. "You can't hide on that field. The little white rat [baseball] will find you. To say you know what's going to happen, nobody can do that. I do know we're going to compete. Whether we will compete record-wise remains to be seen. I wouldn't throw anything out there to make fans think it will be a quick fix, even if that means taking some lumps."
Media spotlight
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has become a staple of the local tabloids, which never seem to tire of speculating about his relationship with pop singer Mariah Carey.
"They've got me engaged, ready to be married on an off-day at home plate and that she's even pregnant now," Jeter said. "I swear, I heard that one and I asked myself, 'Where does this stuff come from?' It's totally made up, not even close to being true."
