SPORTS
By Peter Schmuck | October 21, 2009
Has it really been 15 years since the baseball work stoppage to end all baseball work stoppages caused the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and threatened the sport's reverential status as the national pastime? The reason I ask that question is that we're in the midst of another postseason in which the chasm between the small-revenue and big-revenue teams is very much on display. The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, who appear destined to face each other in the World Series next week, represent the hugely populated Northeast corridor that generates more media-related revenue than any other section of the country.
SPORTS
By PETER SCHMUCK | May 22, 2008
It probably was a coincidence that NFL owners decided to knock two years off their collective bargaining agreement with the players union on the same day No. 3 draft pick Matt Ryan agreed to a $72 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, but that doesn't mean the two top football headlines of the week were unrelated. Quite the contrary, management has cited out-of-control rookie compensation as one of the main rationales for abandoning the current CBA in 2011, and Ryan's new deal - which guarantees him at least $34.75 million before he plays his first NFL game - conveniently illustrated the point.
SPORTS
By Jeff Barker and Jeff Barker,Sun reporter | January 19, 2007
Former Sen. George Mitchell urged baseball owners yesterday to cooperate with his investigation into players' steroid use, saying Congress might force witnesses to testify later if they don't do so voluntarily now. "I believe it will be in your best interests, and the best interests of baseball, if I can report that I have received full cooperation from your organizations, and from others, in conducting this investigation," Mitchell said in prepared remarks...
SPORTS
By PETER SCHMUCK | March 1, 2006
Phoenix -- Major League Baseball has done a pretty good job of keeping its employees on message about the World Baseball Classic, but you can bet there will be some changes in the format before WBC II. The biggest complaint, though usually off the record, is the timing of the event, which is going to disrupt spring training and disadvantage internationally diverse teams such as the Orioles (11 players possibly participating) and the Los Angeles Angels (nine). Trouble is, there really isn't a good time to hold it. The other logical month would be November, but that's the time when the greatest number of players are rehabbing injuries and it would also cut too deeply into an offseason that seems to get shorter every year.
SPORTS
By Joe Christensen and Joe Christensen,SUN STAFF | August 18, 2004
Major League Baseball's owners will convene in Philadelphia today for two days of meetings that will culminate with a coronation of sorts. And Orioles fans can relax. This won't involve an announcement about the Montreal Expos moving to Washington, Northern Virginia or anywhere else, for that matter. The Expos will be discussed, but their new home won't be decided. The coronation is for none other than Allan H. "Bud" Selig. Last year, in a meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors, Selig said he planned to step aside when his current term expires on Dec. 31, 2006.
SPORTS
By Peter Schmuck | November 24, 2002
Perhaps the good baseball fans of Washington are waiting for Yogi Berra to weigh in on their chances of fielding a major-league team in the foreseeable future. If the quotable New York Yankees great were to deliver an observation on the decision by baseball owners to plant the Montreal Expos in Puerto Rico for a significant chunk of their "home" schedule next season, it might go something like this: "They can't put a team in Washington. Nobody goes to big-league baseball games there." That logic is not nearly as tortured as the rationale for sending the Expos on the road for an extra 22 games to play in a small ballpark in San Juan.