Editorial: Greed gets the best of owners, players

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2001 | 9:08 a.m.

Just two days after the Diamondbacks' dramatic win over the Yankees, a World Series that was one of the most memorable ever and created a surge of interest in the sport, Major League Baseball's team owners have left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. Team owners announced Tuesday that they would fold two teams before the start of next season, the first contraction of Major League Baseball since 1899 and a sad reflection on the state of the game.

Greed -- by owners and players -- has taken its toll on all major league sports, but baseball especially has been hit hard as teams from smaller cities struggle to stay afloat. Free agency hasn't helped, with top players commanding astronomical salaries, compensation that owners from smaller markets can't match when they're bidding against the George Steinbrenners of the baseball world.

Players could help matters by agreeing to a more restricted free agency system or reasonable salary cap, but in the end it is the owners who hold the key to baseball's financial problems. Owners, especially those whose teams play in the bigger television markets, should provide an equitable revenue sharing agreement so that teams with small television markets could receive more money. But rich owners stubbornly won't part with the windfall they receive from local television contracts. So the rich get richer -- and baseball suffers.

Baseball fans love statistics and one that shows how out of whack baseball has become is this: Not since 1991 has a team from a small market won the World Series. That team, the Minnesota Twins, is rumored to be one of the two teams that might get shut down.

Baseball's owners and players should get their act together before they end up permanently destroying what once was the national pastime.

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