The Lords of the Realm by John Helyar

Author:John Helyar [Helyar, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-80142-5
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-07-05T16:00:00+00:00

Barry Rona found himself using one phrase over and over as he explained the provisions to owners: “better than nothing.”

The two sides staggered into a 6:00 A.M. press conference at the Dorai. As everyone assembled on the podium, Mark Bélanger turned to Lee MacPhail. “Lee,” he said, “we can never let this happen again.”

Terms were announced; questions answered; and the briefing wound down. Photographers clamored for the traditional handshake by the negotiators.

DeCinces leaned toward Miller. “I don’t think you should pose with him,” he said. Miller agreed and turned away from Grebey.

Grebey, trying to find some hand to shake, approached Rusty Staub. The player pivoted and walked away. Grebey followed him. Staub walked around a table, trying to put distance between them. Grebey pursued. “You’re a liar,” Staub screamed at him, still circling the table. “You’re always going to be a liar, and you’re not going to be my friend.”

Finally, Grebey gave up. The writers turned to their stories; the sun came up over Manhattan; the strike was over. It had lasted fifty days and taken away 712 games from the season.

Ray Kroc threw open the doors gratis for the Padres’ first poststrike game. It was a sweet gesture, and it drew 52,600 fans. The same evening, 60,500 fans paid their way into Veterans Stadium to see Pete Rose resume his assault on Stan Musial. He got his record-breaking hit in the eighth inning, and 3,631 balloons were released (again).

But otherwise, the aftertaste was sour all around.

Bowie Kuhn attended Hall of Fame induction ceremonies two days after the strike’s end. Bob Gibson and Johnny Mize were being enshrined, and Cooperstown in August was always aglow with the myths and mystique of baseball. Kuhn was thunderously booed.

He was also privately blasted by some owners for baseball’s jerry-rigged second half. Cincinnati wound up with baseball’s best overall record (66–42) yet didn’t make the playoffs. St. Louis had the National League East’s best record (59–43) and was left out, too. The Howsam-Susman axis had new reason to be furious. (The Reds and Cardinals were also the only clubs to vote against the new labor contract’s ratification.)

Susman, the hawk, and Ed Williams, the dove, would soon join forces to launch an anti-Kuhn putsch. Williams first had to endure an inquisition into his own actions during the strike. Some owners wanted him brought up on sedition charges. An independent attorney was retained to investigate, but after some time had passed and tempers cooled, the matter was quietly dropped.

By December 1981, nine owners joined under the Williams-Susman banner and signed a Bowie-must-go letter. It was the beginning of more than two years of bloody infighting, during the course of which Williams switched sides. But in the mood of poststrike discontent, Kuhn’s demise was set in motion. He ultimately resigned in 1983.

Indeed, the stature of the entire old guard was severely eroded. “We used to take new owners aside and take them to the woodshed, if necessary, to make sure they stayed with the program,” said Lou Hoynes.

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