When the call goes out to “play ball” in minor-league parks across the country this week, there will be a different ring to it.
Unless the umpires fool the experts and vote against a new contract proposal, the strike that has engulfed the minor leagues since the beginning of the season will be over. The substitute umpires who have worked the games since April 6 will go back to the college ranks, and elsewhere, when the regulars return.
The regulars will be welcomed back, but no one is critical of the effort of the substitutes.
“I would be very delighted to have the regular umpires back,” said Tom Runnells, manager of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. “I’m not saying the replacements haven’t worked hard and given their best effort.”
Sky Sox general manager Tony Ensor looked beyond the calling of balls and strikes. He credited the replacements with taking charge as if they were regulars.
“We appreciated the fact they got our games going and the great job they did in keeping the games going,” Ensor said. “They were very professional.”
Somehow, a strike doesn’t fit the image. The minors are looked at as the fabric of the national pastime. What better way to spend a summer evening than at the nice little ballparks scattered throughout rural America? The hot dogs always seem to taste better and a fan probably can get six for $6 instead of just one.
Ensor said he doesn’t believe a big-business attitude is changing the minor leagues.
“It’s a business, and like any other business there are challenges along the way,” Ensor said. “But the minor leagues still are the jewels of baseball. It’s a place where the fans really can have a close association with the players.”
While the strike didn’t receive the attention it would have at the major-league level, it generated some national focus. Some figures supplied by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues in St. Petersburg, Fla., explain how a story can build from the little towns across the country to national in scope.
The total attendance for the 180-some teams is anticipated to be in the range of 41 million this year, and gross revenues will be in the range of $450 million to $500 million.
It may not be big business, but it’s not tiny.
The umpires reportedly achieved gains in salary and per diem amounts in a proposed six-year deal.
George King, vice president of the Pacific Coast League with headquarters in Colorado Springs, said it still was baseball during the strike.
“There were some adjustments, but we popped popcorn, sold peanuts and we played baseball,” King said.
He was happy to add, “There’s a sense of relief. We want labor peace.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
