Scorecard

Dress Code

MEMO TO the NFL: Keep the throwback uniforms. They look great.

Now, how about a throwback to old ticket prices?

Taking It to the Hill

It's a disconcerting thought, but after weeks of stalemated nonnegotiations between baseball owners and striking players, the game's best hope for an end to the walkout may lie with the U.S. Congress. On Aug. 18, six days after the players went out on strike, Rep. Mike Synar (D., Okla.) introduced a bill that is drawing increasing support across the political spectrum. The 363-word bill, which bears the title "Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1994," would apply antitrust laws to baseball in instances in which "any party that has been subject to an agreement between the owners of major league baseball and the labor organization representing the players" imposes any "unilateral terms or conditions."

To put it more simply: Under the Synar bill baseball players would enjoy the same privileges as their NFL and NBA counterparts. For instance, if the owners attempt to impose a salary cap—which they could do as early as next month—the players could take them to court, leading to the same sort of litigation and bargaining that in 1993 produced labor peace and a seven-year contract in the NFL.

Testifying before a House subcommittee last week, players' union chief Don Fehr and Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser both insisted that passage of the bill would end the strike. "The players will return to the field; it is a promise," said Hershiser.

Meanwhile, acting commissioner Bud Selig and his team of lobbyists are working hard to kill Synar's proposal. They face an uphill battle. The owners may be able to postpone a vote on the bill before Congress adjourns for the year, but with Rep. Jack Brooks (D., Texas), one of the most powerful figures on Capitol Hill, pushing for passage—along with such unusual senatorial allies as the conservative Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) and the liberal Howard Metzenbaum (D., Ohio)—the Synar bill appears almost certain to become law before next season.

In a packed hearing room last week, Brooks warned Selig that the owners "may be underestimating Congress's ability to respond." Reminding Selig that a new Congress will begin its work in January, well before the opening of spring training, Brooks made it clear how little support the owners enjoy on the Hill in the wake of the strike. "Don't think for a moment," he said, "that Congress will forget the sorry spectacle we have witnessed in the summer of 1994."

The Gutting Edge