The Lost Season

They had won 20 of their last 23 games. They had taken a 6 game lead in the NL East. They had an All-star team. Nothing was going to stop them.

Until that fateful day, on which Commissioner Bud Selig announced the strike that was to end the 1994 Major League Baseball season. Suddenly, the attitude around baseball changed. The players were greedy, the owners were stubborn. The fans were devastated, and baseball took a big hit from it.

No team was as unfortunate as the lowly Montreal Expos. They had it all wrapped up, they were the favorites to win the Series, no questions asked. The Expos were going to win the N.L. East for the first time in franchise history. They had a shot at 100 wins for the first time ever. Any hope was lost with the strike that depleted a hopeful season.

Ken Hill had a chance to win 20 games. John Wetteland would have saved 35. They could have had 5 ten-game winners on their starting rotation. Larry Walker and Moises Alou were both going to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 RBI’s. Eight of their regulars were going to have 50 RBI’s. They were going to bring home that coveted World Series trophy for the first time in their 25-year history. And no one could stop them. Except for the demand by players that centered on a salary cap, salary arbitration, free agency, and minimum salaries.

There was the possibility of all four teams in a division finishing under .500 in the A.L. West. The Texas Rangers led the division by one game over the Oakland Athletics, despite being 10 games under .500 at the time. Kevin Mitchell and Jeff Bagwell were putting up MVP-worthy numbers for the Reds and Astros, respectively. Lee Smith already had 33 saves, and Mike Mussina was going to win 20 games for the Baltimore Orioles. Jimmy Key and Paul O’Neill were leading the Yankees into the playoffs. Why did such a potentially perfect season have to be ruined?

The Giants’ Matt Williams was challenging the single-season home run record. He had 43 through 115 games. Frank Thomas and Julio Franco were helping the White Sox hold a small lead over the powerful Cleveland Indians in the A.L. Central. David Cone and Tom Gordon anchored a Kansas City staff that was keeping them in the playoff hunt. There were going to be races down to the wire in 5 of the 6 divisions. It had the makings for an amazing finish, an amazing postseason. All the potential was there, but now we have nothing to show for it.

It was a possible record-breaking season, a season of firsts in many places, it was all going so well. But once again money ruined a perfectly good thing, this time a baseball season. America’s past time was lost for that year, and struggled to re-gain the popularity it once had after. True fans still loathe the day, August 12th, 1994 as the day the season was lost, and the day baseball was almost lost. The fateful season of 1994 will always remain with baseball fans, carrying the question “what if?”