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CNN Live At Daybreak

Baseball Still Unsure

Aired August 30, 2002 - 06:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: About two hours ago, the word from one side of the baseball bargaining table in New York was: "We'll get it done." A collective bargaining agreement between players and owners appears possible.
CNN's Sean Callebs is live in Denver, the home of the Rockies.

Sean -- tell us something good.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, I wish I had some good news, Carol, but all I can tell you is it's very dark here, the stadium very quiet, and this could be the way baseball goes for the rest of the summer, certainly for the rest of the day if things don't improve.

But all eyes are on Chicago right now, where, later today, in a matter of hours, the Cubs are slated to play the St. Louis Cardinals. That would be the first game affected now that the strike deadline has passed.

Many fans are simply furious that it's gotten to this point, and ready to embrace other sports for the rest of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): Could Minor Leaguers be the new boys of summer? Or how about these guys? Or these? Or even these? With a strike looming, the position is open and applications being accepted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They held out for these kinds of reasons, and these people making this kind of money, both sides are wrong.

CALLEBS: And with a diamond tarnished by nine work stoppages since 1972, sports fans are prepared to spend their leisure time in other ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking forward to football season, so it's not going to bother us that much. Love the game, love the high school game, the college game, but it will have to be the amateur game from now on.

CALLEBS: NASCAR drivers will no longer have to be first to cross the finish line to end up winners. Millions of dollars of ad revenue, earmarked for baseball, will go to racing, football, and a relative newcomer, extreme games. All these target a highly-sought demographic. The great unknown: Just how much damage will this do to the national pastime? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they are all prima donnas, basically.

CALLEBS: A new labor deal will try and create more parity among Major League teams, but may end up driving a wedge deeper between fans and the game they love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the players go on strike, I think probably we won't be season ticket holders next year. Just won't do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: We've heard a lot of that here in the past couple of days.

The Rockies were supposed to travel to San Diego last night to begin a series there. That trip was postponed.

Now, the season is by no means lost. The dispute could be resolved quickly. The question, then, Carol: How quickly would fans be able to forgive and forget?

COSTELLO: Well, I think it will take them a long time. By the e-mail we're getting, it will take them a long time.

CALLEBS: Indeed.

COSTELLO: I think the biggest issue is settled. They're just, like, quibbling over little matters right now. But we're going to get more information on that in just a bit.

CALLEBS: Right.

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