Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Baseball Fans Head to Games

Aired August 31, 2002 - 08:05   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The bats will keep swinging and the big hitters will keep going deep for the next four seasons, we're told. Fans headed to ball parks yesterday after an eleventh inning agreement averted a major league baseball strike. But not all this joy is in Mudville, but is it ever?
CNN's Brian Palmer joins us from New York, Mets country.

Say it ain't so, Brian.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, indeed, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Anyhow, we're not going to talk about the Red Sox and the Mets at all right now, are we? No, no, no.

PALMER: No, no, no.

O'BRIEN: We're going to talk about baseball. Baseball is still a sick business, isn't it?

PALMER: Indeed. But, you know, revenue sharing, luxury tax, I don't think those are going to be the big issues on people's minds today. It's a beautiful day in New York. It's a beautiful day pretty much for anything, sports included. There are going to be two of those sports played today. We're right outside Shea Stadium, as you said, but we're also right next door to the U.S. Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open is going to be played.

But as you say, the big news really is baseball today. It's the cover of the front page of every major New York newspaper, the settlement between players and owners. I'm going to juggle this microphone and try and show you the front pages here.

"Play Ball!" is the cover of the "Daily News" with this beautifully goofy cartoon by Bill Gallow (ph), a long time "Daily News" cartoonist. Next is "Newsday," New York City "Newsday," "Thank You For No Strike -- Strike Free." Then we're going to move on to the "Post." The "Post," "It's A Beautiful Day for A Baseball" was a questionably dressed or, let's say, undressed gentleman holding aloft that sign. And the final paper here, if I can fight the wind, the "New York Times," above the fold, "The Gray Lady," vulnerable New York City newspaper, Jim Edmunds signing autographs before the St. Louis, St. Louis played the Cubs in Chicago.

So it's four for four her in New York, still very, very big news.

Now, the settlement itself, however, got some mixed reviews from New Yorkers we spoke to this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came to the settlement, I was happy and relieved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody wins, I mean especially the fans. Fans lose. I mean the owners and the players, they never lose. Whether they make money or not, they make more money than everybody else out here. They never really lose. We're the ones who lose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they're playing so it's good for the fans. But in the long run, you know, baseball's going in a different direction. It'll never be the same game it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALMER: Miles, the Phillies, Mets take on the Phillies today over here at Shea Stadium. The tailgate parties should be ramping up in a few hours. And I said, as I said, that U.S. Tennis Center, we're going to see some good matches over there today.

We're going to round up some people and try and figure out what this settlement means to them, who the winners and losers are. But I think people are going to really be focusing on stolen bases, hot dogs, maybe some beer, that sort of thing today -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Oh, come on, it's New York, Brian. Come on now. They never lose, you know? It's the rich guys. They never lose.

PALMER: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: And there is that sense out there. And, you know, fans pay a lot of lip service to this whole idea that it's a bunch of rich babies fighting back and forth, and I'm never going to watch the game. And sure enough they turn out to the ball parks time and time again. And I guess in the back of their minds, the folks at the bargaining table there in New York knew that, didn't they?

PALMER: Well, I think they did. But if you think about it, since 1994, the last really bloody major baseball work stoppage and negotiations, average attendance has dropped since '94. That could be because of the strike. It could also be because of Nintendo and all sorts of other exciting options that people have to choose.

But I think they really felt like they did have to get to the table and negotiate something so that they would avoid a catastrophe like 1994 -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Maybe it's cable news they're watching. I don't know. What do you think?

PALMER: No comment.

O'BRIEN: Nintendo?

All right, Brian Palmer, go get your Nintendo, go find a few fans and check back in with us, will you?

PALMER: I will do that.

Thank you.

O'BRIEN: All right. Try to find a Red Sox fan there if you can. It's probably pummeled right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com