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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Mel Antonen

Aired August 31, 2002 - 12:14   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of happy baseball fans out there, and that's because it looks like they will be getting a World Series after all. The baseball season has been saved by an 11th-hour contract agreement, and fans won't miss a single game in the season, and the concession stands will keep serving up the favorites.
CNN's Brian Palmer is in Queens, New York, where Philadelphia is set to play the Mets, and he's getting reaction there already. You have got game time about an hour away, and I suppose you already have a lot of fans filing in?

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Fredricka. We're about 45 minutes away from game time, as you say, with Phillies taking on the Mets. The Mets are going to get a second crack at the Phillies today. They lost 7-5 last night. It was a rather disappointing loss for them. A couple of setbacks there.

But this game today would not be happening if a strike had been declared. So you have got some very pleased fans who are here to see the game. And we're joined by two die-hard Mets fans, Todd and Carolyn Berra (ph). How long have you guys been Mets fans? Carolyn?

CAROLYN BERRA, METS FAN: Since I was little. I grew up in Queens.

PALMER: Todd?

TODD BERRA, METS FAN: Pretty much all my life. Never liked the Yankees, so the Mets was the obvious choice.

PALMER: Now, we had an 11th-hour deal, between the players, between the owners. How do you feel about this negotiated settlement?

T. BERRA: I'm glad. I mean, I'm we get to come here today to see the game and probably the World Series this year, but part of me wishes, you know, maybe they would have taken a little more time, maybe even struck and settled a lot of the issues. And it doesn't help matters that the Mets aren't doing too good. So they would probably next time they strike, the Mets would probably be in first place, with the way things work out. But ...

PALMER: You really think so, the Mets in first place?

T. BERRA: Well, not now. Not now. Definitely not now.

PALMER: You can dream too. T. BERRA: We'll see. We'll see.

PALMER: Now, the deal, lots of numbers, very complicated issues. The luxury tax. Revenue sharing. Possible contraction of Major League Baseball. That's not going to happen, but who do you think came out on the winning side, either one of you?

T. BERRA: Well, I think the owners, because they get to play. And the players, they really didn't -- I mean, the owners get to play so they're winners. But the players didn't really get anything drastically changed, other than the revenue sharing luxury tax issue. So I think there's really no losers. Hard to say there's a winner here, but we'll see, you know, when this contract is over, and I guess four years, we'll see how it turns out then, because I have a bad feeling that it's going to be the same situation four years from now.

PALMER: Back to the table.

We've been talking to people all morning, and a lot of people are just relieved that there is baseball now. There will be a World Series. But there is also an undercurrent of resentment toward the players, and to a certain degree, to the owners. Carolyn, do you feel any of that?

C. BERRA: I don't -- no, not really. My husband would be the one to answer that question.

PALMER: Todd, what do you say?

T. BERRA: I'm just glad we're here. You know, I mean, I am a die-hard baseball fan. I don't know how the marginal fan is. You know, they might be fed up. But you know, I'm a Met fan, and I'm a baseball fan before any sport. So you know, I'm glad they're playing.

PALMER: So you'd be here regardless?

T. BERRA: Yeah, pretty much. I mean, if they weren't playing, I'd be home. But other than that, I'd be here.

PALMER: Fantastic. Well, thank you very much. They took the trip from Sarahville (ph), New Jersey to see the game today. They are going to be in the green seats, which are behind us there. The stadium is sort of filling up at the moment, but there's a lot of action over here in the Mets fan center, so we're waiting for the game, and a lot of excited fans, here, Fredricka. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Well, Brian, you'll be watching the action on the outside of the stadium; you won't get the chance to watch the action inside, huh?

PALMER: Alas, no, Fredricka. But you know, we'll leave that for the die-hard fans like the Berras (ph).

WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks a lot, Brian. Appreciate it.

Well, let's get the inside scoop on this historic baseball deal. "USA Today's" national baseball writer Mel Antonen joins us now from Nashville. Good to see you, Mel.

MEL ANTONEN, USA TODAY: Good morning. How are you.

WHITFIELD: Pretty good. So, what made the difference? Why for the first time were we able to avert a strike?

ANTONEN: Well, I think both sides realized how much was at stake. I think both sides realized that a strike would have been a nightmare for the sport and the industry. I think just cooler heads prevailed. I think really what happened was, the owners told the players that, look, we're losing money, this is all our red ink, and I think the players accepted that and understood that, and made some concessions. This is the first time there's been so much give-and- take. So overall, it was a good agreement for both sides.

WHITFIELD: And how much do you think the eroding public support made an impact in that decision making?

ANTONEN: Well, I'd like to think that it made a lot of. The most important thing, the fans are usually the ones that are never heard from. But I think in this case, both sides were fearful of what the fans were going to do and say, and how they were going to react, and not buying tickets. I really believe that the fans really -- I think that the sides realized that the fans were sick and tired of it, and they had had enough.

WHITFIELD: Well, baseball commissioner Bud Selig put this way. He says: "This agreement will lay the foundation to allow more teams to have a chance at the World Series." Do you see this as idyllic or realistic?

ANTONEN: I think -- I think that it helps. It's not -- it's a myth to think -- and it's unrealistic to think -- that because of this agreement, teams in Detroit and Milwaukee and Kansas City are automatically going to contend with the New York Yankees for the American League pennant every year. That's just not going to happen.

But it is going to help team that manage well, that have a good farm system and know how to manage money. It's not going to help teams that haven't managed well in the past. You still have -- money is a very important component of developing a winning team, but it's not the only thing. There's a long -- there's a long list of variables that go into it. So it will help teams that manage well, but teams that don't manage well, it won't make much difference.

WHITFIELD: But won't it also help those poorer teams that may want to relocate or need to relocate be able to do that, especially for cities like Washington, D.C., which has been expressing a desire to get a baseball team for a long time? This certainly might open the door for that possibility. Wouldn't it?

ANTONEN: I agree with that. I think that this agreement, now that the labor issue is settled, baseball is going to fix the Montreal Expos situation once and for all. They have talked about contraction for 11 months. Now it looks like the Expos may be moving. And they could be moving to Washington, D.C. And lo and behold, Washington or baseball could have the Washington Senators all over again, which would be a fun slice of tradition to have back.

WHITFIELD: And when you talk about these contract talks, a lot of people envision you have got folks in suits who are, you know, down to the wire, in these meeting rooms with their attorneys, et cetera, trying to make some decisions here. But I understand an awful lot of players, such as Tom Glavine, actually stepped in and tried to make an appeal for the players and for the fans. How much of a difference did that kind of appeal make, you suppose, in the deal overall?

ANTONEN: Well, Tom Glavine has a lot of -- has a lot of pull and a lot of prestige with the fans and the ownership. I mean, he understands the game, he appreciates everything about the game. And he knows what makes it run. So anything that Tom Glavine can add is good. I mean, you need the player's perspective. And certainly Tom Glavine knows that baseball wouldn't be what it is today without the fans sitting in the sets. I think Glavine and a lot of the players understand that, and so they needed his perspective.

WHITFIELD: How do you see this is going to encourage the shifting of some of the players, the players that aren't making quite the millions that some of the better known players like your Tom Glavine are making? Might this deal in any way kind of open up opportunities for them?

ANTONEN: It might open up opportunities. Players like to go where they can win. Obviously, money is important, and making a living is important, but players like to go where they can win. And if this deal works out, that there are teams that have a better chance of winning, you're going to see the better players go to those teams. I mean, they will start going to other teams if they think they have a chance to win.

The reason everybody wants to go to the Yankees is obviously the money and the tradition, but they have this overwhelming chance to win every year. But if teams in Kansas City or Minnesota or wherever get a chance to win, players will go there as well, and so I think there will be more competition for the players.

WHITFIELD: After the last strike in '94, there were an awful lot of fans who said, you know what, I am just not going back anymore. I have a hard time being a baseball fan. Do you suppose of those fans who used to, you know, crowd those stadiums, who hadn't been going to the games since then, do you suppose this might encourage them now to take another stab at baseball and perhaps make their way to the stadiums one more time?

ANTONEN: I think so. You know, the best thing baseball can do for its fans is to play the games. There's a lot of exciting story lines in September -- Minnesota, Oakland, Barry Bonds, the Braves. There is a ton of stories here and a ton of exciting things that can happen in September. So eventually, fans will come back.

In 1994 after the strike, it took them about a year to come back, but they did, and I think that if baseball just plays, fans will -- will forgive. It is going to take a little while, as it always does, but they will be back. WHITFIELD: All right. Mel Antonen of "USA Today," always good to see you. Thank you.

ANTONEN: Thank you.

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