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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Mel Antonen, Skip Shumaker
Aired August 25, 2002 - 07:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Across the country from Brooklyn to small towns in the middle of nowhere, Minor League Baseball is thriving. Attendance at Major League games has risen 3 percent in nine years, but Minor League attendance has soared, nearly 30 percent. Maybe that's because a family of four doesn't have to take out a loan to attend a Minor League game.
To find out more, let's talk to "USA Today" baseball writer Mel Antonen, who joins us from National (ph) and Skip Shumaker, an outfielder for the Potomac Cannons, a Minor League team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. He's up in Washington.
Good morning, guys.
MEL ANTONEN, USA TODAY BASEBALL WRITER: Good morning, Carol.
LIN: It's good to see you on this Sunday morning.
SKIP SHUMAKER, POTOMAC CANNONS OUTFIELDER: Good morning.
LIN: Hey Mel, what's the latest? What's the scuttlebutt now on these strike talks? Any luck?
ANTONEN: Well, they're still talking. It looks like they're going to go down to the final hour. They always do. That's what the tradition and the history of these talks are. So there's time to get an agreement. Both sides are talking, that's good, and that's different from past negotiations.
LIN: Well let's hope they resolve it, but in the meantime, down in the Minor League, business is booming down there. I mean you notice the difference the moment you walk into the parks, don't you?
ANTONEN: Oh yes. The reason Minor League Baseball is so popular in America is that it's so fan friendly. They take care of the fans first and foremost. Tickets are cheap. In most places it doesn't cost anything to park. You know whether you buy the most expensive ticket, which can be $11 or $5, you're always close to the field. The players are accessible and a lot of times going to a Minor League game is like going -- what it used to be like going to a big league game in 1960s or '70s. It's just very fan friendly, so it's a very popular thing.
LIN: Yes, Skip, you must really feel the love when you're in the park.
SHUMAKER: Oh, no question about it. It's great to see the packed house all the time.
LIN: So you're aspiring, though, to go to the Major Leagues, right?
SHUMAKER: Oh, of course ...
LIN: I mean that's what every Minor Leaguer is battling for. So, do you think these guys have a reason to walk?
SHUMAKER: You know I don't know. You know, we're not represented up there, and we don't know really what's going on because you know we're in the Minor Leagues, and ...
LIN: But they're negotiating a contract that you may have to live with. You know ...
SHUMAKER: You're right ...
LIN: ... is there something worth walking out over?
SHUMAKER: You know they do hold our future, but you know that's in their hands, and you know we give our futures are in their hands and that's all we can really do ...
LIN: I mean how ...
SHUMAKER: ... we have no representation ...
LIN: ... are you going to feel if salary caps are imposed and you want to go and let's say you want to play for the St. Louis Cardinals, but they've got some big hitter there who's making, I don't know, you know he's got $100-million contract, which means that you're only going to get so much. Is that fair to you?
SHUMAKER: Yes. Sure. As long as I make it to the Major Leagues, that's everyone's really common goal and no matter how I get there, or how much I'm paid, you know that's everyone's common goal, really, in the Minor Leagues.
LIN: Mel, isn't it good to be young?
ANTONEN: Yes, it's great. You know I've talked to a lot of Minor Leaguers across the country, and they're all saying that they appreciate that the big leaguers are fighting for them, they just hope that they don't hurt the game, that they chase away the fans. They want the same chance to play big league baseball, as the guys that are playing now.
LIN: Yes and Skip, you know, you remember when you were growing up, I mean didn't you have this adulation, this loyalty to your team, you had a vision, I'm sure, of what it would be like to play in the Major League, and I don't see that in kids today. I see kids trading their cards like they're dollar bills, and I think part of that is the attitude that they're picking up from these player negotiations, that it's just a business now. SHUMAKER: Well it could be true, but you know, however, in the Minor Leagues, we are team-oriented still, and it's still fun to play as a team. And you know, as far as what's going on up in the Major Leagues, you know, I don't know, and I've never been there and it's out of my hands. So as far as Minor Leagues go, you know, it's still fun to play in the Minor Leagues as a team, and it's team-oriented still.
LIN: What if they do walk? Do you think it's going to hurt you?
SHUMAKER: Maybe in the long run, it might. You know I don't know, and only time will tell. August 30 in a couple of days, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens.
LIN: Mel, it's kind of ironic, though, that if the players do strike, Major League players strike, that it actually can be good for some, say Triple A teams who are going into their own playoffs. For example, the Triple A affiliate for the LA Dodgers would be able to go to the playoffs, the specifically playoffs, with the entire team intact. Nobody gets called up the first week of September.
ANTONEN: Well that is good. I mean that is one good thing for the Minor Leagues. Usually the best prospects get called up on September 1 to the big leagues and then they play and you know, try to make an impression. It's like a job interview almost, Carol. But yes, that's another thing, and maybe the Minor League playoffs are going to make money because they're going to sell a lot more tickets. I know last -- 1994 during the last strike, a lot of teams sold two or 3,000 tickets per game in the Minor Leagues after the big leaguers went on strike. The difference this time is that the season will end over Labor Day, and it's only the Minor League playoffs that are going to benefit, not the regular season.
LIN: All right, let me get your analysis, Mel. You've got Skip Shumaker here with the Potomac Cannons. He's batting 296 right now with 25 steals. What should a young man like this be thinking about during these player negotiations?
ANTONEN: Well I think, you know, if you're not on the 40-man roster, which I don't think Skip is, then I think all you have to worry about is playing baseball and getting better and learning the fundamentals, becoming better in every way possible because no matter what happens in the Major Leagues, there's going to be Minor League baseball next spring and next summer, and unless there's something really weird that happens. So I think the best thing Skip can do and other young players can do is just keep playing and realize that eventually this business stuff will go away and hopefully when it does, baseball will be intact and then you can -- then you can show off your skills. But the best thing to do is just focus on the game because there's really nothing you can do anyway.
LIN: Hey Skip, what is your dream? Where do you see yourself five years from now?
SHUMAKER: Oh, I would hope to be in the Major Leagues and that's, like I said, it's everyone's dream. This is my first year in Minor League baseball and hopefully, you know, be in the Major League someday.
LIN: Any team in particular?
SHUMAKER: St. Louis Cardinals, of course.
LIN: Root for the home team, good for you. At least you're striking -- you're not striking out in office politics there. All right, Skip Shumaker, good luck to you. Mel Antonen, always good to see you.
ANTONEN: Thank you Carol.
SHUMAKER: Thank you very much.
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