On top of their enormous wages, they then have the gall to charge kids $15 for an autograph.

Come on!

Twenty years ago, the players didn't grab their crotches on national television to show up their opponents (i.e., Ken Griffey, Jr.) or charge the mound every time a pitch came near them.

And the current crop of players didn't have to care too much about walking out--they have strike insurance to support them and judges who are willing to cut their alimony payments in half (Can Barry Bonds really evoke that much sympathy?).

OK, so you would like to side with the owners and say that the players are wrong. Well, you shouldn't feel sorry for the owners, either.

These people who say that they need a salary cap (as in football or basketball) are the same people who have been unwilling to hire a commissioner, a person whose interests, (God forbid) would be for both the players and the owners, not just the owners.

(Sorry Buddy Boy, but you just don't cut it as commissioner.)

Fay Vincent was a good man who was ousted because his actions threatened to curtail some of the owners' profits, regardless of whether those actions were good for baseball.

The owners have also taken the game away from the fans. Take the pile of junk called The Baseball Network as an example.

Regional coverage on ABC or NBC--this means that if you live in an American League city, you will never see Tony Gwynn play in a nationally-televised game except the All-Star Game or the World Series, should his team make it. Likewise, a National League city, wouldn't see Frank Thomas play the entire season.

And the most idiotic part is that areas that have two teams (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles/Anaheim and Oakland/San Francisco) can see only one team play while the other one is blacked out.

Football has Monday Night Football, basketball has a weekly national game on Sunday afternoons and even hockey has a new national television package.

The owners are the same people who brought expansion (ie., massive entrance fees and more low-quality baseball players) to stadiums near you the past season and who threaten to expand again by the end of the century.

The next thing is that even if a half-dozen teams are losing money, teams with new stadiums (Orioles, Indians, Rangers) and massive cable television contracts (Yankees, Dodgers) have enough money to set up a system similar to the players' last proposal.

If the owners disagree about their profits, have an independent firm come up with the true figures.