I admit that the excitement of having a "contending team" in the Year of the Scab might merit more than just an asterisk in the annals of baseball history, and that therefore some, if not most, of the excitement, of the season will disappear.

But minor-league teams are far away, the play isn't much better, and I don't get all excited about Carolina League playoffs.

And the threat concerning baseball's standing on the national scene appears on the surface to be small.

The year marred by scab ball in the NFL did no lasting damage to football as an American institution. Why should it be particularly different with baseball?

I'll bet I won't be the only one at the scabfests.

Owners aren't stupid. They have a captive audience held hostage: their season ticket-holders.

Season ticket-holders get to keep their seat location from year to year. But if they don't renew, the seats are freed up, sold to one of the thousands undoubtedly on the season ticket waiting list.

Do you think Joe CEO is going to give up his dugout seats (or, heaven forbid, his skybox) in the name of baseball purity? Think again.

No, the Owners have their captive audience, and don't think they won't use it to the fullest.

The biggest question may be just who the Owners can get to play. They may want scabs, but they probably don't want a glorified beer league.

Pity the poor minor leaguer, who will be blackballed by the organization if he doesn't break ranks and beaned by the first major league pitcher he faces if he does.

But if the Owners manage to field 28 teams of scabs (or 26, if the Blue Jays and Orioles rebel), they will play. They are confident they can fill the seats and play a season, and I suspect their confidence is not ill-founded.