[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 125 (Monday, September 30, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9592-S9593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PEACEFUL END TO A TENSE BASEBALL SEASON

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, yesterday marked the end of the 
Major League Baseball regular season. Fans everywhere have enjoyed a 
season with Barry Bonds leading the league in hitting, Alex Rodriguez 
hitting 57 home runs, and Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling combining as 
perhaps the greatest pitching duo ever. It has been a tremendous season 
of achievement for many teams. The Minnesota Twins, a team Commissioner 
Selig wanted to disband last off-season, won the American League 
Central Division. The Oakland A's set an American League record with a 
20-game winning streak and won the American League's Western Division.
  Eight teams, and fans from across the country and around the world, 
are now gearing up for an exciting playoff season. The Twins and the 
A's, as well as the Anaheim Angels, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San 
Francisco Giants, have earned the opportunity to continue into the 
playoffs, to compete for a pennant and even the World Series 
championship along with last year's champion Arizona Diamondbacks, the 
New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. They are not the eight teams 
with the highest payrolls or biggest markets. They do share a few 
things in common: talented players having outstanding seasons, great 
team play and exceptional management both on and off the field.
  We are fortunate that this baseball season is being played to its 
rightful conclusion and that crisis was avoided on August 30, when 
negotiators for team owners and the Major League Baseball Players Union 
reached a new collective bargaining agreement. Announced just two hours 
before another work stoppage, this agreement saved professional 
baseball from a disastrous screeching halt to yet another baseball 
season.
  With this agreement baseball can now go about the business of 
assessing the future of the sport in Montreal. It is unfortunate that 
this fine city, its team with a number of outstanding players, and its 
fans have been left in limbo for the past year over the future of the 
franchise. For a large number of Vermonters, Montreal provides the 
closest major league venue. This franchise is the major league 
affiliate for our own minor league Vermont Expos. There are many 
dedicated Expos fans in my State. Several local towns are doing their 
best to show their support for keeping the Expos in Montreal. I ask 
that a letter recently sent by the St. Albans Town Selectboard to the 
Mayor of Montreal be printed in the Record.
  The letter follows:
                                                  August 12, 2002.
     Mayor Gerald Tremblay,
     Montreal, Quebec.
       Mayor Tremblay, the St. Albans Town Selectboard wishes to 
     express our utmost hope that the city of Montreal tries 
     everything possible to help retain the Montreal Expos.
       Montreal is a beautiful international city with much 
     diversity and many different types of cultures. We believe 
     the Expos are a large part of the city and it serves to bring 
     many people from Northern Vermont to your city every year.
       With a downtown stadium, we believe the Expos can flourish 
     once again and help attract many more tourists to your 
     wonderful city. We hope that you and your government are 
     trying everything possible to work with new-interested 
     buyers.
       If the Town of St. Albans can be of assistance please feel 
     free to contact us.
       Cordially Yours,
                                                   Tayt R. Brooks,
                                                       Vice-Chair.

  Mr. President, through repeated hearings in the Judiciary Committee, 
Congress has tried to help the major league baseball owners and players 
find common ground. After the last work stoppage, we culminated almost 
a decade of hearings examining labor strife and other problems in major 
league baseball, when we enacted the Curt Flood Act in 1998. Senator 
Hatch was the lead sponsor of that measure, and I was his principal 
cosponsor. It was a bipartisan effort to clarify the law. By that 
effort we hoped to promote labor peace in Major League Baseball.
  The principle purpose of the law was to make clear that federal 
antitrust laws apply to the relationships

[[Page S9593]]

between major league team owners and players. Clarifying the law was 
intended to contribute to an atmosphere in which management and labor, 
owners and players would resolve their differences through collective 
bargaining rather than through work stoppages. I hope that the Curt 
Flood Act and our efforts over the last several years, including the 
hearing we held this Congress at the requests of Senators Wellstone, 
Dayton, Dorgan and Johnson, contributed in some small way to creating a 
legal framework and atmosphere in which the parties could resolve their 
differences through agreement.
  Fortunately, baseball has avoided its ninth work stoppage since 1972. 
During the previous eight work stoppages, 1,736 games were lost--
including 938 that were wiped out because of the 1994-95 labor war. 
Clearly, another work stoppage would have had serious consequences for 
the professional game. I congratulate Commissioner Selig, Bob Dupuy and 
their team and Don Fehr and his team on reaching an accord.
  Earlier this year Forbes Magazine estimated that the New York Yankees 
were worth $730 million. The New York Mets were the next-highest valued 
franchise at $482 million, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers ($435 
million) and the Boston Red Sox ($426 million). Even, the Montreal 
Expos franchise was valued at over $100 million. The average annual 
salary for major league players this season reportedly is $2.8 million.
  We all hope the recent labor agreement marks a new era of cooperation 
in Major League Baseball. I remind both the owners and the players that 
the responsibility for preserving the best of our national pastime--and 
for restoring the faith and enthusiasm of the fans across the United 
States--is their opportunity in the coming months and years.
  May all of the fans of professional baseball enjoy an exciting post-
season, and I wish each of the playoffs teams well.

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