Hallelujah. I have seen the light. Now, if baseball could only do the same.

On a professional and personal basis I've always believed in the free market, free enterprise system of business. That also means the business of sports. Owners and players alike should be able to make as much as they can. If an owner wants to pay a .235 hitter 5 million dollars, god bless the player who can get it. No one put a gun to the head of the owner and made him over pay. And, like you and me in our jobs, baseball players should be able to move from team to team and take the best offer. Since 1776, freedom has been in our way of life. That includes the freedom to jump from team to team, take ungodly sums of money even if you aren't worth it, own a baseball team, make bad business decisions and the freedom to over pay players who aren't worth it.

Despite my continuing core belief in the free market, free enterprise system of business, I've had an awakening. That is, baseball must recreate itself or it's doomed to second class status and the ultimate of all indignities-fan apathy and disinterest. Baseball teeters on the brink. When before the season even starts, fans of small market teams know there's no chance of competing or reaching the playoffs, then the end is near. When a fan loses hope, then baseball loses its purpose. Springtime was the time when every baseball fan used to think, dream and say, "Hey, this year we're going to do it. We're going to the playoffs." Now, fans in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Montreal, Cincinnati and all other small market baseball towns say, "Hey, think we'll lose a hundred games?" Or, "Want to go to a ball game? Nah, we can't win."

Bud Selig, Don Fehr and all the other small minded leaders of baseball need to wake up. Some reality checks are needed. Owners will never control themselves. Baseball is in deep trouble. Fans don't care. The players and their union need to stop living in the past and look to the future. And, I tremble when I say this, there has to be controls on players salaries.

There are no blameless parties for baseball's overall depression. Everyone's guilty. However, the future of the game lies in the hands of Don Fehr and the Players Union. The NFL has a salary cap, the NBA has a salary cap and controls and Major League Baseball has nothing. Hey Don, it's no accident football and basketball are stronger and healthier sports and businesses. Here's the scary part for baseball. Bob Manfred, baseball's chief negotiator told Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, "We have a different history than the NBA and NFL. The NBA and NFL got into the cap system by making a trade. They gave free agency in exchange for salary caps. We got into free agency without making that trade. It's hard to recreate it now." My questions. Why is it hard and who says we have to live in the past?

Fear is the problem. The fear of having to make a concession and give back something baseball negotiated in a different labor and economic environment. All businesses and industries have to adjust to the times, the environment and technology. Computers have made pencil pushers obsolete. ATM machines have caused banks to downsize their staffs. In my field, technology has made studio television cameramen unnecessary. Businesses thrive and grow because they adjust with an eye to the future, not a wish for the past. The NFL and NBA see the light while baseball clings to the past.

The answer is simple. Financial discipline. The players union and owners need to agree on a minimum amount that must be spent and a maximum amount that can be spent by each club. That puts the responsibility on each team to spend their money wisely. If they don't, then they deserve the wrath of the fans and media for running their team/business badly. With a known budget for players salaries, star players will receive what they're worth while mediocre players will receive a salary more reflective of their talents and market standards. The last time I looked I didn't see any NFL or NBA players on street corners with a sign, "Will work for money or food."

If Don Fehr will take a step back, put the past in its proper perspective, be open minded to creative financial planning for the future, think of baseball's history and its social importance and give up his fear of "give backs," there's a chance baseball can go into the 21st century as a vital business for players and owners alike. But more importantly, it can go into the 21st century once again as the "national pastime." Otherwise, the clock is ticking on the death watch of baseball as a business and major American sport.

I feel better now.

I'm Ron Barr

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