For most of us and especially sports fans, the truest indication winter is about to end and spring is nearby is the start of baseball season. That feeling begins in the middle of February with news that pitchers and catchers have reported to their respective spring training sites in Florida and Arizona. It touches us in a way we can't explain, and it brings us a sense of a new beginning.

Baseball is a part of the American fabric. It was the first sport to provide us with larger than life American heroes. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Nolan Ryan, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, and the list goes on. These and others provided us with unforgettable moments that showed us not only their greatness, but also the greatness of the game itself.

Baseball has always been a reflection of the times we live in. In the 20's, 30's, and 40's, men wore coat and ties to games and woman wore beautiful sundresses and hats. There was a class and civility in the way the game was played and the manner in which fans embraced baseball. In the 50's, 60's and 70's, with the migration of the game west, the breaking of the color barrier and the start of free agency, the game was played and viewed in the transitional manner of those times. And, in the 80's and 90's baseball continued its transformation from sport to big business and reflected all the hassles and pains that accompany such changes. Strikes, lock outs, hold outs, demands, cancellations, arbitration, agents, big contracts and bigger contracts all became a part of the business of baseball. And, fans felt as if they were helpless pawns in the high stakes wheeling and dealing. Their part in the character of the game was negated by the perceived greed of both sides.

Now at the start of a new decade, baseball stands at a crucial crossroad. Which way to go? One path continues the uncontrolled upward spiral of players' salaries, unstable franchises, team talent disparity and the further alienation of the fans. The other path, however, seeks a new cooperative understanding between the players and owners. Those groups must realize that the game is more important than a few more bucks and personal agendas. And that what's good for one team is also good for all teams. That the mystique and character of baseball must be maintained at all costs. That the players are the game, but that the game and the fans are the heart and soul of baseball. That yes, baseball is a business, but that the character, history and tradition of baseball must not be bought and sold at the highest price only.

Which path will be chosen? Call me an optimist, but I think Don Fehr, the players, Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners will realize that one path leads to oblivion and the other path to a return of the "specialness" of the game, the players, and what it represents to the social fabric of America. I base this on reality and hope. The reality is that the players know they're making a lot of money. It has gotten to the point that now even some of the players are saying they aren't worth what they're paid. After they walk off the field and cash their pay checks, players still have to walk amongst us. And making millions of dollars to throw and hit a baseball makes it hard for some to look honestly into the face of a teacher, police officer or heath worker making $30,000. Both sides always say it's not about the money, but it is about the money. And, I hope reality will make them see working together to share the existing wealth is better than dying while reaching for the last nickels and dimes jingling in each other's pockets.

Man most of the time is an intelligent creature, but money and greed severely diminish that intelligence. If we go on the recent past, then I suppose there is little hope that the two sides will step back and take an overview of baseball and what it means to the fans. But if baseball is to survive, then the owners and players must collectively recognize how special the game is and how important it is to re-establish and maintain baseball's greatness to us.

I want to continue to hear pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training and get that wonderful feeling that winter is almost over and spring is beginning. I want to know fathers and mothers and sons and daughters are going to a ball game because they want to and can afford to. I want to know that players aren't counting the days to when they become free agents and that arbitration is a thing of the past. That owners understand that Kansas City has to be able to compete as well as the Yankees. I want to know that baseball gives back as much as it gets from the fans. That the media talks about the players, owners and teams' successes as much as they do their failures and mistakes.

All of this can happen and I think the first steps toward making this happen will take place with a new collective bargaining agreement at the end of this season. It should be an agreement that stresses cooperation, not confrontation. The need is there, the atmosphere is there and I think the desire is now there because a world without baseball would leave the American fabric torn, tattered, and with an unfillable hole.

I feel better now.

I'm Ron Barr.

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