Baseball has reached a survival crossroads. I'm not being melodramatic. I'm being brutally honest and objective. In light of its self-destructive history, the troubled times we live in today, and the general public and fan consensus "enough is enough"; baseball has to get it right in these negotiations or do the honorable thing and shut it down.

I guess the first and most important question is, can it be fixed? The answer is yes and it has to be fixed. The easiest question to answer is why baseball should be fixed. Because we have to maintain institutions that are a part of our national fabric and identity-- September 11th proved that most of all. Baseball has defined us to some degree as a country. It's part of our culture and has provided us with heroes, villains, a platform for social change, entertainment, and a rallying point for all the things we see as good-- the latter certainly in evidence with the recent World Series. Baseball runs the full gamete of emotions. The joy of winning, the disappointment of losing and the hope for next season. Despite rising ticket prices, baseball still provides an anchor for family sharing: parents and kids and fathers and sons heading to the ballpark to watch a game together. While not like it once was, baseball is still a bonding experience. Bonding occurs between family members, cities and teams, fans and teams, and fans and players. Baseball makes us feel good.

What will it take to fix baseball? Common sense. Baseball doesn't belong only to the owners or the players or the TV networks or the fans. It belongs to all of us and collectively "all of us" have to work to fix it. Given that Major League Baseball is a business and with business comes egos, agendas and greed, the answer will come only if all sides work to find a common ground for the financial and competitive viability of the game. That means looking at what's good for baseball from a total perspective, not just from one groups' respective position or interest. Owners need to see the players as their partners. Players need to share the risks with the owners. Agents need to realize they're killing the goose that laid their golden egg. Common sense and cooperation will put the game back on strong footing. But, to do that, all sides must have the desire, trust, and commitment to fixing baseball.

Here is what I think should be done to fix baseball:

-- Arbitration. Do away with it. It has never worked. Salaries are not arbitrated, they're dictated. There's no middle ground in arbitration, it's either the players' demand or the teams' offer. Arbitration has falsely raised salaries and the losing side is always angry and never forgets. Compromise by dropping arbitration and dropping free agency from six years to five years.

-- Salary Cap. Find a percentage figure of total baseball revenues that both sides feel is fair and divide it by the number of teams to reach a salary cap number. As baseball's revenues go up, so does the salary cap. If the revenue goes down, the cap goes down. The players and owners then share in the financial upside and downside. Don Fehr and the players must understand that you can't continue to grab so much of a team's revenue that it makes the team's financial operation unfeasible and the team uncompetitive.

-- Revenue sharing. Identify revenue that can be shared. Big markets deserve to have more revenue and to make more money than small markets. They paid more for their franchises and their expenses are higher. One way to revenue share would be to take all teams local broadcast revenue, divide it by the number of teams and give the large markets a premium percentage above the average. Even though large market teams wouldn't keep all of their broadcast revenue, they would still get more than other teams. And, small market teams would get more than they're getting now from just their broadcast revenue. Also, make all teams pay a total minimum amount on players' salaries so the small market owners aren't just lining their own pockets with the big market owners broadcast money.

-- Free Agency. Reduce it to five years. That still gives teams a chance to budget players' salaries. If a team can't decide whether a player is going to help their team or not in five years, then they should fire their general manager or get out of baseball. If you and I can move from job to job, then baseball players deserve the same consideration. Free agency hasn't hurt baseball. Stupid management that makes bad personnel decisions and bids up unworthy players' salaries has. The Oakland A's have proven over the last two years you can build a team, be competitive, make the playoffs and not break the bank. That should be the model for all teams, large market or small.

-- Dump Bud Selig. Antagonistic history and distrust between the owners and the players should tell you an owner can never be baseball's commissioner-if they expect the two sides to work harmoniously. For god sake, he's a car salesman, not a visionary and baseball commissioner. The sport needs a sharp mind that can anticipate the game's future direction and needs and who the players respect and can motivate them to work with him for the common good of the game. Involve the players association in the search for such a person.

All this can be accomplished if all sides understand what's at stake, how valuable the game is and the loss of the game would be as painful as the events of September 11th. Like September 11th, the loss of baseball would be an enduring pain. More painful would be that we inflicted on ourselves.

I feel better now.

I'm Ron Barr.

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