In 1994 a 234 day player’s strike caused the first cancelation of the World Series since 1904. Major league baseball also became the first professional sports league to lose its entire postseason due to a work stoppage.

On Jan 19^th the owners amended the Major League agreement by giving complete power to Bud Selig on labor negotiations. With the friction of the owners collusion and Selig dealing directly with players rep Donald Fehr who according to Fay Vincent had no trust in him. On February 11th 1994 , the owners greatly reduced the commissioner's power to act in "the best interests of baseball."

As negotiations continued to heat up, the owners decided to withhold $7.8 million that they were required to pay per their previous contracted agreement into the players' pension and benefit plans.

On September 14^th the World Series was officially called off by Bud Selig. The cancelation of the rest of the season resulted in the loss of $580 million for owners and $230 million in player salaries.  The Montreal Expos had been having the best season of their history with a record of 74-40 and were 6 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East. The only time the Expos had made the postseason was 1981. San Diego Padres Tony Gwynn had a batting average of .394 no one has hit over .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. San Francisco Giant Matt Williams was on pace to break Roger Maris’s single season home run record of 61 set in 1961. Williams had 43 home runs with 47 games left in the season. 

Ken Griffey Jr. who was leading the American league with 40 home runs summed it up by saying, "We picked a bad season to have a good year." On December 23, with negotiations at a standstill, the owners unilaterally implemented a salary cap. Bud Selig stated "We are committed to playing the 1995 season and will do so with the best players willing to play."

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, announced that his team wouldn't use replacement players (Baltimore Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. was 1 year shy of breaking Lou Gehrig’s 56 year old consecutive games played streak). On March 20, Angelos' Orioles canceled the remainder of their spring training games because of the team's refusal to use replacement players.

The strike ended when federal judge Sonia Sotomayor issued a preliminary injunction against the owners on March 31. On Sunday, April 2, 1995, the day before the season was scheduled to start the 232 day long strike was finally over. Judge Sotomayor's decision received support from a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which denied the owners' request to stay the ruling.

One of the largest impacted teams was the Montréal Expos. The revenue that was lost due to the strike to an already struggling team and with league wide attendance down after the strike, the Expos would never fully recover. The team was purchased by Major League Baseball after the 2001 season. The Expos were then the focus of contraction rumors until the team was moved to Washington, D.C., to become the Washington Nationals after the 2004 season.

 -JJ Robichaud

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1997/03/art4abs.htm

http://reds.enquirer.com/2004/08/12/STRIKEBOX12-LOPRESTI.html