How the 2022 owners lockout compares to past MLB labor stoppages

It’s been nearly three months since Major League Baseball’s owners locked out the players following the expiration of baseball’s last collective bargaining agreement. This week the two sides will attempt to hash out a new agreement in time for the regular season to begin on schedule.

While the lockout has so far only resulted in a delayed start of spring training, it is now the second longest work stoppage in baseball history and the game’s first significant disruption in nearly three decades. The two sides are far apart on issues ranging from revenue sharing, the competitive balance tax, minimum salaries, arbitration and more. The acrimony between the owners and players is as palpable as any point in recent memory.But there was once a time when labor disputes like this were a routine occurrence in baseball. Prior to the ongoing lockout, MLB experienced eight work stoppages, all taking place in a 23-year span between 1972 and 1995. Here’s a quick overview of those disputes.

1972 player strike

Length: 13 days (April 113)

Effects: 86 games cancelled

Baseball’s first work stoppage came when players refused to play the first week and a half of the season due to a dispute over pension and salary arbitration. The owners eventually relented, agreeing to a $500,000 increase in pension fund payments and to add salary arbitration to the collective bargaining agreement. The games missed were not rescheduled.

1973 owner lockout

Length: 18 days (Feb. 825)

Effects: Spring training delayed

Less than a year after the 1972 strike, baseball’s owners initiated their first lockout following the expiration of the previous arbitration agreement. The owners wanted a more clearly defined process, and after a little more than two weeks the two sides came to a three-year agreement under which players with two years of service times (or three non-consecutive years) would be eligible for arbitration. The lockout resulted in a delayed start to spring training but did not impact the start of the regular season.

1976 owner lockout

Length: 17 days (March 1-17)

Effects: Spring training disrupted

This lockout came in response to an arbitrator’s decision to nullify the reserve clause, which had long bound players to their teams unless they were released or traded. The final battle in a long-running war over free agency that former player Curt Flood took all the way to the Supreme Court, the lockout was eventually lifted and the season began on time without a new CBA. The new agreement that eventually followed created the initial framework for free agency in baseball, including the long-running requirement that players reach six years of service time to become eligible.

1980 player strike

Length: 8 days (April 1-8) Effects: Spring training disrupted

This strike was largely a warm-up for the highly disruptive 1981 strike that followed and came due to disagreements between the owners and players over free agent eligibility and the compensation teams received for losing players on the open market. The players struck for eight days, resulting in the final week or so of spring training being cancelled. The two sides agreed to table the discussion and the regular season started on time.

1981 player strike

Length: 50 days (June 12July 31)

Effects: 713 games cancelled (38% of season)

After failing to reach an accord on the aforementioned free agency issues, the players walked out near the midpoint of the 1981 season, resulting in the most significant work stoppage in baseball history to that point. A compromise was eventually reached, and to accommodate the unique split-season nature of the schedule, a one-off playoff format was used that featured the teams with the best records in the first and second halves.

1985 player strike

Length: 2 days (Aug. 6-7) Effects: 25 games postponed (2 cancelled)

This quick, mid-week strike was a successful attempt by the players to each a larger share of the league’s ballooning television revenues. The players sought and received an increase in pension contributions from the league as well as a rise in minimum salaries from $40,000 to $60,000. The strike resulted in 25 games being postponed, 23 of which were made up later in the season.

1990 owner lockout

Length: 32 days (Feb. 15March 18,)

Effects: Opening day delayed a week, season extended three days

Labor tensions had simmered for years leading into the 1990 season, with long-running disputes over free agency and salary arbitration colliding with skyrocketing league revenues and a court ruling that owners had colluded to suppress player wages in the mid-’80s. The lockout was notable for being the owners’ first attempt to install a salary cap, which didn’t come to fruition. The eventual compromise instead featuring an increase in players eligible for arbitration and a rise of the minimum salary to $100,000. The lockout significantly disrupted spring training, but while Opening Day had to be pushed back a week, the entire 162game schedule was ultimately played.

1994-95 player strike

Length: 222 days (Aug. 12-March 21)

Effects: 948 games cancelled plus entire 1994 playoffs, 1995 schedule shortened by 18 games

The longest and most damaging work stoppage in baseball history, the 1994-95 strike came in response to another attempt to install a salary cap. The strike began in August, led to the first-ever cancellation of the World Series and nearly threatened the start of the following season before the players called off the strike following a favorable court ruling. The long-running fight was exceptionally ugly and had significant negative long-term ramifications for the game, and it wasn’t until 1997 that the two sides would finally reach an agreement. That deal included the implementation of interleague play, revenue sharing and the luxury tax system.