Now that the opening games of the 2022 season have been cancelled, the MLBPA and its members are increasingly not holding back when it comes to the league’s commissioner and its owners.
Well, Opening Day isn’t happening. To be more specific, while we may very well get Major League Baseball in 2022, Opening Day isn’t happening on Opening Day as the pastime gods intended.
With no particular progress to speak of regarding the ending of the ongoing lockout of its players, the league decided to cancel the first two scheduled series of the regular season this week, wiping precisely 91 games out of existence like they were some sort of run-scoring play at the plate nixed by a replay review.
Naturally, the MLBPA and its members were not happy. And due to this latest transgression in these never-ending labor wars, some of the biggest stars in baseball refused to pull punches across social media.
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Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout
Mike Trout, famously a man of few words away from the ballfield, isn’t one to seek out controversy. As arguably the single best player in the sport perhaps on his way to being among the greatest of all-time, his words hit harder than a home run hack.
Retired C/DH Evan Gattis
Some needed levity from El Oso Blanco.
Free agent 1B Anthony Rizzo
Rizzo, a man without a contract, speaks for legions upon legions.
MLB Players Association
The gloves are coming off at the players union and they aren’t coming back on. If anything, this is a call to arms that heralds stronger condemnations in the days and weeks (or months) to come.
Free Agent INF Travis Shaw
Coping with all this mess through memes isn’t a bad way to go about the current baseball dumpster fire, Travis.
Free agent RHP Marcus Stroman
Boom. The Stro Show makes perhaps the strongest statement of all. And he wasn’t done:
Astros RHP Lance McCullers Jr.
In two since-deleted tweets from March 1, Lance McCullers did not hold back even a little bit about the sad situation playing out before us:
It’s mind blowing these dudes legitimately caused these issue & continue to lie about it. Walk out on us in Dallas. Lock us out. Don’t speak to us for 6 weeks. Take weeks at a time to respond to our proposals. Clearly don’t care about fans, baseball or the game. It’s exhausting”
This is a joke as well. This is our game. We play the game. We love the game. We are fans of the game. We are asking for nothing but a small bit of fairness, largely for young players and players to come behind us. All we care about is baseball.
As McCullers continued in a reply, “What is unreasonable? Asking for better compensation for our young players that carry the game? Asking for the [luxry tax] to grow according to revenue? Trying to protect the young players to come after us? I’m confused.”
We are, too, Lance. We are, too.
New York Mets C James McCann
Indeed, not forget the role that media members play — good, bad, or indifferent — in the way the messaging war plays out.
Free Agent OF Kevin Pillar
Someone’s up Schitt’s Creek without a paddle. And it’s really not the players or the league — it’s baseball fans.
San Francisco Giants LHP Alex Wood
Alex Wood, like so many up and down the ranks of the MLBPA, simply doesn’t believe the league and Manfred are negotiating in good faith. That’s not a recipe for a resolution.
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