Mending Fences

     Story by Matt Jacob -- Photos by Jeff Scheid
     Review-Journal
     MESA, Ariz. -- The kids congregate along the railing down the right field line, waiting anxiously for a player -- any player -- to walk by.
      Some of the dozen or so youngsters clutch baseballs, some possess trading cards, others have just a small, blank piece of paper.
      Whatever the item, they're looking for the same thing: an autograph from one of their heroes.
      Then one such hero jogs toward them.
      Ryne Sandberg has just finished a round of extra bat ting practice before a spring training game and is heading toward the field for pregame infield drills. Sandberg clearly is in a hurry, yet when he spots the group of young fans, he immediately takes a left turn toward the stands, grabs a pen and begins signing.
      The Chicago Cubs second baseman doesn't stop until every last ball -- every card, hat, glove and piece of paper -- has his name on it.
      Community service completed, Sandberg sp rints back toward the field and is approached by a reporter. He slows down and graciously agrees to a brief interview, stopping only once -- to randomly hand his bat to a stunned youngster who hadn't asked for it.
      The fact the boy is wearing a major-league T-shirt that doesn't bear the Cubs' logo doesn't faze Sandberg.
      "I've always done that. That's always been part of my day here at the ballpark, acknowledge the fans and sign a few a utographs," said Sandberg, a 10-time All-Star. "There's no getting away from that, before games, after games. When the time's appropriate, I think a lot of the guys go over and do the best they can to sign some autographs.
     0; "It's important, I think, to show appreciation to the fans. I have kids of my own and they want autographs, so I know how it is and I do the best that I can."
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      They say spring is a time of rebirth, of everlasting hope. Never is this more evident than in major league spring training camps in Arizona and Florida, where this time of year every team is in first place and every team has an equal shot at winning the World Series.
      But this year, more than any other, coupling the words rebirth and major league baseball in the same sentence takes on special importance.
      That's because the national pastime has labor peace for the first time in more than three years, as owners and players recently ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement.
      The main hurdle cleared, both sides believe it's time to extend an olive branch to the fans and try to lure them back to the ballparks this summer.
      Sandberg's unconscious gestures before a meaningless exhibition game are a step toward that goal.
      However, Sandberg might as well have been extending a twig of that olive branch. Simply giving away autographs and bats is like treating a flesh wound with a Band-Aid. The massive damage done to baseball the past several years requires a much stronger remedy.
   ;    And some of the game's biggest stars -- some of whom will be at Cashman Field from Friday until Monday for Big League Weekend -- understand that.
      "We've got a long ways to go," said Oakland Athletic s slugger Mark McGwire, whose team will be at Cashman along with the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and New York Mets. "I mean, look around. We used to pack 'em in here (at Phoenix Municipal Stadium) during spring training. There's may be a couple grand who come here now. I think people are still disinterested in baseball, and it's sad."
      It used to be that this was one of the most exciting times of the year, the moments leading to the first pitch of Opening Day.
      But all that changed 2 1/2 years ago when a players' strike led to the premature end of the 1994 baseball season. The strike resulted in the cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904, and it lasted until just before the 1995 season was scheduled to begin. Of course, the strike didn't end because both sides settled their differences; it ended only after a federal judge's ruling put the players back on the field.
      After a belated and abbreviated spring training, the 1995 season started a month late with a truncated schedule. Despite ticket discounts and giveaways, the fans -- even the most die-hard -- stayed away from the game, some even picketing in disgust. Many of those fans didn't return all year, and while some started trickling back to the stadiums in 1996 apparently willing to forgive, most have not been willing to forget.
      This wasn't the first time in the game's history that a work stoppage caused the fans to turn bitter.
      It was, however, the first time fans remained bitter.
      "I think the strike really taught us a valuable lesson, and that is you can't take the fans for granted," said Padres right fielder Tony Gwynn. "Every other time (players) went on strike, boom, they'd come right back. And I think a lot of people thought the same thing would happen. And that first year we came back, you noticed the difference. You noticed the difference in spring training. There wasn't that many people around. It was like, `Hey. What are we doing here? We're shooting ourselves in the foot.'"
      In addition to pure anger, one of the reasons fans have strayed from baseball the past two seasons was due to the lack of a labor contract, meaning either side could have shut the game down at any time.
      Now that a labor deal is in place at least through the year 2000 (the players have an option to extend the deal through 2001), one would think fans again might fill the ballparks.
      And they might -- eventually.
      "You don't rebuild anything overnight," said San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker, a former big-league player. "You can tear down the game overnight, but it takes time to rebuild it. But it's going to come back. I think divisional play the way it is and interleague play, all that's going to help to rebuild the game."
      Said Sandberg: "I think it might take a little bit of time to get it back to where it was at one time. But with everything taken care of as far as there being a basic (labor) agreement and the fans knowing that there will be baseball for the next four or five years, I think that's the main thing that everybody's been waiting for."
     ------
      True, the labor agreement will help.
      So will discounts, giveaways and players like Sandberg being more fan friendly.
      But is all that enough to bring the game full circle?
      "I think we have a couple of more things to do before we get to that point," Gwynn said. "I think the fans who have been out at the games already (in spring training) have been really excited about it; they really can't wait for baseball to start for real. But here's a golden opportunity for both sides to sit down and get some things done.
      "I think we have to do a better job of marke ting and hopefully get people out to the ballpark again, and an agreement no question is a plus. But getting a commissioner would give fans a sense that there's somebody looking out for the game of baseball."
      Indeed, the sport has gone more than five years without a full-time commissioner, as Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig has served as the acting commissioner since 1992 after owners forced Fay Vincent to resign.
      And while the players would like to see a strong marketing concept that would attract fans, it is the commissioner issue that has moved to the top of their "things-to-do" list now that the labor situation is settled.
      "Oh, without a doubt. We need a commissioner badly," McGwire said. "But that just goes to show people that the owners don't want anybody controlling them."
      Said Baker: "We need a commissioner, big time. It's a must."
       Of course, when that will happen is anybody's guess.
      For now, both sides will have to be content focusing their energy on bringing baseball back to the fans.
      And if they accomplish that, they have to make sure they never take it away again.
      "We should have never been in that position," McGwire said. "So many companies and unions strike every year, but when you have the national pastime strike and you take away the World Series, it's a bad mark on the game."
      Said Gwynn: "I think we learned from our mistakes. I don't think either side would want to let that happen again. ...
      "In these next six years, we have to move baseball forward, not backward. Let's talk about international play. Let's talk about expansion. Let's talk about a commissioner. Because I hope my son gets the same opportunity as his father did to play in the major leagues, and I want the game to be in good hands."