Top 100 momentsNo. 94
No World Series
A strike cancels the Fall Classic for the first time in 90 years. Labor peace was a myth. The empty October is the proof.
August 1994. The players walk. The owners do not blink enough. In September Bud Selig cancels the World Series. There has always been a Series, through wars and earthquakes. There is not one this year. Montreal’s Expos, the best team in baseball, never get their shot.
Fans stay away when the games return. The sport’s claim to be the national pastime looks like a contract dispute. Cal Ripken’s streak and the 1998 home-run chase will be sold as recovery. The scar stays in the labor history.
Other sports lose postseasons. Baseball losing the World Series is a special kind of self-harm. 1994 is the year the cabinet stayed empty on purpose.