For the first time in 27 years, Major League Baseball had to cancel its opening games due to a financial fight. Talks to end a management lockout collapsed Tuesday and Commissioner Rob Manfred scrapped the March 31 openers. Owners and players failed to agree on a contract to replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired on December 1.
Manfred was forced to cancel the first two series for each of the 30 teams. This cut each team’s schedule from 162 games to likely 156 at most, and a total of 91 games were erased. The players’ association held its own news conference at a hotel, with union head Tony Clark and chief negotiator Meyer.
During a news conference, Manfred said “we exhausted every possibility of reaching an agreement before the cancellation of games,” Fans outside the spring training home of the Miami Marlins and St.Louis Cardinals chanted “We want baseball!”
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