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'Kick in the pants': Fans frustrated over postponement of Major League Baseball’s regular season

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The start of the Major League Baseball regular season has been postponed as the league's lockout enters a fourth month.

“We’re not going to be able to play the first two games of the regular season and those games are officially cancelled,” said Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner.

Cape Bretoner Nick Bonnar is a big Boston Red Sox fan. His frustration is directed at Manfred and the franchise owners.

“I think it's the owners fault. They want too much money, and Rob Manfred, I'm not so sure he's the guy that should be running the show,” said Bonnar.

“They're pretty greedy at best and they'll be raising ticket prices. There will be no breaks for the fans.”

The postponement is the latest setback for a sport that lost more than 100 games in 2020 because of the pandemic.

“Players want to play, we all know that, but the reason we're not playing is simple. A lockout is the ultimate economic weapon,” said Tony Clark, president of the MLB Players Association.

Local baseball fan Pat McNeil says he’s surprised the league is not learning from history. He remembers the strike of 1994 -- the last time the MLB came to a screeching halt -- which lasted 232 days.

“You can only tamper with your fans so much,” said McNeil.

Some fans never returned once the strike was over.

McNeil feels, between a war and a pandemic, a baseball season would be a chance to give fans some enjoyment.

“I also think, where fans have been so conditioned on missing games in all the sports because of COVID, it's such a kick in the pants. That, oh, we're starting to make progress on the pandemic, and now we're missing games because the owners and players can't get along,” he said.

TSN insider Steve Phillips says the commissioner needs MLB owners to be on the same page in order for the season to go ahead.

“He needs to get the small-market owners on board for increasing the competitive balance tax. If he doesn't do that, they're stuck, they can't go anywhere,” said Phillips.

Phillips says it doesn't work for anybody to have baseball sitting on the sidelines.

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