STRIKE LOOMS LARGE IN BASEBALL AFTER ALL-STAR GAME: NATIONAL PASTIME, IN YEAR OF MUCH THAT IS NEW, FACES UNREST

In a season that has been novel, glorious and threatening so far, major league baseball holds its all-star game tonight in Pittsburgh. We celebrate the halfway point of the season in this national pastime, hoping it is truly the halfway point. A labor dispute looms. Players and owners are at odds over the changing financial situation of the sport. While the best in baseball will be on exhibit tonight, the worst of baseball could be in the immediate offing. We hope not.

In terms of novelty, the baseball season has offered a revamped divisional configuration that keeps otherwise also-rans thinking about a pennant, and a more limited network television package that hasn't produced an over-the-air broadcast until tonight.

In terms of glory, the season features a legitimate opportunity for Ken Griffey Jr. to break the hallowed Roger Maris record for 61 home runs in a season.

However, it is the possibility of a strike that casts a shadow on this game. The players' union doesn't want to yield past concessions, and the owners are pushing for a drastic realignment of the game's finances. The owners want a cap on salaries any team can pay, while their on-field employees, made incredibly wealthy by the largess wrought by free agency, favor a market approach.

Certainly, all labor disputes are difficult, and most involve working people not nearly as comfortable as big-league ballplayers, but this one is especially thorny. While a free-enterprise approach suits us, meaning players should be able to earn what the market will bear, we commiserate with owners who see the game pricing itself into bankruptcy. Like any labor negotiation, a work stoppage is a sign of failure. Other strikes in America would impact our lives more, but few would affect our national psyche as much as an early end to the baseball season.