Posted Wednesday/May 1, 2001; 3:56 p.m. PDT

Seattle is Major League Baseball's HOT CITY this season! What better place for Fans to TAKE A STAND? The incredibly crazy "A-Rod's Return" (there was even A SONG about it) is in the rearview mirror, the All-Star Game is staring in the headlights at a distance of 77 days, and the flicker of a Lockout is on the horizon, as the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires 16 weeks later. Seattle, the "Emerald City," the city that brought us "WTO Live," is the PERFECT PLACE for baseball Fans to TAKE A STAND! Add the RED HOT Mariners to the equation and Seattle is "Baseball Central" this season. Let's just hope that by the end, it doesn't become "Baseball Central America."

"The $ymbol"

"The $aint?"

Last week here in Seattle, from Sports Radio, to Safeco Field, Fans PASSIONATELY vented frustration and VEHEMENTLY spewed contempt through "the symbol" of "Alex 252," to "the institution" of Major League Baseball, for its OUTTA WHACK & CONTROL economics! Unless Bud Selig goes on a "league-wide pinch hitting tour" (ever seen him throw?), players like Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, and Gary Sheffield will both suffice and be sacrificed. But is BOOING all that baseball Fans are gonna do? Is sending "fire and brimstone" through the airwaves of Sports Radio, all that baseball Fans can, or are willing to do? Are baseball Fans above REAL PROTEST? If so, then baseball's "Time has Passed as America's Favorite!" If not, then Seattle is the place to TAKE A STAND, baseball Fans!

WTO Protestors

If a STAND is not taken, then the message will be LOUD and CLEAR that, "There IS crying in baseball," because that's all we will EVER do! If we only BOO a $252 million symbol and "stand by" as ANOTHER work stoppage approaches, we'll be BOO-HOOIN' the rest of our baseball lives! Seattle is PERFECT! What better place than the city with the most expensive and controversial ballpark in the country? What better place than the city that loses Super Stars like "lunch money?" What better place than the city with Vin Baker, the "absolute-most-crystal clear-hindsight/actuality" of the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement? What better place than the city with enough "fighting spirit" to host the WTO? What better place than the city where the Official Sports Fan Union is based? What better time than the All-Star Game? And who better to get things rolling, than Seattle Sports Fans who showed DRAMATIC PASSION on KJRam last week? Perfect PLACE, perfect TIME, perfect PROTESTORS, perfect OPPORTUNITY to TAKE A STAND!

WTF Protestors

Seattle baseball Fans can be an example to other MLB cities. New Millennium baseball Fans can make history and change the future of sports! Through this Site, with the speed of the Internet and the dynamics of POWER MATHEMATICS, baseball Fans can be in position with a COLLECTIVE VOICE and AGENDA, when the "Collective Bargaining" Agreement expires on Halloween. TRICK for baseball! TREAT for Fans!

Last week's "A-Rod's Return As We Know It," is a faint memory compared to 1994's cancelled World Series! Baseball Fans don’t have to look back too far to be reminded, or be psychic to see what’s down the road. But we DO need to be ORGANIZED and PROACTIVE to have a COLLECTIVE say in Major League Baseball's Collecitve Bargaining! WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL? Just close your eyes, and in the famous words of the late, great Rod Serling, "Imagine if you will"...COLLECTIVE BARGAINING with a COLLECTION OF ALL PARTIES! In the 2001, it's POSSIBLE! The "cards are the table" baseball Fans and Sports Radio! Are we gonna BOO, BOO-HOO, BOW OUT or STAND STRONG?

Initiative 950